{{|*Neither Gem Palace, nor Sudhir Kasliwal, the man at its helm, are strangers to the world of gems and jewellery. Rather, their renown reaches much beyond the city of Jaipur where they are based; indeed far beyond the shores of this country, all the way to the US, taking in the Middle East and Europe on the way. The list of royals and celebrities who have succumbed to the charms of Gem Palace jewellery is legion. And Sudhir Kasliwal, as the purveyor of such sumptuous and magnificent jewellery no doubt holds a special place in their memories. But beyond his calling as a jeweller, Sudhir Kasliwal has many more facets, discovers Nandita Kumar.*|}}%% Gem Palace, Jaipur traces its roots back over eight generations to 1852 when it was established by the Kasliwal family. Since then, the Kasliwals have had the distinction of having been jewellers to royals from all over India as well as abroad. Within India, they adorned members of the Moghul court, have been jewellers to Jaipur royalty over generations, and have catered to many other erstwhile royals in the Indian subcontinent. Originally commissioned by royal families to provide heirlooms and objects d’art of gold and semi-precious stones, Gem Palace has maintained the tradition of being the destination for current international royalty and the who’s who of society in India and abroad. %% International a must-visit place on the itinerary of most jewellery loving celebrities is the Gem Palace showroom on MI Road Jaipur. This was Gem Palace’s fi rst jewellery showroom to come up, and now there are boutiques across Rajasthan, other parts of India, New York, Aspen and LA. Word has it, each boasts of the most exclusive clientele. %% The grapevine in Jaipur is agog with talk of Sudhir Kasliwal’s personal relations with Bill Clinton, and clients like Prince Charles, Iranian royalty, Arab sheikhs, Goldie Hawn, Gwyneth Paltrow; and the list goes on. %%

Gem Palace’s collaborations with Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York led to some of the current collections like Byzantine Jewellery and Egyptian Jewellery. The Victorian/Indo Russian Collection was recently exhibited at the famous Oppenheimer Museum of Israel. The pieces are inlaid with special cuts of diamonds showing interesting waltzing effects of light. The setting techniques are from the late 1800s. Naturally, rave reviews by international media are common enough for Gem Palace. %% But then, this is just ‘one of those things’ for Gem Palace and Sudhir Kasliwal. He is a man of few words, and deep passions. Reminiscing about his early childhood, he comments on how growing up in a family of jewellers was an experience that made a deep impact and left a lasting legacy of an aesthetic sensibility. %% At a time when he was pursuing a course in CS, a stroke suffered by L.K. Kasliwal made it imperative for Sudhir to chip in with the business. This he views as ‘destined’. His father’s knowledge and experience gave Sudhir an early training in the art of jewellery making. Senior Kasliwal’s insistence that the son gain exposure abroad made for real learning experiences, and has gone a long way in moulding his attitude to learning. %% Gem Palace is the winner of The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council’s Award for three consecutive years for ‘Highest Sales to Foreign Tourists’. Sudhir’s disarming humility makes it his strongest asset. Upon being asked to comment on the success of Gem Palace, he smiles, and says, “I can’t say I am a perfect jeweller. I am just one among thousands of other jewellers in this city. One, maybe highly placed in the profession, but that doesn’t make you n Gem Palace buliding, Jaipur n Munnu and Sanjay sharing a joke with Prince Charles. perfect. Every day is a learning experience. There is a lot that I aspire to achieve. The end of the ladder doesn’t exist.” He adds, “For a successful jeweller, a sense of aesthetics comes before the knowledge of the alphabet. Keen observations for subtle differences in jewellery are essential. The attitude of ‘Absolutely No Compromise on Quality’ always pays off.”

Asked as to how Gem Palace has maintained its exclusivity, he says, “Fusion is the word. We innovate. Of course we stick to the traditional themes, but contemporise the pieces, which is what makes for everlasting appeal. Copying from bygone times or others is easy; fi nesse is the ultimate factor in exquisite pieces.” %% Sudhir does not undermine the signifi cance of his workers, his ‘team’. This is a day when he has just attended the wedding of one of his craftsmen’s son. It strikes him that this is the fourth generation of that family whose wedding he has attended. He remembers seeing his father directing this boy’s grandfather at a point of time. Speaking of connections with the craftsmen, he says that they are unscathed by the current wave of discontent. “There is a loyalty of family members, to family members. There is an attachment, a relationship of mutual respect. Their skill is in their genes; watching their forefathers before them has wired the programme in their system, and the art fl ows uninhibited through them. And we give it due respect.” %% Gem Palace incorporates Social Responsibility through the L.K. Kasliwal Charitable Trust, which sponsors education of underprivileged children and caters to infrastructure development and sports in institutions that need aid. In keeping with Indian tradition, they prefer to go about their philanthropy quietly. So what is the man within the jeweller all about? To reiterate, passion is his second name. His ardour for vintage cars is evident as his collection boasts of the what was once the personal Mercedes of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, which she got in 1968 and used to drive herself. Of course, this is just one of the automobiles in a spectacular collection that we mention here. Winner of the Cartier Vintage Car Rally several times in various categories, each day fi nds Sudhir deeply involved with old mechanics who help maintain his precious collection.

The other passion in his life is photography. The photographs adorning the walls in the offi ce speak a million words. The artist in him is evident as each photograph is a rhapsody in itself. People and moods are his favourite subjects, and he recalls how the response to his fi rst photography exhibition encouraged him to pursue the interest. His keen sense of aesthetics rules here as well. In fact, on a recent trip to Bhutan, his discerning eye captured the fl avours of the Buddhist land in all its splendour and beauty. Evidently, he is a jeweller in photography as well. Each detail within a frame, every colour and detail in the composition come together as indelible imprints of moments immortalised in time.%% That brings us to his collection of photographs of 91 years of the life of Maharani Gayatri Devi, which he handed over to the trust after her demise, and which was the cynosure of all eyes at the Jaipur Jewellery Show in 2009. %% Sudhir has maintained his dark room from the days when he used to develop his fi lm rolls Indian Jeweller 58 February-March 2011 manually. One gets a privileged look at his father’s collection of photographs giving a glimpse of the jewellery industry and craftsmen at work in Jaipur from the 1950s. This leads him to tell us that he has an original copy of Jeypore Enamels by Jacob And Hendley (1886), a re-print of which he has recently acquired. A collector of rare books, he n Sudhir Kasliwal receiving GJEPC Export Award likes being surrounded by the best of books. %% What keeps him away from Gem Palace, apart from traveling, is his favorite sport, golf. As he sums up, if you are passionate about something, you will find time to do it. Now, playing golf is a form of daily meditation for him. A strong family man, he speaks fondly of his daughters, Shweta and Aditi, both of whom have taken their aesthetic lineage to apply it to modern forms. Shweta is a MICA graduate, and is now a Creative Art Director, while Aditi excelled at NID Ahemdabad and pursues Graphic Designing. Their successful growth in their respective fields is evident in the pride with which their father relates them. %% On a concluding note, sharing his insight with other jewellers, Sudhir opines that the world is truly a global village. “One must keep an open mind and assimilate as much as possible. Nothing exists in a vacuum. Modern techniques and machinery have altered jewellery a lot, and the need is to adapt to the changes. Fine aesthetics remain a constant for all jewellery,” he says.

{{Gem Palace’s collaborations with Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York led to some of the current collections like Byzantine Jewellery and Egyptian Jewellery. The Victorian/Indo Russian Collection was recently exhibited at the famous Oppenheimer Museum of Israel.}}

{{“Fusion is the word. We innovate. Of course we stick to the traditional themes, but contemporise the pieces, which is what makes for everlasting appeal. Copying from bygone times or others is easy; fi nesse is the ultimate factor in exquisite pieces.”}}

{{Gem Palace incorporates Social Responsibility through the L.K. Kasliwal Charitable Trust, which sponsors education of underprivileged children and caters to infrastructure development and sports in institutions that need aid. In keeping with Indian tradition, they prefer to go about their philanthropy quietly.}}

{{|*Neither Gem Palace, nor Sudhir Kasliwal, the man at its helm, are strangers to the world of gems and jewellery. Rather, their renown reaches much beyond the city of Jaipur where they are based; indeed far beyond the shores of this country, all the way to the US, taking in the Middle East and Europe on the way. The list of royals and celebrities who have succumbed to the charms of Gem Palace jewellery is legion. And Sudhir Kasliwal, as the purveyor of such sumptuous and magnificent jewellery no doubt holds a special place in their memories. But beyond his calling as a jeweller, Sudhir Kasliwal has many more facets, discovers Nandita Kumar.*|}}%% Gem Palace, Jaipur traces its roots back over eight generations to 1852 when it was established by the Kasliwal family. Since then, the Kasliwals have had the distinction of having been jewellers to royals from all over India as well as abroad. Within India, they adorned members of the Moghul court, have been jewellers to Jaipur royalty over generations, and have catered to many other erstwhile royals in the Indian subcontinent. Originally commissioned by royal families to provide heirlooms and objects d’art of gold and semi-precious stones, Gem Palace has maintained the tradition of being the destination for current international royalty and the who’s who of society in India and abroad. %% International a must-visit place on the itinerary of most jewellery loving celebrities is the Gem Palace showroom on MI Road Jaipur. This was Gem Palace’s fi rst jewellery showroom to come up, and now there are boutiques across Rajasthan, other parts of India, New York, Aspen and LA. Word has it, each boasts of the most exclusive clientele. %% The grapevine in Jaipur is agog with talk of Sudhir Kasliwal’s personal relations with Bill Clinton, and clients like Prince Charles, Iranian royalty, Arab sheikhs, Goldie Hawn, Gwyneth Paltrow; and the list goes on. %%

Gem Palace’s collaborations with Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York led to some of the current collections like Byzantine Jewellery and Egyptian Jewellery. The Victorian/Indo Russian Collection was recently exhibited at the famous Oppenheimer Museum of Israel. The pieces are inlaid with special cuts of diamonds showing interesting waltzing effects of light. The setting techniques are from the late 1800s. Naturally, rave reviews by international media are common enough for Gem Palace. %% But then, this is just ‘one of those things’ for Gem Palace and Sudhir Kasliwal. He is a man of few words, and deep passions. Reminiscing about his early childhood, he comments on how growing up in a family of jewellers was an experience that made a deep impact and left a lasting legacy of an aesthetic sensibility. %% At a time when he was pursuing a course in CS, a stroke suffered by L.K. Kasliwal made it imperative for Sudhir to chip in with the business. This he views as ‘destined’. His father’s knowledge and experience gave Sudhir an early training in the art of jewellery making. Senior Kasliwal’s insistence that the son gain exposure abroad made for real learning experiences, and has gone a long way in moulding his attitude to learning. %% Gem Palace is the winner of The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council’s Award for three consecutive years for ‘Highest Sales to Foreign Tourists’. Sudhir’s disarming humility makes it his strongest asset. Upon being asked to comment on the success of Gem Palace, he smiles, and says, “I can’t say I am a perfect jeweller. I am just one among thousands of other jewellers in this city. One, maybe highly placed in the profession, but that doesn’t make you n Gem Palace buliding, Jaipur n Munnu and Sanjay sharing a joke with Prince Charles. perfect. Every day is a learning experience. There is a lot that I aspire to achieve. The end of the ladder doesn’t exist.” He adds, “For a successful jeweller, a sense of aesthetics comes before the knowledge of the alphabet. Keen observations for subtle differences in jewellery are essential. The attitude of ‘Absolutely No Compromise on Quality’ always pays off.”

Asked as to how Gem Palace has maintained its exclusivity, he says, “Fusion is the word. We innovate. Of course we stick to the traditional themes, but contemporise the pieces, which is what makes for everlasting appeal. Copying from bygone times or others is easy; fi nesse is the ultimate factor in exquisite pieces.” %% Sudhir does not undermine the signifi cance of his workers, his ‘team’. This is a day when he has just attended the wedding of one of his craftsmen’s son. It strikes him that this is the fourth generation of that family whose wedding he has attended. He remembers seeing his father directing this boy’s grandfather at a point of time. Speaking of connections with the craftsmen, he says that they are unscathed by the current wave of discontent. “There is a loyalty of family members, to family members. There is an attachment, a relationship of mutual respect. Their skill is in their genes; watching their forefathers before them has wired the programme in their system, and the art fl ows uninhibited through them. And we give it due respect.” %% Gem Palace incorporates Social Responsibility through the L.K. Kasliwal Charitable Trust, which sponsors education of underprivileged children and caters to infrastructure development and sports in institutions that need aid. In keeping with Indian tradition, they prefer to go about their philanthropy quietly. So what is the man within the jeweller all about? To reiterate, passion is his second name. His ardour for vintage cars is evident as his collection boasts of the what was once the personal Mercedes of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, which she got in 1968 and used to drive herself. Of course, this is just one of the automobiles in a spectacular collection that we mention here. Winner of the Cartier Vintage Car Rally several times in various categories, each day fi nds Sudhir deeply involved with old mechanics who help maintain his precious collection.

The other passion in his life is photography. The photographs adorning the walls in the offi ce speak a million words. The artist in him is evident as each photograph is a rhapsody in itself. People and moods are his favourite subjects, and he recalls how the response to his fi rst photography exhibition encouraged him to pursue the interest. His keen sense of aesthetics rules here as well. In fact, on a recent trip to Bhutan, his discerning eye captured the fl avours of the Buddhist land in all its splendour and beauty. Evidently, he is a jeweller in photography as well. Each detail within a frame, every colour and detail in the composition come together as indelible imprints of moments immortalised in time.%% That brings us to his collection of photographs of 91 years of the life of Maharani Gayatri Devi, which he handed over to the trust after her demise, and which was the cynosure of all eyes at the Jaipur Jewellery Show in 2009. %% Sudhir has maintained his dark room from the days when he used to develop his fi lm rolls Indian Jeweller 58 February-March 2011 manually. One gets a privileged look at his father’s collection of photographs giving a glimpse of the jewellery industry and craftsmen at work in Jaipur from the 1950s. This leads him to tell us that he has an original copy of Jeypore Enamels by Jacob And Hendley (1886), a re-print of which he has recently acquired. A collector of rare books, he n Sudhir Kasliwal receiving GJEPC Export Award likes being surrounded by the best of books. %% What keeps him away from Gem Palace, apart from traveling, is his favorite sport, golf. As he sums up, if you are passionate about something, you will find time to do it. Now, playing golf is a form of daily meditation for him. A strong family man, he speaks fondly of his daughters, Shweta and Aditi, both of whom have taken their aesthetic lineage to apply it to modern forms. Shweta is a MICA graduate, and is now a Creative Art Director, while Aditi excelled at NID Ahemdabad and pursues Graphic Designing. Their successful growth in their respective fields is evident in the pride with which their father relates them. %% On a concluding note, sharing his insight with other jewellers, Sudhir opines that the world is truly a global village. “One must keep an open mind and assimilate as much as possible. Nothing exists in a vacuum. Modern techniques and machinery have altered jewellery a lot, and the need is to adapt to the changes. Fine aesthetics remain a constant for all jewellery,” he says.

{{Gem Palace’s collaborations with Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York led to some of the current collections like Byzantine Jewellery and Egyptian Jewellery. The Victorian/Indo Russian Collection was recently exhibited at the famous Oppenheimer Museum of Israel.}}

{{“Fusion is the word. We innovate. Of course we stick to the traditional themes, but contemporise the pieces, which is what makes for everlasting appeal. Copying from bygone times or others is easy; fi nesse is the ultimate factor in exquisite pieces.”}}

{{Gem Palace incorporates Social Responsibility through the L.K. Kasliwal Charitable Trust, which sponsors education of underprivileged children and caters to infrastructure development and sports in institutions that need aid. In keeping with Indian tradition, they prefer to go about their philanthropy quietly.}}

{{|*Neither Gem Palace, nor Sudhir Kasliwal, the man at its helm, are strangers to the world of gems and jewellery. Rather, their renown reaches much beyond the city of Jaipur where they are based; indeed far beyond the shores of this country, all the way to the US, taking in the Middle East and Europe on the way. The list of royals and celebrities who have succumbed to the charms of Gem Palace jewellery is legion. And Sudhir Kasliwal, as the purveyor of such sumptuous and magnificent jewellery no doubt holds a special place in their memories. But beyond his calling as a jeweller, Sudhir Kasliwal has many more facets, discovers Nandita Kumar.*|}}%% Gem Palace, Jaipur traces its roots back over eight generations to 1852 when it was established by the Kasliwal family. Since then, the Kasliwals have had the distinction of having been jewellers to royals from all over India as well as abroad. Within India, they adorned members of the Moghul court, have been jewellers to Jaipur royalty over generations, and have catered to many other erstwhile royals in the Indian subcontinent. Originally commissioned by royal families to provide heirlooms and objects d’art of gold and semi-precious stones, Gem Palace has maintained the tradition of being the destination for current international royalty and the who’s who of society in India and abroad. %% International a must-visit place on the itinerary of most jewellery loving celebrities is the Gem Palace showroom on MI Road Jaipur. This was Gem Palace’s fi rst jewellery showroom to come up, and now there are boutiques across Rajasthan, other parts of India, New York, Aspen and LA. Word has it, each boasts of the most exclusive clientele. %% The grapevine in Jaipur is agog with talk of Sudhir Kasliwal’s personal relations with Bill Clinton, and clients like Prince Charles, Iranian royalty, Arab sheikhs, Goldie Hawn, Gwyneth Paltrow; and the list goes on. %%

Gem Palace’s collaborations with Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York led to some of the current collections like Byzantine Jewellery and Egyptian Jewellery. The Victorian/Indo Russian Collection was recently exhibited at the famous Oppenheimer Museum of Israel. The pieces are inlaid with special cuts of diamonds showing interesting waltzing effects of light. The setting techniques are from the late 1800s. Naturally, rave reviews by international media are common enough for Gem Palace. %% But then, this is just ‘one of those things’ for Gem Palace and Sudhir Kasliwal. He is a man of few words, and deep passions. Reminiscing about his early childhood, he comments on how growing up in a family of jewellers was an experience that made a deep impact and left a lasting legacy of an aesthetic sensibility. %% At a time when he was pursuing a course in CS, a stroke suffered by L.K. Kasliwal made it imperative for Sudhir to chip in with the business. This he views as ‘destined’. His father’s knowledge and experience gave Sudhir an early training in the art of jewellery making. Senior Kasliwal’s insistence that the son gain exposure abroad made for real learning experiences, and has gone a long way in moulding his attitude to learning. %% Gem Palace is the winner of The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council’s Award for three consecutive years for ‘Highest Sales to Foreign Tourists’. Sudhir’s disarming humility makes it his strongest asset. Upon being asked to comment on the success of Gem Palace, he smiles, and says, “I can’t say I am a perfect jeweller. I am just one among thousands of other jewellers in this city. One, maybe highly placed in the profession, but that doesn’t make you n Gem Palace buliding, Jaipur n Munnu and Sanjay sharing a joke with Prince Charles. perfect. Every day is a learning experience. There is a lot that I aspire to achieve. The end of the ladder doesn’t exist.” He adds, “For a successful jeweller, a sense of aesthetics comes before the knowledge of the alphabet. Keen observations for subtle differences in jewellery are essential. The attitude of ‘Absolutely No Compromise on Quality’ always pays off.”

Asked as to how Gem Palace has maintained its exclusivity, he says, “Fusion is the word. We innovate. Of course we stick to the traditional themes, but contemporise the pieces, which is what makes for everlasting appeal. Copying from bygone times or others is easy; fi nesse is the ultimate factor in exquisite pieces.” %% Sudhir does not undermine the signifi cance of his workers, his ‘team’. This is a day when he has just attended the wedding of one of his craftsmen’s son. It strikes him that this is the fourth generation of that family whose wedding he has attended. He remembers seeing his father directing this boy’s grandfather at a point of time. Speaking of connections with the craftsmen, he says that they are unscathed by the current wave of discontent. “There is a loyalty of family members, to family members. There is an attachment, a relationship of mutual respect. Their skill is in their genes; watching their forefathers before them has wired the programme in their system, and the art fl ows uninhibited through them. And we give it due respect.” %% Gem Palace incorporates Social Responsibility through the L.K. Kasliwal Charitable Trust, which sponsors education of underprivileged children and caters to infrastructure development and sports in institutions that need aid. In keeping with Indian tradition, they prefer to go about their philanthropy quietly. So what is the man within the jeweller all about? To reiterate, passion is his second name. His ardour for vintage cars is evident as his collection boasts of the what was once the personal Mercedes of Maharani Gayatri Devi of Jaipur, which she got in 1968 and used to drive herself. Of course, this is just one of the automobiles in a spectacular collection that we mention here. Winner of the Cartier Vintage Car Rally several times in various categories, each day fi nds Sudhir deeply involved with old mechanics who help maintain his precious collection.

The other passion in his life is photography. The photographs adorning the walls in the offi ce speak a million words. The artist in him is evident as each photograph is a rhapsody in itself. People and moods are his favourite subjects, and he recalls how the response to his fi rst photography exhibition encouraged him to pursue the interest. His keen sense of aesthetics rules here as well. In fact, on a recent trip to Bhutan, his discerning eye captured the fl avours of the Buddhist land in all its splendour and beauty. Evidently, he is a jeweller in photography as well. Each detail within a frame, every colour and detail in the composition come together as indelible imprints of moments immortalised in time.%% That brings us to his collection of photographs of 91 years of the life of Maharani Gayatri Devi, which he handed over to the trust after her demise, and which was the cynosure of all eyes at the Jaipur Jewellery Show in 2009. %% Sudhir has maintained his dark room from the days when he used to develop his fi lm rolls Indian Jeweller 58 February-March 2011 manually. One gets a privileged look at his father’s collection of photographs giving a glimpse of the jewellery industry and craftsmen at work in Jaipur from the 1950s. This leads him to tell us that he has an original copy of Jeypore Enamels by Jacob And Hendley (1886), a re-print of which he has recently acquired. A collector of rare books, he n Sudhir Kasliwal receiving GJEPC Export Award likes being surrounded by the best of books. %% What keeps him away from Gem Palace, apart from traveling, is his favorite sport, golf. As he sums up, if you are passionate about something, you will find time to do it. Now, playing golf is a form of daily meditation for him. A strong family man, he speaks fondly of his daughters, Shweta and Aditi, both of whom have taken their aesthetic lineage to apply it to modern forms. Shweta is a MICA graduate, and is now a Creative Art Director, while Aditi excelled at NID Ahemdabad and pursues Graphic Designing. Their successful growth in their respective fields is evident in the pride with which their father relates them. %% On a concluding note, sharing his insight with other jewellers, Sudhir opines that the world is truly a global village. “One must keep an open mind and assimilate as much as possible. Nothing exists in a vacuum. Modern techniques and machinery have altered jewellery a lot, and the need is to adapt to the changes. Fine aesthetics remain a constant for all jewellery,” he says.

{{Gem Palace’s collaborations with Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York led to some of the current collections like Byzantine Jewellery and Egyptian Jewellery. The Victorian/Indo Russian Collection was recently exhibited at the famous Oppenheimer Museum of Israel.}}

{{“Fusion is the word. We innovate. Of course we stick to the traditional themes, but contemporise the pieces, which is what makes for everlasting appeal. Copying from bygone times or others is easy; fi nesse is the ultimate factor in exquisite pieces.”}}

{{Gem Palace incorporates Social Responsibility through the L.K. Kasliwal Charitable Trust, which sponsors education of underprivileged children and caters to infrastructure development and sports in institutions that need aid. In keeping with Indian tradition, they prefer to go about their philanthropy quietly.}}