Where the jewellery trade works: gold souks, jewellery quarters, diamond districts, manufacturing towns and export zones, with what you find there and the official website where there is one.
Gold souk or gold street
Kolkata, India
What you find: Gold jewellery retail and manufacturing (Bengali goldsmith work)
Central Kolkata's gold quarter: jewellery shops on the main streets and thousands of small goldsmith workshops in the lanes behind, a craft tradition going back to the 1800s. Busiest before Durga Puja, Dhanteras and the wedding season.
Trade district
Delhi, India
What you find: Silver jewellery (mostly 925), oxidised silver, gold and pearls
A narrow lane in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi, that has been the city's silver street since Mughal times. Family shops sell silver jewellery by weight; ask for the 925 mark and a bill.
Jewellery town
Kofu, Japan
What you find: Gem cutting and jewellery manufacturing; the Koo-fu regional brand
Yamanashi's jewellery industry grew from the rock crystal once mined near Mount Kinpu. Kofu is now one of Japan's main jewellery-making towns, with the prefecture's Yamanashi Jewelry Museum telling the story.
Trade district
Hyderabad, India
What you find: Lac bangles set with stones, pearls, semi-precious stones and silverware
The old market street leading from the Charminar, known for lac bangles studded with stones and pearls, made in the workshops behind the shops. Hyderabad's pearl and jewellery shops line the streets around it.
Trade district
Tokyo, Japan
What you find: Jewellery wholesale, loose stones, findings and repair
Tokyo's jewellery wholesale quarter, east of Okachimachi station, where the streets carry names such as Ruby and Diamond. Wholesalers, stone dealers, setters and repairers work side by side; many also sell to the public.
Manufacturing district
Guangzhou, China
What you find: Contract manufacturing of gold, silver and gem-set jewellery
A manufacturing district south-east of central Guangzhou where many Hong Kong jewellery brands have their pieces made. Factories, not shops: visits are by appointment with a manufacturer.
Trade or export zone
Mumbai, India
What you find: Export manufacturing of gold and studded jewellery
A government special economic zone in Andheri East where many units make gold and diamond-set jewellery for export. One of India's largest jewellery export centres; entry is for business visitors only.
Jewellery town
Zhuji, China
What you find: Freshwater pearls, wholesale: loose, strands and jewellery
A town in Zhuji, Zhejiang, where most of the world's freshwater pearls are traded, in large pearl market halls and, increasingly, by livestream. Buyers come for strands by the hank and loose pearls by the kilo.
Trade district
Shenzhen, China
What you find: Gold jewellery wholesale and manufacturing, gold priced per gram plus making charge
The centre of China's gold jewellery trade, in Luohu: trade buildings full of wholesalers and the factories behind them. Gold is sold by weight at the day's price plus a making charge. Also listed in our gem markets.
Trade district
Bangkok, Thailand
What you find: Coloured-stone and diamond dealers, jewellery makers, findings suppliers, gem laboratories
Bangkok's wholesale gem and jewellery quarter runs along Silom, Mahesak and Surawong roads. The Jewelry Trade Center tower at Silom Soi 19 houses dealers, trade offices and several gem laboratories under one roof. Trade offices see buyers by appointment.
Trade or export zone
Jaipur, India
What you find: Export manufacturing of gemstones, gold and silver jewellery
Two special economic zones on the edge of Jaipur, opened for many products but filled almost entirely with gem and jewellery makers, from coloured-stone cutting to gold and silver jewellery for export.
Manufacturing district
Thrissur, India
What you find: Gold jewellery manufacturing for Kerala and South India
Kerala's main gold jewellery making centre: thousands of small ornament-making units and tens of thousands of goldsmiths supply jewellers across South India. Workshops, not showrooms: visits go through a manufacturer.
Manufacturing district
Wuzhou, China
What you find: Cutting of cubic zirconia, synthetic corundum and spinel, and glass stones
A city in Guangxi that grew, over four decades, into a major centre for cutting laboratory-made and imitation stones for the fashion jewellery trade. Useful to know when checking where calibrated synthetic stones come from.
Gold souk or gold street
Bangkok, Thailand
What you find: 96.5% Thai gold ornaments and bars, sold by weight
Bangkok's Chinatown has long been the city's gold street: family gold shops along Yaowarat Road sell Thai 96.5% gold by the baht weight, at prices that follow the Gold Traders Association's daily announcements. A retail street, busy in the evenings.
Trade district
Yiwu, China
What you find: Fashion and costume jewellery, sterling silver, findings, wholesale only
The world's largest small-commodities market has whole floors of fashion and costume jewellery, silver jewellery and components, sold wholesale by the dozen. A sourcing market for brands and retailers, not for fine jewellery.
Gold souk or gold street
Mumbai, India
What you find: Gold and diamond jewellery, wholesale and retail; bullion dealers; small workshops
A maze of narrow lanes in South Mumbai, near Crawford Market, packed with jewellery shops, bullion dealers and the workshops behind them. Around 150 years old and still one of India's busiest gold markets.
Places and official bodies, not businesses: JewelLoop does not rank, recommend or endorse any shop or dealer. Websites are the district's own or an official body's. Many trade offices and factories see buyers by appointment only, so check before you travel, and follow the export and customs rules of every country involved. Gem trading places are in Gem markets of the world.