Visiting the silversmiths of Celuk, Bali, Indonesia

Hello Steemians,

In this post I will talk about my visit to a jewelry workshop in Celuk, Bali, which I made back in 2009.

Celuk is a village in the south of Bali famous for its jewelry artisans, and most of the people in the village are silversmiths or goldsmiths.

According to a local legend, it was the gods themselves that introduced the villagers to the art of silversmithing.

The jewelry workshop

Their methods were passed down from generation to generation, with a focus on intricate designs, and much attention to detail.

Creating jewels with traditional tools

As a matter of fact, most homes in Celuk function as jewelry workshops, and you can buy beautiful handmade pieces at very competitive prices, as no middlemen are involved.

It was my first visit to a jewelry workshop, and I was intrigued to see how jewels are actually made.

The method they used from what I saw was; assemble, weld, polish.

Firstly, they put all pieces together using tongs, glues, mini hammers, and other instruments. Secondly, once all the pieces were in place, weld them together using a mini blow-torch, which will strengthen the jewel, and fuse all parts together. Lastly, polish the jewel on a spinning wheel to give it an extra shine and smoothness.

Assembling a piece of jewelry

Welding using a mini blowtorch

Polishing on the wheel

Finishing touches

Eagle-eyed supervision

Unfortunately, the bombings in Bali in 2002 and 2005 affected tourism, and the reduction of tourists was followed by a reduction of income, which forced many artisans to close down their workshops. Business has picked up though since then, slowly and steadily, and hopefully if these artisans enter the international market, their craftmanship will survive and perpetuate (1).

The end product; a beautiful bracelet

I also managed to find a very informative video on Youtube about traditional handmade jewelry in Bali that I would like to share with you; i hope you will like it.

And that's the end of this post. I hope you liked it, and that you will follow me to the next one.

Have a good day, and we'll speak again soon!

References:
1.Text from https://www.novica.com/blog/silver-and-gold-jewelry-artisans-of-celuk/

Image references:
Creating jewels with traditional tools:https://www.novica.com/
The end product; a beautiful bracelet: https://www.novica.com/