The perak is a cobra-shaped headdress: a padded strap of red cloth over leather that starts at the forehead and runs down the back, studded end to end with rows of turquoise sewn flat into the cloth. Black lambskin flaps cover the ears, a silver or copper gau amulet box sits at the crown, and coral, carnelian and shell fill the gaps between stones.

It is dowry and bank account at once, passed from mother to eldest daughter and readable at a glance: nine rows of turquoise for the queen of Leh, seven for aristocracy, five and three below. This system takes that literally — one dominant vertical band, stones of unequal size crowded edge to edge, and red cloth showing only in the seams.