Jewellery Making in the Mountains - Jewellery Classes in Dharamkot, Dharamshala
Heading north from Dharamshala, up the mountains through Mcleod Gang, Bhagsu and Dharamkot, you can’t fail to notice the hundreds of jewellery shops, gemstone dealers, and silversmiths and many of these shops will advertise jewellery making classes. It was our engagement anniversary and we were in the market for some rings. So we thought, we’d go and check it out.
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Dharamkot is a stunningly pretty hippy/backpacker town, clinging to the mountain's edge far above Dharamshala. Colourful shop fronts line small pathways that serve as the main strip in this popular little town. There is no shortage of coffee shops, cafes or restaurants and plenty of places to buy any jewels, jewellery or gemstones that you may want.
Set somewhere in the middle of the strip is Clover Gems and Jewellers (Map Link).
We chose Clover Gems to be our jewellery sherpas after a quick Google search. They had a nice website, good reviews and responded quickly to our questions on WhatsApp. They offered us a three hour workshop at 400 rupees each (£3.76 or $4.85) plus the silver cost for whatever we made. The cost of silver seems to be uniform throughout Dharamkot and Bhagsu at 100 rupees per gram (£0.94 or $1.21). There were slots available in the morning and afternoon, starting at either 11am or 4pm. We decided to make a day of it and chose the 4pm slot.
Arriving at Clover Gems we were welcomed in and instantly surrounded by baskets of gemstones in every colour, shape and size, bloodstones to topaz, amethyst to opal and everything in between sparkled and glinted at us from the shelves. On the right hand side of the shop were trays and trays of rings, bracelets and amulets. These served as useful examples if you hadn’t arrived with a design in mind.
John had a clear idea of what he wanted from a ring and so was quickly seated by the low seated jewellers benches that lined the back wall. Before John knew quite what was going on, he had been handed a blowtorch and was instructed to put the flame to a small pile of silver scraps. Under guidance, he watched as first the scraps turned fluorescent orange, before flowing together into a lump of solid silver. A quick acid dunk and water bath later and the raw materials were ready for his ring.
We always had a helping hand when needed!
I knew I wanted a gemstone ring, but had no idea of what design or stone I wanted. I was shown rows of rings as examples and quickly came up with a combination of designs that I thought would look good. Next came the gems. I’m not ashamed to admit it felt like being a kid in a candy shop. Trays and trays of sparkly colourful gems all for me to choose from. I would like to point out here that these gems were not diamonds, emeralds or rubies (although if you were in the market, they could definitely be provided) but much cheaper stones! The stones being cheaper meant that I had free range to choose whatever I wanted and it wouldn’t break our backpacker budget. Sifting through the tray, I spotted a beautiful translucent grey blue moonstone and my choice was made. I quickly joined John behind the benches and were given a blowtorch of my own.
Choices, choices, choices!
The next few hours were spent hammering, tweezing, bending and filing under the expert tutelage of Tapa the jewellery maker. John’s ring took shape after being repeatedly blowtorched, shaped and pressed through what looked like a mangle for metal. Whereas my more dainty ring with its stone was joined together with millimetre thin bindings around a delicate housing. My ring was finished before John’s and I decided to treat myself to a pendant as well.
Again I went through the treasure boxes of gemstones and my eye was caught by a large pearlescent green teardrop stone that I thought would look perfect. The pendant took on the same process as the ring, with a silver housing that enclosed the stone, and a delicate silver loop for the chain to pass through.
The process of making our jewellery was a mix of hands on from us for the simple things, and the professionals taking over at the more complex parts. This never felt patronising and they did only take over where we could have really messed up the designs.
We had a fantastic afternoon learning all about the art of jewellery crafting as we hammered, crafted, polished and filed our bespoke jewellery pieces. We both enjoy arts and crafts and this was such a great way to spend an afternoon. Our rings came out, to our eyes at least perfect!
We now have some custom jewellery, made by us that will always remind us of our time in the mountains of Dharamshala.
John’s hammered silver ring and my elegant moonstone ring and simple pendant turned out great!
All the important information:
How much does it cost?
400 rupees each for the class (800 rupees for the two of us) for three hours.
John’s ring: 650 rupees
Ellie’s ring, pendant and two gemstones: 550 rupees
Total jewellery making session: 2150 rupees for two people plus three items of jewellery (£20.22 or $26.08)
Come on, that’s a bargain even for two long-term backpackers!
Can I make jewellery with no experience?
We have never made anything more complicated than Ikea furniture and certainly have never done any jewellery making. You could do this whatever your experience.
Where is Dharamkot? (Map Link)
Dharamkot is north of McLeod Gang and Dharamshala and just above Bhagsu. You can walk to Dharamkot from McLeod Gang or Bhagsu in under half an hour, or take a taxi. The road will only take you to either side of the village and you will have to make your own way down its pretty lanes to the shop.
Where else can I make jewellery in Dharamshala?
Pretty much everywhere. There are dozens and dozens of jewellery makers offering classes. We can’t comment on quality (as we haven’t been to them) but the prices seem fairly uniform and the gemstones on offer tend to be similarly priced. Just agree up front what kind of range you’re looking at paying for. Some stones will be more expensive than others! Just let them know your budget and they should steer you right.
Thanks for reading,
John & Ellie x
#adventuresofjellie
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