In the workshops of Jaipur: how Dorothée Sausset jewelry is born
Journey to the heart of ancestral craftsmanship, between gold, silver, and the hands of artisans
Some cities seem made for jewelry. Jaipur is one of them. Nicknamed the "Pink City" for the color of its sandstone buildings, the capital of Rajasthan has been home to one of the largest gemstone markets in the world for centuries. It is there, in this effervescence of colors and materials, that my jewelry is born.
A City, a Heritage
Jaipur is not just a tourist destination. It is a workshop city. Its alleyways teem with specialized artisans: some work gold with flame, others cut gems with a loupe, still others hand-repoussé silver using techniques passed down from father to son for generations. The Johari Bazaar district, the beating heart of the stone and jewelry trade, concentrates hundreds of shops and workshops where rubies from Myanmar, emeralds from Colombia, and sapphires from Sri Lanka coexist.
It is in this unique environment that I have established my creative roots. After two decades spent in India, I know the artisans by their first names, I understand their methods, and I respect their pace. This proximity is not anecdotal: it is the very condition for the quality of the jewelry I create.
The Bengali Artisans: Guardians of Exceptional Craftsmanship
I work with a very old establishment. The artisans who make Dorothée Sausset jewelry come from Bengal. This community is renowned throughout India for its expertise in fine jewelry. Their reputation is based on several centuries of practice: lost wax work, hand-setting, meticulous polishing of each piece. Their workshops are modest spaces but with surgical precision. You'll find tools often passed down from generation to generation, engraving machines, gold baths, and diamond setter's pliers.
What these artisans bring is a different relationship to time. Here, a piece of jewelry is not mass-produced. Each piece passes through several pairs of hands before being considered finished. Quality control is human, not automated. A trained eye checks every setting, every finish, every clasp.
From Sketch to Finished Piece: The Manufacturing Stages
It all begins on a yoga mat and very often during meditation: the jewelry takes shape. I translate this inspiration into a sketch, then into a prototype. The workshop receives the drawings and begins work.
The first step is foundry: the metal (925 silver or brass) is melted and cast into molds to create the jewelry's structure. Then comes the adjustment work: filing, soldering, assembling the different parts. Then setting. Finally, finishing: polishing, rhodium plating or gold plating bath, final visual inspection.
For gilded models, the piece goes through a 24-carat gold plating bath, which gives it that warm and luminous hue characteristic of the collection's jewelry.
A Constant Dialogue Between the Creator and Her Artisans
What distinguishes Dorothée Sausset from a simple jewelry brand is the nature of my relationship with my artisans. It is not a simple order placed with an anonymous subcontractor. It is a permanent dialogue, a co-creation. I regularly visit the workshop, discuss prototypes, and suggest adjustments. The artisans, for their part, suggest techniques, alert to feasibility, and bring their own expertise to solving technical challenges.
This collaboration gives the jewelry a particular soul. In each piece, you can feel the trace of a human hand, the slight imperfection that proves that nothing was made by a machine.
An Ethical Commitment Down to the Details
My approach does not stop at the quality of the jewelry. It extends to the entire production chain. Each piece of jewelry is delivered in a box designed to protect it.
When you wear a Dorothée Sausset piece of jewelry, you wear the precise gesture of a Bengali artisan, but above all a message, an energy, a memory and the values of a designer who has chosen to build her business differently.
