Paper packets and green fire
For a visitor, all this is a pleasure and a risk. The pleasure is seeing a craft at work in lanes tourists rarely enter, and choosing a stone from the people who cut it. The risk is that a city full of gems is also full of people who want to sell you one.
The gem market: it has looked much the same for generations.
A city built for trade: when Sawai Jai Singh II laid out Jaipur in 1727, he planned a city of commerce as well as a royal capital, and invited merchants and craftsmen to settle.
- Gem lanes
- Gopalji ka Rasta, Haldiyon ka Rasta
- Jewellers' street
- Johari Bazaar, Badi Chaupar to Sanganeri Gate
- Speciality
- Emeralds
- Rough from
- Africa, South America and Asia
- Court crafts
- Kundan and meenakari
- Lapidaries from Delhi: an old account holds that he encouraged stone cutters who had worked at the Mughal court to move to his new city.
- Johari Bazaar: from johari, a jeweller, it runs south from Badi Chaupar to Sanganeri Gate, and nearly three centuries later it is still the jewellers' quarter.
- A world centre: Jaipur became one of the great cutting and trading centres for coloured gemstones.
- From rough to polished: stones from mines across Africa, South America and Asia are sawn, shaped, faceted and polished in thousands of small workshops, then sold to jewellers in India and abroad.
- Emeralds: the speciality. Much of the rough now comes from Zambia and Brazil, and Jaipur ranks among the leading emerald-cutting centres anywhere.
- Every other stone: rubies, sapphires, garnets, tourmalines, tanzanite, aquamarines and dozens more pass through the same hands.
- Court traditions kept alive: setters still practise kundan, stones in pure gold foil, and enamellers meenakari, bright enamel fired onto gold and silver.
- Brides and global houses: bridal sets made here are worn at weddings across India, and the same workshops make pieces for international jewellery houses.
The crafts behind a piece of Jaipur jewellery
- Kundan
- Stones set in pure gold foil
- Meenakari
- Enamel fired onto gold or silver
- Polki
- Largely uncut diamonds
- Thewa
- Gold sheet fused on glass, Pratapgarh
- Borla
- A married woman's forehead ornament
Cutting and polishing, the lapidaries
At the lap: cutters steady the stone on a stick of wax or a dop and grind it against wheels of graded abrasive, checking the angle by eye every few seconds.
- Where they work: many still sit in small rooms off the lanes, sometimes in family groups.
- Reading the rough: a good cutter sees where the colour is richest and where the flaws are, aiming for the most beautiful stone rather than the heaviest.
- The lesson: watching one explains why two emeralds of the same size can differ so much in price.
Kundan, gold foil and patience
The method: a frame is filled with lac, then thin strips of pure gold are pressed around each stone and burnished until they grip it.
- No claws: it lets stones of irregular shape be set, with the deep, glowing look of Rajput and Mughal jewellery.
- In our family: our grandmothers' wedding necklaces were kundan, and many Jaipur brides still wear it.
Meenakari, enamel in fire
The method: coloured glass powders laid into engraved channels in gold or silver and fired one colour at a time, starting with those that need the highest heat.
- The hidden garden: on many kundan pieces the back is enamelled as richly as the front, with parrots and flowers only the wearer sees.
- Jaipur's reds: its enamellers are famous for them.
- The legend: tradition holds that Raja Man Singh I brought the craft to Amer in the sixteenth century, though that is hard to prove.
Polki, the uncut diamond
The stone: diamonds left largely uncut, with a flat or gently faceted surface, set in kundan.
- Glow, not sparkle: they are the diamonds of old Indian portraits.
- Buy with care: good polki is expensive and deserves the same care as any fine diamond.
Silver and the jewellery of the villages
Wealth worn: village women wear the borla or rakhdi, a round forehead ornament of married women, plus nose rings, heavy anklets, armlets called bajuband and stiff neck rings.
- Mostly silver: and much of it beautiful.
- Old and new: old pieces turn up in dealers' shops, and new ones are made in Jaipur and Jodhpur.
- What each piece means: our guide to Rajasthani jewellery explains.
Thewa and lac
Thewa: from Pratapgarh in southern Rajasthan, finely worked gold sheet fused onto coloured glass.
- Lac bangles: on Maniharon ka Rasta, off Tripolia Bazaar, families shape them over charcoal and press glass and stones into the warm lac.
- A lovely gift: a set of lac bangles costs little.
Where we take you
The gem lanes behind Johari Bazaar
With a local guide: one who grew up in the walled city, through Gopalji ka Rasta and Haldiyon ka Rasta, where the dealers trade and the cutters work.
- What you see: stones bought and sold from paper packets on the street, and, with a family we know, a cutting room where a stone is being faceted.
- No selling: this is a working market, not a tourist one, and we keep it that way by visiting quietly.
- The lanes described: our guide to the bazaars of Jaipur.
A kundan and meenakari workshop
Small workshops: in the old city, with craftsmen who set kundan and fire enamel.
- What you see: foil being burnished, colours laid into gold and the little kilns where each colour is fired.
- Slow, exacting and proud: ask to see the back of a finished piece.
A morning with a goldsmith
The sunars: behind the Johari Bazaar showrooms, goldsmiths work at low benches in rooms the size of a cupboard, with a blowpipe, a tiny anvil and tools older than they are.
- An hour on the bench: you watch him draw gold into wire, solder a setting or raise the domed back of a pendant.
- The most memorable room: the least glamorous in the trade, and many guests' favourite.
- Ask who taught him: the answer is almost always his father.
A family jeweller, for buying and designing
Who: established family jewellers we have known for many years, whose firms have served Jaipur families for generations.
- What they do: show loose stones and finished pieces and explain qualities honestly.
- Paperwork: a written description of what you buy, and certification from an independent laboratory for valuable stones.
- Made to order: several will design and make a piece during your stay.
The collections
The City Palace: the costume and textile galleries of the City Palace show Rajasthani jewellery at its height.
- The Amrapali Museum: a private collection of Indian jewellery and silver objects in the city.
- Why first: looking at old pieces before you shop sharpens your eye wonderfully.
Beyond Jaipur
Jodhpur: in Jodhpur, the lanes around the clock tower have silversmiths and dealers in old tribal jewellery.
- Udaipur: in Udaipur, silver and enamel workshops sit near the palace, and thewa from Pratapgarh can be found there.
- Bikaner and Shekhawati: in Bikaner and the towns of Shekhawati, old merchant families still buy and wear heavy gold for weddings, and the bazaars show it.
Designing a piece of your own
Is it cheaper than buying at home? Sometimes, sometimes not, and that should not be the reason. The reason is to own a piece of Jaipur made by people whose families have made jewellery here for generations, with a stone you watched being cut.
Day one: we take you to a family jeweller we trust, and you look at loose stones together.
Every stone explained: colour, clarity, cut and origin, and what certification is available.
- Tell us
- Before you arrive
- Allow
- Three or four nights in Jaipur
- Making time
- A few days to a week or more
- You receive
- A written description and lab certificate
- Short stay
- Insured shipping, tracked by us
- Take your time: a good jeweller will happily show you twenty emeralds, talk about every one and not mind if you go away to think.
- Then the design: some guests bring a drawing or a photograph of a grandmother's ring.
- In the Jaipur style: a kundan pendant with an enamelled back, earrings in the shape of old jhumkas, the bell-shaped earrings of Rajasthan, or a simple modern setting that lets the stone speak.
- Agreed in advance: the jeweller sketches, you agree the metal, the weight and the price, and work begins.
- Changes: most jewellers show you the piece before it is finished, so you can ask for changes.
- On collection: a written description of stones and metal and, for significant stones, a certificate from an independent laboratory.
- If time runs out: the jeweller ships it to you insured, and we follow it until it arrives.
- More advice: our journal piece on gem shopping in Jaipur.
The scam, and how to buy safely
How it starts: a pleasant stranger, often a fellow traveller or a smartly dressed young man, strikes up a conversation in a cafe or outside a monument.
The story: a family export business, a tax rule limiting what they can send abroad, and a friend in your country who will buy the stones at a handsome profit.
The ask: would you carry some, or buy some yourself to sell at home?
- Strangers
- Never buy from them
- Carrying gems abroad
- Never, for anyone
- Certificates
- Independent laboratory only
- Payment
- By card; keep every receipt
- Shipping
- Only if we arrange it
- How it ends: the traveller pays a great deal for stones worth very little, and the friend at home never answers the phone.
- Gentler versions: the guide who insists on a showroom, the driver with a factory offering special prices today, the shop that posts your purchase home and posts something else.
- Never buy from a stranger: however charming, and never buy stones as an investment to resell.
- Never carry: gems, jewellery or anything else abroad for anyone you have just met.
- Ignore suggested shops: from any driver, guide or stranger you didn't choose. Our guides are paid never to take commissions.
- Established jewellers only: with a written description of the stone, its weight, any treatment and the metal.
- Valuable stones: ask for a certificate from an independent, recognised gem laboratory, or have it tested before you pay.
- Read the bill: gold is priced by weight at that day's rate, plus a separate making charge for the craftsmanship. A good jeweller shows you both lines.
- Keep records: pay by card where possible, keep every receipt and certificate, and photograph the piece before it is packed.
- Shipping: take your purchase with you, or let us arrange insured, tracked shipping. Don't let a shop post it unless we have arranged it.
What to ask about a stone
Natural, treated or made in a laboratory?
Treatment is normal: many gemstones are treated to improve colour or clarity, but it should always be disclosed.
Emeralds: commonly filled with oil or resin to make small fissures less visible.
- Rubies: some are heated, and some are filled with glass, which lowers their value considerably.
- Synthetics: grown in a laboratory, they can be chemically identical to natural stones and much cheaper.
- Ask plainly: a good jeweller will tell you which you are looking at.
Colour, clarity and cut
Colour first: with coloured stones, hue, depth and how evenly it is spread matter most.
- The garden: a few inclusions are expected in emeralds, and the trade calls them the stone's garden.
- The cut: a good one brings the colour alive.
- Compare side by side: in daylight as well as under shop lights, and the differences become obvious.
Certificates
Independent reports: for any significant purchase, from a gem laboratory that identifies the stone, states whether it is natural and describes treatments.
- In Jaipur: long-established testing laboratories, and international reports are available for important stones.
- Not the same thing: a certificate from the shop itself.
Carats, stone families and gold
Two kinds of carat: a gem carat is a weight, one fifth of a gram. A gold carat measures purity, and 24 carat is pure gold.
22 carat: the traditional standard for Indian gold jewellery, about 91.6 per cent gold, stamped 916 on hallmarked pieces.
- The hallmark: look for the Bureau of Indian Standards mark, and ask the jeweller to show it to you before you pay.
- Stone families: emerald and aquamarine are both beryl, and ruby and sapphire are both corundum, so jewellers often speak of them in pairs.
- Put it in writing: ask for the stone's weight in carats and the metal's purity to be written on your receipt.
Stones for the planets
Astrology: many Indian families buy gemstones on an astrologer's advice, to strengthen the influence of a particular planet.
- The navaratna: a setting of nine stones for the nine planets, in every jeweller's window.
- Same rules apply: a good jeweller will explain the tradition respectfully.
When to go, and the right hour
October to March: the most comfortable season for the lanes, and the wedding season, when brides and families crowd Johari Bazaar choosing sets.
Book ahead: the best shops are busy then, so we make appointments with family jewellers in advance.
Before Diwali: the days before Diwali, in October or November, are the busiest, with the whole bazaar lit end to end.
- Best season
- October to March, also wedding season
- Busiest days
- Before Diwali, especially Dhanteras
- Workshops
- Late morning on a weekday
- Bazaar
- Late afternoon into evening
- Teej
- Monsoon; bangles and leheriya
- Dhanteras: the day Hindu families traditionally buy gold or metal for luck, busiest of all.
- Workshops and gem lanes: late morning on a weekday, when cutters are at work and dealers are trading.
- The bazaar: liveliest from late afternoon into early evening, as the heat goes and families come out to shop.
- Closing days: many walled-city shops close one day a week and the gem market keeps its own rhythm, so we check before we go.
- April to June: quieter bazaars and very hot lanes by midday, so we go early.
- The monsoon: the weeks before Teej bring leheriya saris and ghevar to Johari Bazaar, and women buy bangles and jewellery for the festival.
Who will love it, and a word on etiquette
Who will love it
The curious: anyone interested in how things are made enjoys a morning with the cutters and setters.
- Collectors: they want a day for workshops and collections and a second for buying or designing.
- Couples and families: couples choose engagement or anniversary stones, and families have pieces made for a birthday or wedding.
- Children: they prefer the lac-bangle makers to the cutting rooms, and a set shaped in front of them is treasured.
Etiquette in a jeweller's shop
Like a private home: accept the tea offered, sit when asked and take your time.
Photographs: don't photograph stones, people or a workshop without asking, and accept a no.
- In the gem lanes: keep a respectful distance from dealers' packets, and never touch a stone on a dealer's cloth unless invited.
- Bargaining: normal in the bazaar, but fine pieces in a family jeweller's shop are discussed calmly rather than haggled over.
- Our grandmother's rule: never bargain for anything you don't want to buy.
Who it suits less well
- Uneasy around selling: or wanting crafts in a gallery setting.
- The better plan: the City Palace galleries and jewellery collections, then an hour with a single trusted jeweller.
Fitting it into a Jaipur stay
A crafts day
Morning: a block-printing family in Bagru.
- Afternoon: lunch in the city, then the gem lanes and a kundan workshop, or a blue pottery studio.
- All the makers: our page on block printing and crafts.
With the old city
- The order: Hawa Mahal at sunrise, the bazaars as they open, the City Palace, then Gopalji ka Rasta to end the morning.
- The days laid out: our Jaipur itinerary.
Where to stay
Near the jewellers: Samode Haveli and The Raj Palace are inside or beside the walled city, a short walk or rickshaw ride away.
- The grand choice: Rambagh Palace, once the home of Maharani Gayatri Devi, whose jewels were famous.
- Compare them: our guide to luxury hotels in Jaipur.