In Jaipur, the trip will not be complete without that “trip” to the Gem Palace.
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| Gem Palace and a sacred Cow. The Cow picked the perfect place 😉 |
Now here’s a VERY important piece of information you will need to know even before you go on your trip to Jaipur– your driver will without a doubt tell you that Gem Palace is not a place they recommend to buy jewelry (or even look at jewelry). Your driver/ guide will probably also tell you that it’s a rather far place or the shop is closed.
DO NOT BELIEVE THEM.
The reason why they’d say that to discourage you from going to them is because they do not get any commission from any purchase you make at the shop. Let me allay your fears now, Gem Palace comes highly recommended. Their prices might be on the high side, but excellent quality is what you get for what will pay for.
I love the interiors of Gem Palace. There is something so “old worldly” about it. Framed photos of celebrities who visited Gem Palace during their trip to Jaipur line their side tables. We’re talking Hollywood royalty Gwyneth Paltrow, Goldie Hawn, and the real royalty like Princess Maxima and Queen Beatrix of Netherlands, and even Prince William and Diana, Princess of Wales!
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| Their “thrones” 🙂 |
Some of their bling include these polki diamond bracelets, bangles, and necklaces
And then there were a lot of statement earrings and rings!
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| No, I didn’t buy it *sob… budget problem*. The carved ruby was so beautiful!! *Lust, lust* |
We met one of the “next” generation of owners, Samir Kasliwal, who entertained us with lovely stories about the visit of Queen Beatrix, Crown Princess Maxima, and Crown Prince Willem- Alexander. And since we were on the subject of royalty, he ended up showing us some of the royalty- worthy pieces made from their workshop above the store.
We held our breaths… and the pieces Samir showed us did NOT disappoint! He brought a few boxes of royalty- worthy jewellery and told us to wear them for a photo!!! We all shrieked with delight, excited at the prospect of being able to “own” (even for just a few seconds hahaha) jewellery that would be better suited on the necks of Royals!
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| Thank you, Samir, for such an amazing experience!!! With Fina, DaphneOP, Salome, and Claudette of CV Travel |
Took a close-up of my favorite pieces from the lot–
This was the one Samir made me wear. I can’t tell you enough how this necklace is really royalty- worthy!! It’s got a massive emerald for a center stone, and very white old cut surrounding diamonds!
This piece is actually a pretty naughty one too 😀 And I found out “by accident”! The emerald part of the necklace opens– it’s a locket 🙂
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| Yaaaagh, Kama Sutra pose painted on the inside of the emerald locket 🙂 Had to blur the image! Blog rated PG 18 lol |
Another piece that was very impressive was this piece, which is made for a turban! Yes, a man can wear elaborate jewellery too *as Samir had demonstrated in the above photo we took*
There was also a gold weave belt with emeralds and diamonds which I forgot to take photos of when it was showed to us *darn!*
It was so surreal to have been in a place where you can actually touch and wear pieces that look like they were reserved only for royalty or for the likes of Lakshmi Mittal and his family.
The Gem Palace trip is going to go down as one of my most memorable jewellery store trips this year 🙂 Thank you to the Kasliwal family for the visually stimulating afternoon at Gem Palace!
(P.S. Select Gem Palace jewellery + Munnu Kasliwal pieces are also available at Barneys New York so no need to go all the way to Jaipur. But ohhh the experience was so worth it!!!)
x
TheBagHag
wow! ganda ng jewelry!
I always love how emeralds sparkles. Do you have some pic of Ms. Salome’s necklace and I love her color blocking 🙂
OMG! i was holding my breath while ogling at these pieces of jewelry. ms. ingrid, i must admit this kind of blog entry brings me to heaven more than your bag blogs. hehehe
This looks amazing, like a real Aladdin’s cave full of treasures. I love it and it looks like you have had a wonderful time so far.
http://modadelamode.blogspot.com/
Beautiful pieces! Love the idea of the piece being a locket. =)
Lovely photos, your trip looks amazing.
thank you!
did anyone buy anything? beautiful pix ms. ingrid.
Can you give the ballpark price of the bangles and the carved ruby ring? And does the store accept credit card?
Please get in touch with Gem Palace for them. They have an online website. Just google them. I didn’t ask about the bangles and had conveniently forgotten price of the ruby ring– All i remember was, I could not afford it. And yes, they take credit card payments so you can shop away 🙂