If your red pola bangle needs matching ear tops, the counter will show you pola earrings. Most are small 22K gold studs with a red centre, made in the style of the Bengali pola. Before you pick one, find a single number on the tag: net weight. That figure, not the weight on the scale, decides what you pay for gold.

It matters more than you'd think. Across our own ten pola earrings, gold makes up only 20% to 32% of the listed gross weight. So a bill that charges gold rate on the full weight charges gold rate for the red.

Three checks matter more than the design. How much of the piece is gold. What the red is made of. Whether a hallmark applies at this size.

What pola earrings are, and what they are not

The name comes from the red pola bangle. Married Bengali women wear it beside the white shakha. Our guide to shakha pola bangles and their meaning covers that custom in full. The earrings borrow only its colours: red, framed in gold.

They are not an old ritual ornament. The Global InCH entry on traditional jewellery of West Bengal lists Bengal's ear ornaments. They are kaan, makri, kaanbala, jhumka and dool. Pola isn't on that list. We also found no source that places earrings inside the shakha-pola custom.

So treat pola earrings as Bengali-style ear tops. In most Bengali homes, "tops" simply means studs, and that's what most pola earrings are. If you want the heavy traditional piece that covers the whole ear, that's a different ornament. Our kaan earrings design guide covers it.

Check our Gold Pola Designs Guide !

What the red is made of: lacquer, enamel or coral

Today, the red on a pola earring is almost always lacquer or enamel. Lacquer, or lac, is a natural resin that's coloured and set into gold. Enamel is coloured glass fused onto metal with heat. Enamel usually looks glossier, while lac tends to look softer.

Labels don't settle it, though. Our heart pola earring (SKU 59/26) is tagged "enamel work". Another seller's listing files the red under "stone type". Neither label proves the material, so ask the counter directly and get the answer on the bill.

Is pola lacquer or coral?

You'll still read online that pola is red coral. Several jewellery blogs repeat it. For the pola earrings sold today, that claim is out of date.

Coral also carries legal weight. According to Mongabay India's explainer on coral protection, Indian law gives corals its highest level of legal protection. That protection sits under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. If a seller calls a pola earring natural coral, ask them to write that on the invoice. Then ask where the coral came from.

Pola earring designs you'll see at the counter

Most designs fall into a few families. Browse the full range in our pola earrings collection, and find bangles to match in the wider pola collection. For the same shapes on bangles, see the lal pola design guide.

Pola ear tops and pola stud earrings

These are flat red studs that sit close to the lobe. Nothing hangs, so nothing catches on a dupatta or a phone. That makes lightweight pola earrings for daily wear the practical pick.

Pola ear tops under 2 grams are easy to find. The weight table further down lists four of ours.

Heart, star, lotus and floral pola earrings

Shape changes the look far more than the gold. In our range, gross weight climbs from 1.56 g to 2.97 g. Net gold barely moves, from 0.47 g to 0.60 g. A bigger design mostly adds red, not gold.

That's useful if you want presence without paying for much more gold. A lotus or floral top looks fuller from across a room.

Paan-shaped and carved sphere pola earrings

Paan-shaped tops use the betel-leaf outline common in Bengali design. Carved sphere studs give you a rounded red body with gold detail. Both appear in Kolkata listings, and both read as festive.

Be sure to check our Ring Collections Guide !

How much of a pola earring is actually gold

Net weight vs gross weight on the tag

Gross weight is the whole piece on the scale. Net weight is the gold alone. The gap between them is the red and anything else that isn't gold.

Here's why that matters. Our heart pola earring, SKU 59/26, lists 0.52 g net against 2.03 g gross. That means gold is about 26% of the piece. A pola ear top from another seller lists 1.710 g net in 3.540 g gross, so roughly 48% gold. Same category, very different gold content.

Gold share across our ten pola earring listings

These figures come from our product pages as listed on 23 September 2026. All ten are 22K gold pola earrings.

Design (SKU)

Net gold

Gross weight

Gold share

Star (59/40)

0.47 g

1.56 g

30%

Petal (59/31)

0.52 g

1.60 g

32%

Diamond (59/39)

0.54 g

1.73 g

31%

Star petal (59/35)

0.56 g

1.82 g

31%

Heart (59/26)

0.52 g

2.03 g

26%

Drop (59/37)

0.54 g

2.03 g

27%

Royal floral (59/36)

0.57 g

2.28 g

25%

Floral (59/28)

0.59 g

2.55 g

23%

Swirl (59/34)

0.57 g

2.72 g

21%

Lotus (59/27)

0.60 g

2.97 g

20%

Gold share here is net weight divided by gross weight, rounded.

What sets gold pola earrings price in Kolkata

The price of gold pola earrings should follow one formula. First, net gold weight times the day's 22K rate. Next, add the making charge, which is the labour cost. Then add GST.

On GST, the CBEC's sectoral FAQ on gems and jewellery is clear. GST is 3% of the total transaction value, whether or not the making charge is shown separately.

We don't print rupee prices here, because the 22K rate moves every day. Check today's gold rate in Kolkata, then run the numbers through our gold calculator for jewellery bills. If a bill multiplies gross weight by the gold rate, ask for it to be redone on net weight.

Hallmark and HUID rules for pieces near 2 grams

Hallmarking is compulsory where you're most likely shopping. Kolkata and North 24 Parganas both appear on the BIS list of districts under mandatory gold hallmarking. Both were in the first phase, dated 23 June 2021.

Pola earrings sit right at the exemption line, though. The BIS hallmarking FAQ for jewellers exempts "an article with weight less than two grams". Another answer on the same page says "weighing upto 2 grams". Neither answer says whether gross or net weight counts.

That gap matters here. Four of our ten pieces are under 2 g gross, yet all ten are under 1 g net. The same BIS page also exempts jewellers with annual turnover up to ₹40 lakh.

So a missing HUID, the six-digit hallmark code, is not proof of fraud on its own. For hallmarked pieces, BIS says the bill must show the net weight of precious metal. It must also show purity in carat and fineness, plus the hallmarking charge. Putting the HUID on the invoice is voluntary, per the same FAQ.

For more on small studs, read our gold ear tops design and weight guide. Our guide to 2 gram gold earrings for daily use goes deeper on light pieces.

What to ask at the counter before you pay

  1. Ask whether this piece is hallmarked. If yes, look for the BIS logo, the purity mark and the six-digit HUID.

  2. If it isn't hallmarked, ask why, and get the purity written on the bill anyway.

  3. Ask for both net and gross weight on the invoice, even though BIS only requires net weight.

  4. Ask what the red is, lacquer or enamel, and have that written down too.

Who can wear pola earrings, and when

Anyone can buy them. No rule we could find ties earrings to marriage. The marriage meaning sits with the shakha pola bangles, and the earrings only share the colours.

Wearing is a family matter, though. Some households keep red-and-white jewellery for married women, and others don't mind at all. If you're unmarried and unsure, ask at home. It's a custom question, not a legal one.

Pola earrings for Durga Puja and weddings

Durga Puja 2026 falls in mid-October. Published calendars differ by a day on the main dates, so check your own panjika. Pola earrings also sit well with a red-bordered saree, a common Puja choice.

For a wedding, they work well on guests and on the bride's days after the ceremony. Families building a trousseau often add light pola tops for everyday wear after the wedding. Our bridal jewellery guide covers the heavier bridal pieces.

Matching pola earrings with shakha pola and noa

Start with the red. Red pola earrings in lacquer and enamel rarely match exactly, because the finishes differ. Bring your bangle along, or buy the earrings and bangle together.

Next, match the gold work. If you wear pola badhano, a pola bound in patterned gold, pick tops with a similar pattern. A plain pola looks best beside simple studs.

The noa (loha), the iron marriage bangle, is often cased in gold today. Our gold noa design and price guide shows the common finishes, so your earrings can echo the same gold. For a fuller set, the pola necklace design guide covers matching neckwear.

How to clean pola earrings and keep the red bright

Wipe them with a soft, dry cloth after you wear them. Keep them away from sweat, water and perfume, and put perfume on before you put them in. Store each pair on its own so the red doesn't get scratched.

Skip household cleaners and ultrasonic machines, because both can damage lacquer. Also take them off before a bath or sleep.

A dull red usually needs polishing, not replacing. Our product pages offer free lifetime cleaning and polishing at the showroom.

Where to see pola earrings with every weight listed

Every pola earring on our site lists purity, net weight and gross weight. That lets you work out the gold share before you visit. Our shop is in Barasat, near Subhash Maidan on Krishnanagar Road.