Jaipur is one of the top places to buy gemstones and jewellery. Since the city was founded in 1727 AD, Jaipur has steadily climbed to the top in the gemstone industry. The founder of Jaipur, Sawai Jai Singh II, created a market or special business area for gemstone & jewellery in Jaipur called Johri Bazaar. The word Johri implies jeweller and bazaar means market. Currently, the by lane of Johari Bazaar has thousands of offices where people are engaged in manufacturing and trading of gemstones as well as jewellery. Jaipur has become a big hub for gemstone buying; traders and jewellers from Jaipur supply coloured gemstones across the world. Naturally, this has attracted many people to visit Jaipur to buy coloured gemstones and jewellery especially the astrological gemstones, also called “Rashi Ratan” in India. Some of the most popular astrology gemstones include ruby, emerald, sapphire, coral, amethyst, to name a few. Travelers have often approached me for recommendations on reliable or authentic shops and traders to buy gemstones and jewellery. While I’m not engaged in either gemstones or jewellery business, I have seen this industry very closely, as an insider. I’m sharing with you some of the tips and recommendations on a general basis. It might be a good primer for buying gemstones and jewellery from Jaipur.

Gemstones and jewellery Buying Guide in Jaipur

In this guide for sourcing gemstones & jewellery in Jaipur, I’m not going to recommend traders and shops. This information on how to buy gemstones is primarily for you to understand how the markets function and how you can avoid being scammed.

What kind of gemstones is Jaipur famous for?

For decades, Jaipur was a very big manufacturing hub for coloured gemstones. This meant a variety of semi-precious and precious gemstones. Diamonds were never part of this; Mumbai and Surat were big manufacturing and trading centres for diamonds in India. However, Jaipur is a big sourcing centre for Polki and flat diamonds because they are used in traditional hand made jewellery.

Jaipur was never a producer of gemstones i.e. there are no mines in Jaipur. Traders in the Pink City source rough gem stones mined across the world and process them here. Over the last two decades, a large number of semi-precious gemstones manufacturing or processing has shifted to China for many reasons. Even then, Jaipur continues to be an important trading centre for these semi-precious coloured gemstones. Some high-value semi-precious gemstones are still processed in Jaipur by hand.

While Bangkok is a big hub for rubies, both trading and manufacturing, Jaipur is an important trading port in India for rubies. The same is true for sapphires.

Jaipur is a global centre for Emerald trading and manufacturing. World’s top emerald traders are based in Jaipur and the city holds a large share in the emerald industry. Emeralds are mined in Africa, South America, and some parts of Asia.

What kind of jewellery is Jaipur famous for?

Jaipur ranks high on heritage handmade jewellery as well as colour stone jewellery. However, over the years, Jaipur jewellers and businesses have extended their offering; this means Jaipur has become a major supplier for all kinds of jewellery and not just handmade heritage jewellery like Kundan Meena Jadau jewellery or colour stone jewellery.

Many companies in Jaipur manufacture and export silver jewellery on a large scale. There is a very high chance in the USA and Europe that jewellery purchased from both online sellers and high end niche jewellery brands source their jewellery from Jaipur. In this regard, Jaipur has moved beyond the previous benchmarks. Jewellers in Jaipur manufacture gold, silver, and metal jewellery with diamonds and colour stones on a large scale.

In the age of fusion jewellery where the customer demands something new, Jaipur offers a huge assortment. Jaipur jewellers are enterprising and are at the forefront when it comes to design innovation in jewellery.

Gemstone Scams in Jaipur

Are there gemstone scams in Jaipur? As with many other tourist destinations, scams are common in Jaipur. The moment one lets their guard down, the chances of being scammed is quite high.

If you want to check if scams are taking place in Jaipur, check out the TripAdvisor forums. Here is one – Jewellery scam in Jaipur.

Forget ordinary tourists and travelers, even well-travelled and high net worth individuals have been conned or scammed. One such instance happened some years ago and the scam was to the tune of Rs. 230 million. This instance would be hard to find on the internet but it is an important lesson for all of us. I’m sharing links to newspapers so you can read more about the incident.

• Times of India: Arrested jeweller might have got a wider network
• Telegraph India: Crore bail for ‘fake’ jeweller
• The Hindu: Jaipur jeweller held for duping HCL chief’s wife

Recently, another scam was reported by a US-based jeweller involving a Jaipur based jeweller. Read: Jaipur scam: US woman tricked into buying Rs. 300 fake jewelry for 6 crores

jewellery scams in Jaipur

One should be extra careful when buying jewellery in Jaipur. While the BIS standard mandates Hallmarking to ensure fairness and reduce gold purity scams, certain types of jewellery are exempt; this includes heritage Indian jewellery i.e. Kundan Meena Polki and Jadau jewellery.

Many jewellers provide certificates to prove the gem quality used in jewellery. Please note that only a few testing labs are reputed and worth accepting their reports. Many scams have been reported where the certificate was either influenced or the labs did not exist. I cannot share the list of reliable certification agencies in this blog.

There have also been reports where items made in silver were passed off as gold. This happened recently with a US-based B2B jewellery buyer over the course of multiple transactions.

With very high quality synthetic gemstones and lab grown diamonds, it has become very difficult even for jewellers to differentiate from the real stones. Therefore, one should tread carefully when buying jewellery. So how does one tread while buying gemstones in Jaipur?

Is every gemstone trader or jeweller a scammer?

No. Not every jeweller or trader is a scammer. In fact, most gemstone traders in Jaipur enjoy a good reputation across the gemstone industry. However, it will be difficult to find such traders. The reason is due to the nature of gemstone businesses, they operate from small offices and serve B2B customers. Accessing these traders as travellers is not easy and they don’t cater to end customers by design. So what should one do? Hunt around and read the next section on tips for buying gems and jewellery in Jaipur.

Tips for buying gemstones and jewellery in Jaipur

Here are some tips when buying coloured gemstones and jewellery in Jaipur.

• There are many shops in Gopal Ji Ka Rasta selling astro stones and other gemstones. These shops target walk-ins and end users. However, they might not offer the best rates or quality. You are unlikely to find the prices mentioned; a norm followed by other industries like garments. The price quoted varies depending on the season, availability, and customers.

• Jaipur is a big gemstone hub. Don’t fall for any stories of offering it cheap from direct factory or wholesaler etc. These are all, at best, “stories” for scamming people. One might hear it from taxi drivers, tour guides, people working in hotels, tuk-tuk drivers, just to name a few. If you are taken for a gemstone factory tour, especially in and around tourist attractions, please don’t fall for the narratives and waste your hard earned money. It might be wiser to spend more money in your own city and ensure you get your worth of money. Scammers would use every technique to create “urgency” or pressure for you to buy.
• Shops in and around tourist attractions in Jaipur cater only to tourists. Avoid.
• A good resource for buying jewellery or gemstones would be a local. Reach out to your friends, relatives, or business contacts.
• If you are making payments against gemstones and jewellery purchases, a credit card is better than paying cash. This works as proof of purchase in case you want to lodge a complaint. Also, many of the banks in the USA and Europe protect buyers in case of fraud.
• Make a video recording of your purchase with the people involved in the sale along with the outlet. This will help you prove the transaction.

In short, here are the takeaways from this gemstone buying guide blog:

1. There are only a few scammers but sometimes it is hard to separate between genuine jewellers and scammers.
2. The advantage of buying gemstones from Jaipur are a huge variety to choose from and competitive prices but you need someone trust worthy to help you reach out to a couple of gemstone traders or jewellers. It might be worth exploring this option if you have a large number of gemstones or jewellery to buy; a case in point, if you are buying for business i.e. B2B

I’m hopeful this guide on gem stone and jewellery buying in Jaipur will help you make an informed decision.