Luxury Lifestyle Stores connected to the Royals

No one has led more luxurious lives than the royal families from India’s glorious past. The people from the royal families lived the most luxurious of lifestyles with their royal palaces, stunning jewellery, lavish clothes and an impossible-to-match grandeur. The royal princes and princesses have been the actual trendsetters. And there are a few of them, who have launched and set up their own brands or stores to bring you stuff that you’ll love.

Here are some of the most worthy luxury lifestyle stores in the city, which have a royal connection to them. You must visit them once for the experience (only if you’re willing to spend for the royal luxury).

Idli

Idli is a fabulous boutique located in the heritage Hotel Narain Niwas Palace. It has been started by a French designer Thierry Journo and shares its location with boutiques Aashka and Hot Pink. This beautiful boutique makes use of Rajasthan’s vibrant colours in Parsian couture.

You must visit to browse through Journo’s amazing collection of colourful silk caftans, ikat pashminas, cotton dresses and bright tied pillows. Most of the designs are western but blended with a distinct Indian exoticism. Moreover, Journo is a pretty friendly person, whom you are most likely to end up being friends with (if you get lucky to catch him at the boutique).

Open from 10:30a.m. to 7:30p.m. on all weekdays

Contact at 0141-2570400

Aashka – Luxury Lifestyle Boutique

Conceptualized by Princess Bhargavi Kumari Mewar of Udaipur, Aashka is a luxury lifestyle boutique that values traditional and modern art forms and brings you some of the most exquisitely crafted merchandise and impressive stocks of luxury menswear. Aashka is open at two places – one is at City Palace complex, Udaipur and the other one is here in Jaipur at the Narain Niwas Palace Hotel.

Aashka features an eclectic design, drawing inspiration from regal horseback riding and polo. You can see modern designs using horses and photo frames that have been done by miniature painting artists. The interiors of the place have been taken care of by luxury interior designer Punit Jasuja. Aashka features mesmerizing miniature paintings on its splendid arched doors. The walls are white, adding a soothing vibe to the place. Their line has also been created by polo players, Vikram Aditya Singh Barkana and Jai Singh.

Most of the pieces displayed here, varying from luscious textiles to printed shawls, shift dresses, bed linens, delicately carved silver motifs, silk kurtas, leather sandals, cocktail napkins (inspired by polo), elephant themed candle stands and more, have been influenced by Udaipur’s distinct style of art and craft. Most of the stuff is made by local craftsmen from Mewar.

Open on all 7 days of the week from 10a.m. to 6p.m.

Price range starts from Rs.2500 onwards

Contact at 0141-2563448

Palace Atelier

Palace Atelier or the museum shop was set up in the year 2010 within the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II museum in City Palace, Jaipur. The whole idea behind this exquisite souvenir shop came from Princess Diya Kumari. The shop aims to support local craftsmen and provide visitors some of the most unique, exquisitely crafted product, varying from hand-blocked cotton and silk stoles, scarves and sarees to accessories, clutches, enamelware cups and boxes and handicraft pieces inspired by the game of polo.

Price range starts from Rs.3000 onwards

Open 7 days a week from 9:30a.m. to 5p.m.

Contact at 0141-4088888

Tokree

Tokree is a one-stop destination for shopping of carefully curated Indian handicrafts, hand-woven fabrics, accessories, trinkets, antique boxes, handmade baby clothes, rustic table fans, trays with Shekhawati paintings, cutlery and doorknobs inspired by tribal art, semi-precious jewellery and much more. It is set up at Hotel Alsisar Haveli and is run by Sanyukta Singh.

Sanyukta shares immense love and interest for handicrafts. She travels extensively across the country to pick up some of the finest and the most explicit pieces. At Tokree, they support local artisans and small time businesses from in and around the city. It is a nice experience to visit them but, you can also ask them to ship you your chosen stuff. They ship everywhere across India for free and take an additional cost for shipping across countries, depending on the location.

Price range starts from Rs.2000 onwards

Open 7 days a week from 10a.m. to 7p.m.

Contact at +91-9772201320

Gem Palace

Established in 1852, the Gem Palace at MI Road belongs to the erstwhile Kasliwal family of Jaipur, who once served as the court jewellers to the Maharajas and Maharanis of Jaipur and to a few Mughal Emperors as well. They have been designing some of the finest pieces of jewellery in the world, for nine generations now.

Connoisseurs of fine jewellery must pay a visit to Gem Palace since this shop has everything from antique jewels to contemporary designs studded with precious gem stones. This store is often visited by royalty from all around the globe, Bollywood and Hollywood stars and renowned designers. They are experts in every field of jewellery manufacturing from the mining of stones to producing the finished fine jewellery pieces.

Open from 10:30a.m. to 7p.m. from Monday to Saturday and from 11a.m. to 7p.m. on Sunday

Contact at 0141-2374175