A celebration of color

National Geographic

23-07-2025

Jaipur—the capital of India's Rajasthan state—is as famous for its kaleidoscope of colors as it is for its rich and storied history with gem craftsmanship. From the indigo blues of the City Palace's Chhavi Niwas to the glowing pink of tourmalines, Jaipur is a city synonymous with color. Video by National Geographic CreativeWorks By National Geographic CreativeWorks
Now known as 'The Pink City,' this vibrant dusty-pink and terracotta-hued walled town was founded in 1727. It was India's first planned city, laid out in a grid inspired by Vastu Shastra—an ancient Hindu architectural science. It was a revolutionary step in urban planning compared to other, more organic and complex city layouts across India.
Just 150 years after its founding, Jaipur was painted its iconic pink shade to welcome visiting members of the British royal family—pink being the traditional color of welcome and hospitality. A year later, the Queen of Jaipur so loved the pink-hued city that a law was passed that any future buildings in the city should be painted the same shade. Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Bvlgari Global Brand Ambassador and Lucia Silvestri, Bvlgari's Jewelry Creative and Gem Buyer Director, in the Diwan-e-Khas at Jaipur's City Palace. Meaning 'Hall of Private Audience,' this beautifully decorated meeting place is used for royal festivals and celebrations. Photograph by Celeste Sloman
One such building, found in the heart of Jaipur, is City Palace. This beautiful living heritage site was built blending traditional Rajput, Mughal, and European influences, combining intricately painted frescos and ceilings, marble courtyards, and ornately decorated gateways. Still partially a royal residence, visitors can explore a number of beautifully colored rooms here, some public, some private. At its heart, you'll find the Diwan-e-Khas or 'Hall of Private Audience.' Decorated in the warm pink of Jaipur, its tall ceilings and delicate marble columns once welcomed courtiers and emissaries as they met with the maharajas of the palace. Priyanka Chopra-Jonas looks out across the city of Jaipur from Chhavi Niwas—a serene blue pavilion designed to provide respite from the heat. Photograph by Celeste Sloman
After navigating a maze of rooms and hallways, one climbs to the top of the palace and discovers Chhavi Niwas. This room immediately envelopes you in a rich indigo blue—a shade synonymous in Rajasthani architecture with the divine and the infinite. Richly decorated with white floral motifs, the room served more of a purpose than simply decoration. Part of the zenana, or women's quarters of the palace, the maharani (the wife of a maharaja) would gather here for private audiences, artistic pursuits, and most importantly, to keep cool. The room is carefully designed with open windows and doorways to allow cool air to flow through it and keep its occupants comfortable as they take in views of the surrounding hills and temples. From bowls of freshly cut flowers, to billowing, richly dyed fabrics, and bags of spices, the streets of Jaipur are alive with color. Photograph by Celeste Sloman
Step out of the City Palace complex and into neighboring streets, and you'll see that color here is not just for maharajas and visiting royalty. Jaipur's streets and bazaars are a sensory overload of rich red spices in copper pots and strings of rich yellow marigolds adorning green-tiled city gates.
Behind these pink walls, you will find one of the trades that has given Jaipur its other claim to fame. Centuries of craftsmanship and vibrant trade networks have cemented the city's reputation as one of the gemstone capitals of the world. In the 18th century, skilled jewelers and stonecutters settled in the newly founded city, bringing with them years of ancient techniques from across Rajasthan and beyond. A master gemsmith inspects bright pink tourmaline for flaws before sending the stone for cutting and polishing. Jaipur's rich heritage with jewelry has made it one of the gemstone capitals of the world. Photograph by Celeste Sloman
This rich history of color and passion for exquisite gems has made Jaipur one of the main sources of exceptional stones for the Roman High Jeweler, Bvlgari. The Maison, founded in 1884 in Rome, quickly forged a reputation for exquisite craftsmanship and magnificent creations. For years, Bvlgari's creations mixed the traditions of high jewelry with classical Greco-Roman and even Byzantine motifs, cherished by its Greek-born founder, Sotirio Bulgari, a skilled and passionate silversmith. But it was in the early 1950s that the Maison eschewed the traditional French jewelry norms of monochromatic subtlety and diamond-focused creations, and started to become synonymous with color. It was a revolution in jewelry design.
Thanks to its flair with innovative chromatic combinations of gemstones, masterfully selected and shaped in distinctive designs, Bvlgari became synonymous with Italian exuberance and the glamour of La Dolce Vita.
Revering its cultural legacy, Bvlgari rewrote the rules of jewelry and launched bold new trends that have gone on to become icons of contemporary design. One of its most iconic—the domed cabochon cut—has become a hallmark of the brand's mission to glorify the vivid shades of gems. A selection of cut and polished gems, in a range of cuts from cabochon to teardrop, await selection under the masterful eye of Lucia Silvestri—Bvlgari's Jewelry Creative and Gem Buyer Director. Photograph by Celeste Sloman
It was this passion for color and flair that first drew Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, and other world-famous icons to the Maison. Stories and anecdotes abound, but one has become legendary. In the early 1960s, when Richard Burton fell in love with Elizabeth Taylor in Rome during the filming of Cleopatra, the couple would escape to the famed Bvlgari store on Via dei Condotti. It was here where Burton purchased for her the first of an ever-growing parure (a matching set of jewelry)—a 23.46-carat Colombian emerald brooch. So began Taylor's lifelong love of emeralds and diamonds—and multiple future visits to the iconic Roman store. She later wore her beloved jewels when she accepted her Best Actress Oscar for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1967, and was frequently seen wearing them for the rest of her life. She said it best when she said, 'I adore wearing gems, but not because they are mine. You can't possess radiance, you can only admire it.' 'Just like people, every stone has flaws. We need to embrace them!'— Lucia tells Priyanka on their adventure to select stones for Bvlgari's next High Jewelry collection. Photograph by Celeste Sloman
Fast forward to today, as Bvlgari's Jewelry Creative and Gem Buyer Director Lucia Silvestri visits Jaipur on a trip to select a new wave of stones for Bvlgari's next collection. Lucia started her career as a young student in Bvlgari's gemstone department, supported by exceptional mentors: the Bulgari brothers themselves. Now, having visited Jaipur more than 40 times over the years to select stones for the brand, Lucia has become something of an expert on the city. She knows the best place to get a delicious cooling lassi and, most importantly, where to find the very best the world has to offer in gemstones, from high-end showrooms to smaller, family-run workshops, where gem cutters use age-old skills handed down from generation to generation.
On this occasion, Lucia has brought a special guest to accompany her—Bvlgari Global Brand Ambassador Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Though she was born in India, the Hollywood and Bollywood star has visited Jaipur only a couple of times before, so she jumped at the chance to join Lucia as she visited a few of the city's famous colorful landmarks. From City Palace to Jaipur's most popular tourist destination, the Hawa Mahal, the pair explored the city for two days for inspiration, before Priyanka got the chance to lean back in wonder and watch Lucia's process as she selected stones for Bvlgari's newest High Jewelry creations. 'It goes beyond just beauty. It's the real marriage between Italian and Indian craftsmanship,' says Priyanka as she and Lucia sit at a table laden with gems.
Tourmalines, sapphires, emeralds, and rubellites are all hand-selected under Lucia's expert gaze and brought together in dazzling and unexpected combinations. 'I'm starting to dream,' says Lucia with a sparkle in her eye as she explains to Priyanka that for her, all these facets of Jaipur's rich heritage, and these gifts from nature, come together to create pieces that are destined to become emblematic celebrations of the colors that inspired them.