Earlier this year, Boucheron launched Jaïpur Bracelet for women, a flanker to Jaïpur (now discontinued1). According to Cosmetics International: “Boucheron has taken inspiration from its heritage in the Indian city of Jaipur” (a jewelry hub); Jaïpur Bracelet’s bottle is a “reworked” version of the bottle for the original Boucheron Jaïpur, which according to Women’s Wear Daily was “inspired by a type of bracelet called a nauratan, which comes from Jaipur, India.”2
I didn’t know what a “nauratan” was, so I asked a friend who grew up in Delhi. Nauratan means “nine gems” and Indians usually spell the word “navratan” or “navrattan.” Navratan describes a piece of jewelry (a ring, pendant, bracelet or necklace) that incorporates nine auspicious stones. The nine sacred gems are arranged in a set order and represent planets in Vedic astrology. The gems and their arrangement bring the wearer astrological “balance” and good luck…