Meet the jewellers to the Indian kings

As we walked around the Red Fort on a recent trip to Delhi, my imagination wandered off, picturing the Mughal Emperors and courtiers elegantly gliding about in their finery. While today, the splendour of India’s Royalty sits in museums around the world, here’s a look at some of the jewellers and jewellery of our maharajas.

Not long after Jacques Cartier’s maiden voyage to India in 1911, several maharajas entrusted him with their collection of unmounted stones and he produced many stunning pieces for them. In 1926, Jagatjit Singh, Maharaja of Kapurthala commissioned Cartier with the creation of a head ornament with 19 emeralds, including a rare stone of 11,740 carats.

The Patiala Necklace

The Patiala necklace made for the Maharaja of Patiala from platinum, contains more than 2,000 diamonds. Created by Cartier in 1928, the necklace featured five rows of diamond-encrusted platinum chains and oversized gems. At the centre was a cushion-cut pale yellow De Beers diamond weighing 234.69 carats.

Cartier also created some stunning pieces for the Maharaja of Nawanagar, one such piece being the 61.50-carat whiskey-coloured diamond called ‘The Eye of the Tiger’, which was mounted in a turban aigrette, in 1934. Another was an emerald-and-diamond necklace containing 17 rectangular emeralds, set in an art deco piece. The emerald in the pendant is believed to have weighed 70 carats and was reputed to have come from the collection of a former Sultan of Turkey. Cartier’s creations did not stop here; Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala also wore a Cartier aigrette set in the front with diamonds, rubies and emeralds. 

The ‘Baroda Set’, ordered by the Maharani of Baroda, was created by Van Cleef & Arpels. Designed by Jacques Arpels for Sita Devi, the second wife of Maharaja Pratapsinhrao Gaekwad of Baroda, the piece has 13 pear-shaped Columbian emeralds, suspended from diamonds set in the shape of a lotus.Another beauty by Van Cleef & Arpels is a gold turban ornament set with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and pearls.

Indian Royalty also turned to Chaumet, who supplied a pair of pear diamonds to the Maharaja of Indore in 1911. Indian kings would bring their stones to Place Vendôme—the Chaumet workshop—to have them set into light,  platinum settings.

Mauboussin also catered to the tastes of Indian royalty, when in 1933, the brand was made purveyor by appointment to Yashwant Rao Holkar, the Maharaja of Indore. Some of their work includes settings for important ceremonial attire with stones—the Indore Pears and Porter Rhodes—from the Maharaja’s collections.

Closer home, The Gem Palace in Jaipur was the court jeweller to Mughal emperors. Established in 1852, one of their major patrons has been the Singh Ji royal family of Jaipur. They have created stunning wedding pieces shimmering with diamonds and emeralds, diamond-studded bracelets, polki-diamond necklaces and more—all rare and exquisite jewellery pieces from the Mughal empires of the 17th century to designs from the 1920s and 30s.