Word: taillac
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...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...
...piles of garbage. And why is there no security? Everyone appears to have his pockets stuffed with stones, but there is only the occasional camera, some padlocks here and there and a few guards. "They are very casual about the gems. They've always lived with it," offers De Taillac...
...next afternoon De Taillac directs a driver to the Nawab Ka Choraya neighborhood, jammed with gem shops and throngs of small-time brokers showing their packets in the street. "Did you notice I took off my jewelry?" she says, smiling. "They copy." How to describe the chaos?with monkeys swinging in and out of dilapidated, baroque façades, sugarcane presses spewing smoke, and dozens of men (there are very few women in sight) pursuing De Taillac. "Hallooo, halloo. You buy emeralds. You want Indian rubies?" they cry, tugging at her clothes, and when she stops to look over a handful...
...that observes strict dietary rules?run the businesses; Muslims are the expert craftsmen. Later I notice a poster of Mecca in a workshop where four men facet lemon quartz in a weird green glow. Gauri Shankar Dangayach, production manager of one of Gem Palace's cutting units, leads De Taillac down several side streets with open gutters and into one of a dozen look-alike buildings. We go up the labyrinthine stairs and suddenly arrive in a tidy workshop with a magnificent view of Jaipur. "What are you cutting?" De Taillac asks here and at other workshops, but today...
...carat, the other one says 2, and the broker says, 'Yes, you take it for the pleasure.'" Finally, the deal is done at 5.25 rupees per carat. "I've seen a broker literally pick up Munnu and carry him across the room to close the transaction," says De Taillac...