Thailand has been known for its jewelry for hundreds of years. Elaborate Thai style jewelry has always accompanied Thai ladies in old paintings and photos. Back in those days, only the people in the royal families, aristocrats and wealthy merchants could afford to own jewelry.
Traditionally, jewelry was made by goldsmiths in tiny shops. Goldsmiths were seen as skilled laborers and were paid minimally by people who commissioned them to make jewelry. Most of them were not well-rounded as far as skills are concerned. Some worked solely with fabricating jewelry, while some with stone setting. To this day, jewelry is still made in this way in many places in Thailand. For example, one skill worker creates a wax model and passes it on to another person to cast it in metal. Then another worker finishes the metal by filing and polishing and finally, the jewelry is passed to a stone setter to put the stone in last. Things have been kept in this way mainly by jewelry manufacturers who do not want their workers to have all jewelry making skills to finish a piece on their own. Moreover, specialized techniques are only passed down to family members quite secretly to keep themselves competitive in the business.
Classes on jewelry making were first offered in a few universities in Thailand less than 10 years ago. Only a handful of graduates are now working as studio jewelers. People still think that only skilled laborers make jewelry in either large manufactures or small musty hole-in-the-wall workshops near China Town.
The culture of Studio Jewelry is still unknown to the general public here in Thailand. People like you and me SHOULD NOT be working in such a ‘labor’ intensive way! Why should we want to have our nails dirty when we can just have a piece of jewelry made quite economically!? That being said, not many people in Thailand can call themselves Studio Jewelers. It is considered a ‘New’ culture in the long history of Thai jewelry making. And Thais are quite resistent to this new culture!
Unlike in the US and Europe, where jewelry making is a hobby to thousands of people, Thais still don’t see jewelry making in that way. However, more and more people are now interested in beading. And if what happened in the US is true to other places, then people here might be more interested in learning about jewelry making after learning how to bead. And if so, we have to be ready and make jewelry making classes available to people who may become our next generation of studio jewelers.
At the moment, if one wants to learn how to make jewelry, there are only a few options available.
1. Enroll in one of the jewelry design programs offered by a handful of universities–it’s a 4-year program.
2. Take a private class at a few places like a studio in Bangkok called “One Form One Piece” operated by a studio jeweler who graduated from the UK (www.solidskin.com).
3. If one is lucky enough to be born in the jewelry business, one can learn from a working goldsmith.
4. Do what I did, travel to the US or other countries to learn!
I would love to see more and more people here being interested in studio jewelry and the art of jewelry making. Many jewelers around the world would love to teach a workshop in Thailand. All we have to do is to find enough people to take it…and that’s not so easy.
It would be nice if Thais are readily receptive of the culture of studio jewelry just like other western cultures like Hamburger and Hip-Hop.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Carol 10.17.08 at 2:45 p10
Atty is that you ! Carol from metallo nobile.
Phonthip 10.19.08 at 2:45 p10
I like your nice studio ^,^