Jaipur has long been shaped by craft, architecture and adornment. Founded in 1727, the city became an important centre for skilled artisans, jewellers and gemstone cutters, establishing a jewellery tradition that continues today.
Now, Jaipur is experiencing renewed attention across fashion, interiors and travel. Yet the craftsmanship, colour and ornamentation currently captivating the world have been part of the city's visual language for centuries.
For Amrapali, Jaipur is more than an inspiration. It is where we were founded in 1978, where our jewellery is made, and where our story began.
A City Built Around Craft
Jaipur has always been a hub for creatives. From gemstone cutting, enamelling, engraving and stone setting, the craft of jewellery developed through highly specialised workshops, with knowledge often passed between generations. Jaipur's Johari Bazaar (its historic jewellers' market) still reflects the importance of jewellery to the commercial and cultural identity of the city.
This relationship between place and craft is one of the reasons Jaipur remains so important to us. Jewellery here is not an industry that exists separately from the city; it is part of its history.
From Architecture to Adornment
The relationship between Jaipur's architecture and jewellery is particularly visible. Geometric jali screens, floral carvings, repeated arches and decorative borders appear throughout the city's palaces and historic buildings, with the same principles of symmetry, geometry and ornament found in traditional Rajasthani jewellery.
A pattern carved into a palace wall can become a motif small enough to wear on the body. This can be seen in our Mini Rajasthan collection, where architectural forms and decorative motifs associated with Jaipur are reinterpreted through precious metals, coloured gemstones and intricate detailing.
It is an exchange between architecture and adornment that continues to inform our design language at Amrapali.
Jaipur and the Gemstone Trade
Jaipur has been an important centre for coloured gemstones for centuries and remains internationally recognised for gemstone cutting and jewellery production.
This heritage is central to the way we create at Amrapali. Our jewellery is handcrafted in Jaipur by skilled artisans, drawing on specialist techniques that have been refined and passed down through generations. A single piece can move between several craftspeople, from gemstone cutters and setters to engravers and enamellers, with each bringing their own expertise to the finished jewel.
Our use of polki diamonds, richly coloured gemstones, hand-worked gold and intricate enamel reflects this heritage. Rather than seeking uniformity, we celebrate the character of natural stones and the individuality that comes from jewellery made by hand.
It is this combination of exceptional materials, traditional Indian craftsmanship and contemporary design that defines Amrapali, creating jewellery that carries Jaipur's centuries-old knowledge into the present.
Why Jaipur, Why Now?
Jaipur's influence is once again highly visible across contemporary fashion, interiors and travel.
Colour, pattern, decorative interiors and handcrafted objects have returned to the foreground after years in which minimalism dominated much of Western design.
Jaipur’s visual identity is the product of centuries of architecture, trade and craftsmanship. The carved stone, painted surfaces, textiles and jewellery attracting contemporary attention belong to living traditions rather than a newly created aesthetic.
Perhaps this is what feels particularly relevant now. As mass production makes objects increasingly easy to replicate, there is renewed value in understanding who made something, where it came from and the knowledge required to create it.
Jaipur has always understood this.
Collecting India's Jewellery Heritage
Amrapali's own story began with this curiosity about India's jewellery traditions.
Founded in Jaipur in 1978 by Rajiv Arora and Rajesh Ajmera, Amrapali grew from their travels across India and their encounters with jewellery, craftspeople and regional traditions.
Over decades, our founders collected pieces representing the extraordinary diversity of jewellery worn across India. Today, this collection forms the Amrapali Museum in Jaipur.
Its objects demonstrate that jewellery can tell us far more than changing ideas of beauty. Jewellery can communicate geography, community, status, belief, ceremony and identity.
This anthropological approach to jewellery has remained central to Amrapali.
Jaipur is not simply an inspiration for Amrapali. It is part of our identity.