Most people who write to us have never held a jeweler's torch. A week later they leave with rings, a cuff and a stone-set pendant made with their own hands. This is an honest account of what happens in between.
I.You start with grain, not with wire
Many jewelry classes hand you factory wire and sheet, and you spend the day bending it. That is assembly, not smithing. Here, the first thing you do is weigh out raw sterling grain, melt it in a crucible until it pools like mercury, and pour your own ingot. Everything you make for the rest of the week begins as metal you poured yourself.
That first pour teaches the thing no video can. Silver has moods: it moves when it is hot, resists when it is cold, and tells you through the hammer which one it is. Learning to hear that is the real curriculum. The rings are souvenirs of the listening.
II.The five skills, in order
Every batch moves through the same progression, whatever the format.
- Melting and ingot pouring. Crucible work. Raw grain becomes a workable bar.
- Forging and wire drawing. Hammering, annealing, and drawing silver through the plate to the gauge you need.
- Soldering and fabrication. Torch control, clean joins and seams. Rings, cuffs and pendants take shape here.
- Bezel making and stone setting. Building a bezel by hand and seating a natural stone so it stays for decades.
- Oxidation and finishing. Antique patinas, satin textures, or a mirror polish. The signature of the piece.
A Discovery Day takes you through the first three and out the door with a finished ring. The three-day Intensive adds bezel work and a set stone. The seven-day Master Residency covers all five, with enough repetition that the skills stay in your hands after you fly home.
III.The daily rhythm
Mornings are for new techniques, while attention is fresh and the desert light is still soft. Govinda demonstrates at his own bench; you repeat the operation at yours. Every guest keeps a full jeweler's bench for the whole stay, so nobody queues for tools. Afternoons are for making, applying the morning's technique to the piece you are building.
Because each batch holds only four seats, teaching happens at your elbow rather than from the front of a room. Mistakes are welcome. Silver is endlessly forgiving: anything that goes wrong returns to the crucible and becomes tomorrow's ingot.
The greatest joy was never in the selling. It was always in the making.
IV.Evenings belong to Pushkar
The atelier sits in the old bazaar quarter, a short walk from the sacred lake. When the benches close, guests on the retreat plan walk down to the ghats for the evening aarti, then return to a home-cooked Rajasthani vegetarian dinner. The day ends on the rooftop with chai, where the day's pieces are passed around and discussed under the temple skyline. The town itself is described in our traveller's guide to Pushkar.
V.What you take home
Every piece you make is yours. That is the promise of the house. Over a full residency most guests finish six to nine pieces: stacking rings, a hammered cuff, a bezel-set pendant, and usually a piece of their own design built in the final days. You also leave with a signed certificate of completion under the atelier's seal, and, more durably, with hands that know what annealed silver feels like.
The student gallery shows work made by people who had never held a torch before they arrived.
VI.Do you need experience?
No. The curriculum assumes nothing. Experienced makers are welcome too; the pace simply adjusts, and Govinda moves you onto stone setting and design work sooner. When you enquire, tell us your level and the months you are considering. Batches are arranged around each guest's journey rather than a fixed calendar.