Why India Increasingly Supplies The World’s Gemstones

During Paris Fashion Week in March, the Geneva-based jeweller and watchmaker Chopard unveiled a suite of 15 emerald jewels, all which were cut from a single emerald rough — a colossal 6,225-carat rough emerald, which was mined in Zambia around a decade ago. Chopard chose to cut the stone not in Antwerp or Israel — long the dominant centres for gem cutting and polishing — but using a team of Indian craftsmen, brought in from Jaipur to its Geneva high jewellery atelier.

Chopard’s…