Gem shopping In Jaipur

From the moment we crossed into the state of Rajasthan, we noticed the colour of saris of women and young girls becoming more vibrant.

Hot colours of pink, yellow, red and orange blended beautifully with their glistening silver and gold jewellery in the form of earings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, rings and ornamental nose pieces, this being in stark contrast to such dry and arid landscape in muted browns and reds. On entering the pink city of Jaipur, we had the afternoon free from touring, so with visions still fresh in our minds of the jewellery we had seen, decided to go shopping. Jaipur, the world’s largest gem cutting center, is one of the best places in India to buy gems and jewellery with a history dating centuries. We ended up at a bazaar called Siredeori, simply a very busy street lined with many jewellery stores on one side and textile stores on the other.

In the shop windows were displays of beautiful silver and gold pieces adorned with precious stones including emeralds and sapphires, necklaces of garnet, green onyx, ruby and tourmaline – anything you desire. Along the roadside were smaller vendors with mats on the ground selling all kinds and sizes of loose gems simply displayed in small piles, vigorous trading taking place at some stalls. This seems very much to be a man’s domain, we found no women selling from any of the shops we entered.

After feeling totally confused about what we might want to buy, we ended up at a small open stall located between shops, in absolute chaos, bags of jewellery all over the floor and a messy counter so covered over with silver trinkets, there was hardly any room for serving. We immediately were taken with the wide engraved silver bracelets in the glass counter at the front of the store. Finding one each we really liked, decided we would be better off bargaining as a pair rather than separately. By this time the owner of the store had spotted us in his shop (from wherever he was) and came rushing in to give us the ‘best’ deal. Unfortunately our hopes of getting 50% off were dashed, we could get no lower than about 20% off the price. We had been prewarned that 20% may be the maximum amount we could get off an item, depending on the store. By this stage we REALLY wanted the bracelets and ended up paying about AUD$40 each. At the same time I spotted strings of cut garnets and decided that I had to have a necklace, since this was my birthstone. I decided to get 4 strings made up into a very long double necklace, about 60 inches in fact. They restrung them on the spot and then they were weighed to determine price (as with the bracelets). Final price was about AUD$90. Did we get a good buy – no, I think we could have done a little better – but were we happy with what we got – definitely yes!

In general some stores had over-inflated prices which came down considerably as you walked out the door, others we entered (with Indian women shopping inside mainly for wedding jewellery) had fixed prices, but very reasonable, so the old saying goes ‘shop around before you buy’. Do not allow strangers to guide you into a shop with ‘the best prices’ as this person is only looking at getting commission from any purchases you make, and prices will be much higher because of this.

Jaipur is also noted for its rich and varied handicrafts. Since ancient times, the royalty of Jaipur patronized the craftsmen and artisans, which led to flourishing of arts and crafts in the state. Numerous textile shops can be found throughout the city selling everything from saris to homewares. It pays to do your homework first, that pashmina or silk scarf may only be synthetic.

Our tour of Rajasthan leads us to ancient cities, all with a rich heritage, and this is reflected in the fantastic wares to be found in the shops, a sample of which is shown below.