Tulika Wooden Earrings – Engraved Boxwood Disc with Ebony Inlay Rim

Tulika Wooden Earrings – Hand-Engraved Boxwood Disc with Ebony Inlay Rim & Padauk Square

Tulika is the Sanskrit word for a paintbrush, and the name is earned rather than borrowed. The floral spray across the face of this disc was not printed, transferred or painted on. It was drawn into the wood by hand, line by line, with a cutting tool.

At the lobe sits a square of deep red Padauk, turned to stand on its point and left completely plain. Below it, on a metal ring, hangs a round disc of pale gold Boxwood, domed at the centre. Across the lower half of that dome runs an engraved arrangement of leaves and flowers, opening outward from the centre and thinning as it reaches the edges. Around the whole rim, a continuous ring of black Ebony is inlaid into the Boxwood and polished flush.

Three woods, two techniques, one disc. The pair weighs 10 g.

What Tulika is made from

• Upper element: plain Padauk square, set on point
• Lower element: domed Boxwood disc, hand-engraved with a floral spray and rimmed with an inlaid Ebony ring
• Woods: three — Padauk (African Coral Wood) at the lobe, Boxwood for the disc, Ebony for the inlaid rim
• Colour: every tone is the wood's own — Padauk's deep red, Boxwood's honey gold, Ebony's black, each deepened by cutting and polishing. No dye, stain or paint anywhere on this pair
• Findings: metal alloy hook with a metal ring joining the two elements
• Weight: 10 g per pair
• Sold as: one pair
• Made in: India, from responsibly repurposed exotic hardwoods, handcrafted by skilled artisans

Engraving on a curved face

Engraving cuts the design into the wood itself. There is no ink and no layer sitting on top — what you see is a shallow channel, and the darker tone in the line is the cut edge of the grain catching the light differently from the polished surface around it.

Doing this on a flat panel is difficult enough. Doing it on a dome is harder, because the surface falls away from the tool in every direction at once. The artisan cannot rest a straight edge anywhere or work to a guide line, and the depth of cut has to change continuously as the curve steepens toward the rim. Cut too shallow near the edge and the line disappears; cut too deep and it breaks through the polish.

There is also no undo. An engraved line cannot be filled back in. Every stroke on Tulika is final at the moment it is made, which is why the design is drawn thinning outward rather than filling the whole face — the artisan is working with the curve, not against it.

The hardest part is the ring

The black border is not a painted edge and not a separate piece slipped over the disc. It is inlay: a channel is cut into the Boxwood all the way around the circumference, a strip of Ebony is set into it, and the whole face is then levelled and polished until the join disappears.

A straight inlay line is demanding enough — the channel has to match the width of the strip exactly, or a pale seam shows alongside the black. A circular one adds two problems on top. The Ebony has to bend to follow the curve without splitting, and the channel has to hold a constant width and depth through a full 360 degrees, returning to meet its own starting point. Any error accumulates as the cut travels round, and it all lands in one place at the close. There is nowhere to hide it.

Engraving and inlay are different disciplines, and most pieces use one or the other. Tulika runs both across a single curved face, which is why it carries more bench time than a disc of its size would suggest.

Why the square is left plain

The Padauk square carries no pattern at all, and that is deliberate. The disc below is already dense with line work and framed in black. A second decorated element would compete with it, and at earring scale the eye would simply give up on both. The flat red gives the eye somewhere to land before it reaches the engraving.

How to style Tulika

• Sarees: excellent with handloom, tussar, cotton and silk in maroon, rust, mustard, cream, black and deep green; a plain or minimally worked blouse lets the engraving read
• Festive and wedding wear: Durga Puja, Navratri, Diwali, mehendi and daytime functions — warm wood holds its colour under sunlight where metal tends to flare
• Kurtas and indo-western sets: solid colours only; the disc is doing the detail
• Western wear: cream and rust linen, black, earth tones, clean necklines
• Hair back or up: the disc is the largest element on the pair and deserves the room

One caution: keep prints away from this one. A floral outfit and a floral engraving at close range cancel each other out entirely.

Caring for your Tulika earrings

• Put your earrings on after perfume, makeup and skincare have settled
• Take them off before bathing, swimming or exercising — moisture is what stresses engraved lines and inlay channels over time
• Wipe gently with a soft, dry cloth after each wear; a soft dry brush lifts dust out of the engraved lines if it settles in them
• Store in the box or pouch provided, away from moisture, direct sunlight and heat
• Lift and remove by the metal findings, not by the wooden body

Related designs

• Kalika — hand-engraved Boxwood rounds, with an Ebony disc above instead of Padauk
• Gulmohar — Boxwood and Padauk again, engraved as a flowering branch
• Kavita — Ebony inlay taken across the face of the disc rather than around its rim
• Madhulika — engraving taken edge to edge, flowers and butterflies with no empty ground
• Flora — engraving kept to a border, with the centre left plain

Shipping

Dispatched within 2–3 working days. Free shipping on prepaid orders within India; delivery is typically 2–3 days to metro cities and 5–7 days elsewhere in India. Cash on Delivery is available at selected locations with a ₹50 cash-handling charge. Tulika ships worldwide, arriving within 5–10 days of your order — import duties and local taxes are payable by the recipient.

Frequently asked questions

Is the floral design printed or painted on?
Neither. It is engraved — cut into the surface of the Boxwood by hand with a tool. Run a fingertip across it and you can feel the lines.

What is the black ring around the edge?
Inlaid Ebony. A channel is cut around the full circumference of the Boxwood disc, a strip of Ebony is set into it, and the surface is then polished flush. It is not paint and not a separate ring slipped over the edge.

What woods are used?
Three. Padauk — also called African Coral Wood — for the square at the lobe, Boxwood for the disc, and Ebony for the inlaid rim.

What is the difference between engraving and inlay?
Engraving cuts a line into the wood and leaves it open. Inlay cuts a channel and fills it with a different wood, then polishes the whole surface level. Tulika uses both on the same disc — engraved flowers, inlaid rim.

What makes the engraved lines darker than the wood?
The cut itself. An engraved channel exposes the raw edge of the grain, which catches light differently from the polished surface beside it. There is no ink involved.

Is the red wood dyed?
No. Padauk is naturally a deep orange-red in the log and deepens further as it is cut and polished. The Boxwood's honey gold and the Ebony's black are equally their own.

Why is a circular inlay harder than a straight one?
The Ebony has to follow the curve without splitting, and the channel must hold a constant width and depth through a full 360 degrees before returning to meet its own starting point. Any error accumulates as the cut travels round and lands all in one place at the close.

Why is engraving on a domed disc harder than on a flat one?
Because the surface falls away from the tool in every direction. There is no straight edge to work against and the depth of cut has to change continuously as the curve steepens toward the rim.

How much do they weigh?
10 g the pair. A metal earring of the same size would weigh several times that, which is why wood suits large discs — the size is visual rather than physical.

Will the engraving or the inlay wear off?
Neither. The engraved lines are cut into the wood and the Ebony rim runs into it, so there is no surface layer to rub away. Keeping the pair dry is what protects both over the long term.

Will the colours fade?
None of the three woods is dyed, so there is no colour to fade or bleed. All of them deepen slightly with age, which tends to sharpen the contrast rather than soften it. Keep them out of direct sunlight.

Are wooden earrings strong enough for regular wear?
Boxwood, Padauk and Ebony are all dense hardwoods, and each pair is hand-finished and quality-checked before it leaves us. Tulika handles regular wear. What it does not handle is being dropped onto tile or stone.

What if they get wet?
Dry them straight away with a soft cloth and leave them in open air before storing. Brief contact is survivable; soaking, swimming and showering are not.

How do I clean dust out of the engraved lines?
A soft, dry brush — a clean makeup brush works well. Do not use water, and do not pick at the lines with anything hard.

What are the hooks made of?
Metal alloy, with a metal ring joining the two elements. The wooden body — the part against your ear — is bare hardwood with no plating or coating. If your ears react easily to metal, please write to us before ordering.

Do these work with sarees?
Very well, provided the drape is not itself floral or busily printed. Handloom, tussar and plain silks in maroon, rust, mustard, cream and black are the natural matches.

Will my pair look exactly like the photographs?
The design will match. The exact line work will not, because every stroke is cut by hand and no two engravings come out identical. The grain in each of the three woods differs pair to pair as well.

Something arrived damaged — what do I do?
Write to us within 48 hours with photographs and your unboxing video. The video is required for damage, missing and wrong-item claims, so please film yourself opening the parcel — it is much easier than sorting it out afterwards.

Do you ship internationally?
Yes, worldwide. Orders generally arrive within 5–10 days. Import duties, customs and local taxes are payable by the recipient, not included in what you pay us.