Passage to India

THE GUARD SITTING in a plastic garden chair in the Gem Palace garage may or may not be listening as I spell my name for the second time. "Marie-Hélène. I'm here to see Mah-ree Eh-len," I insist, mindful that his reserve could be linked to the millions of dollars in jewels just upstairs. His wobbly head shake becomes more vigorous. "He only knows Gujarati. He says you can go up," a male voice calls out.

French jewelry designer Marie-Hélène de Taillac has agreed to take me on an insider's gem-shopping adventure here in Jaipur, where many of the world's colored stones—emeralds from Colombia, rubies from Burma, aquamarines from Brazil—are cut and polished before they are shipped to such stores as Tiffany, Wal-Mart and neighborhood jewelers. Two flights up, there are shoes everywhere—loafers, sandals and dainty, beaded dance slippers. Double doors draped with wilted marigolds lead to De Taillac's atelier. Lit by stark winter sunlight, the room's entire floor is laid with mattresses covered by white sheets. De Taillac, 41, in a brilliant red tunic with a red wrap, emerges from a back room and introduces three assistants from France and Sweden, who pad around barefoot and then settle cross-legged behind low tables.

De Taillac pounces on the envelopes on her table. "When I get the packets, it's like sweets," she says. She unfolds rainbow moonstones, sparkling rose-quartz disks, aquamarines, mirrorlike smoky quartz ("the stone of depressed people") and a mound of sprinkles identified as multicolored sapphires. "Here's an order," she says. "And here's a problem: the buyer has indicated that for some items she would like two. These are stones; they occur in nature. I cannot get the same twice. But Justine will try." Justine Rumeau, De Taillac's right hand of six years, is already sorting through citrines to find the best pairs.

Ten years ago, De Taillac struck a deal with Munnu Kasliwal, one of three brothers and two cousins who own and run Gem Palace, a gem wholesaler and retailer with specialized cutting and polishing workshops around town. The Kasliwals have parlayed a privileged relationship with the royal families of Rajasthan going back generations into an international following of wealthy jewelry junkies who go for Munnu's unusual pieces (a gold bird perched on a ring, pecking a dangling diamond briolette) and swear by Gem Palace's quality and old-fashioned cuts. The emporium in Jaipur has an Old World feel and all sorts of maharajah castoffs. For those who ask nicely, Munnu's nieces will show off the regalia.

De Taillac—who lives in Jaipur for half the year with her son Edmond, 5—has her atelier in Gem Palace, enjoys access to its craftsmen and buys most of her stones through the company. Her pieces—among them a much copied, chunky cabochon ring and a necklace featuring a "river" of cut stones—have been scooped up by fashionable women ever since stores like Colette in Paris and Barneys New York introduced them in 1997.