Asked at the counter
These are the questions patrons actually ask us, written down exactly as we answer them in the shop. No hedging, no numbers we cannot stand behind. If your question is not here, send it over WhatsApp and we will answer it and then add it to this page.
The questions asked most often across the counter, usually with two sarees already open on the table.
Lift the border seam and look for the korvai interlock where the contrast border joins the body, find the pitni line where the pallu is joined, then pull one zari thread and check for a red silk core. A Silk Mark hologram and a GI Kanchipuram tag should both be present.
Kanjivaram in HyderabadA Paithani is woven, with each butta built on the loom from interlocked extra weft threads. A Patola is double ikat, where the yarn is tied and dyed before weaving so the pattern already exists in the thread. One is made at the loom, the other before it.
Paithani or PatolaTurn the saree over. Handloom leaves thread ends, small tied knots and interlocked motif backs, and butta spacing varies slightly along the border. Powerloom repeats identically along the full length and is machine tidy on both faces.
The six testsKanjivaram for the muhurtham and daytime rituals, because its weight holds pleats and reads well in natural light. Banarasi for the reception and sangeet, because it is lighter, moves as you walk and its zari lifts under indoor lighting.
Compared properlyIt confirms the weave came from its protected cluster, such as Kanchipuram, Banaras, Paithan, Patan, Pochampally, Gadwal or Narayanpet. It says nothing about whether the cloth was handwoven, which is what the Handloom Mark covers.
The saree encyclopediaReal zari is a silk core wrapped in silver and then gilded, so the gold you see is a thin layer over silver. Tested zari uses a copper core and dulls within a few years. Film zari has no core at all and crackles under pressure.
What brides and their mothers ask us in the first appointment, usually in this order.
Four to six months before the wedding if you want any handloom commissioned, and eight months if a bridal Patola or a fully hand embroidered blouse is involved. Ready pieces from the floor can be fitted and finished in three weeks.
The trousseau plannerBetween two and three hours. We pull from around eighty pieces on the floor and another forty to sixty from the archive based on your colours, your budget and the functions you are dressing for. It is not a saree you choose in twenty minutes.
Sixteen, taken in salon: three for bust, two for waist, hip proportion, shoulder width and slope, neck depths front and back, sleeve length with three sleeve rounds, armhole depth, apex and apex to apex, plus front and back lengths.
Designer blousesFour to eight weeks for a fully hand embroidered bridal blouse in zardozi, cutdana or kundan. Lighter aari work takes two to three weeks. Embroidery goes onto the silk only after the muslin trial sits the way you want it.
Yes. We keep your pattern on file and re-cut without an argument if the fit needs to move before the wedding. Bring the blouse in, or courier it if you are abroad, and we return it fitted.
We would rather give you the arithmetic than a range with nothing behind it.
From around ₹35,000 for a lighter piece, and ₹1.25 lakh to ₹5 lakh for bridal weights with full pure zari, korvai borders and temple pallus. The price follows the weight of real zari and the loom hours, not the label.
From around ₹28,000, reaching ₹2.5 lakh to ₹4 lakh for heavy kadhwa or jangla bridal work. Katan silk sits lower than a fully brocaded piece because the loom time is shorter.
Every warp and weft thread is tied, dyed and aligned by hand, and one saree can occupy two weavers for four to seven months. Genuine Patan double ikat rarely falls below ₹1.8 lakh. Anything cheaper is Rajkot single ikat.
We price honestly rather than high, so there is little room to discount. What we do instead is show you the arithmetic behind the ticket, the zari, the weight and the loom hours, so you can judge whether the piece is worth it.
Roughly a third of our patrons choose over video and never see the shop until the wedding week.
A forty five minute call under natural light. We drape each piece on form, film the reverse, pull a zari thread on camera if you ask, and give you the weight in grams. Nothing is colour corrected afterwards.
Book a video viewingInsured and documented shipping to the US, UK, UAE, Singapore, Australia and Canada, and most other destinations on request. Every piece is filmed before packing so you can see what left Hyderabad.
For NRI bridesYes. Courier a reference blouse or follow our sixteen point body chart, and we fit test with you over video before shipping. If anything is off, we re-cut and ship both ways at our cost.
Tell us within seven days of delivery. Unworn pieces with tags intact can be exchanged, and we will pay the return shipping where the fault is ours. We would rather take a piece back than have it sit unworn in a cupboard.
How to make a saree outlive you, which is the only real test of an heirloom.
Folded in unbleached muslin, never plastic, away from direct light, and refolded along fresh creases every six months so the zari never sits on a permanent line. Keep a neem leaf or a dried vetiver bundle nearby rather than naphthalene.
Only by someone who handles zari regularly, and only when it genuinely needs it. Most sarees need airing rather than cleaning. Overcleaning is the most common way a good zari border is ruined.
Usually yes. We re-edge worn pallus, replace fall and pico, remount a strong border onto new silk, and cut a modern blouse from the original body when the cloth allows. Bring the piece in and we will tell you plainly what is possible.
Restyling guides in the journalSixty years and beyond with correct storage, which is why they are passed down. A powerloom piece with tested zari usually dulls in eight to fifteen years, whatever it looked like on the day it was bought.
Still deciding
Weight in grams, the zari pull, whether a piece is worth its ticket. Bring it up at the Jubilee Hills atelier or on a video call, and you will get a plain answer rather than a sales one.
