How to Make Your Own Jewelry at Royal Selangor

Hi guys, welcome back to my blog! This post is waaaaay overdue, but a few months ago, my teammates at work, Dash and I went to Royal Selangor for a team bonding session, and we got to play and experience how to make pewter jewelry!

We took a half the day off on a Friday and went in the afternoon. My teammates and I actually didn't know where Tammy (our boss/mamasan) was taking us, so we were quite excited because mystery = thrill = more excitement! 

From left to right, here's me, Janelle, Sydney, Mira and Bo. (Anis and Tammy are missing from the pic). We all did our makeup and dressed nicely even though we didn't know what we were gonna be doing, like for all we knew we could be bungee jumping or something but all we cared about was whether or not we'd look good doing it or nah 😂 #jk

We took the LRT from Bangsar to Wangsa Maju, where we were met by a van from Royal Selangor. The logo on the van was a dead giveaway on where we were headed to, but we still didn't know what were going to be doing.

We were joined by Dash, who helped us film a few videos previously too~

We were met by the tourist guide who gave a very insightful tour of the Royal Selangor Visitor Centre. She explained how it was found, what they do now, etc.

The place was pretty dope, and it included different rooms and motifs all featuring pewter. It took us around 20-30 minutes to get through the whole tour.

The visitor centre is also attached to their factory, where there was a demo on how handles and cups were produced. First, you take a mold:

then fill it up with pewter. The metal freezes quite fast, so the whole process took by really quickly.

There were also demonstrations of different finishes and techniques on how they design their products, like this intricate 4 seasons cup:

At the end of the tour we were all pretty amazed with everything, but that was when the surprise finally came! At the end of the tour was a workshop where you could create your own jewelry! We literally went 😱😱😱 Thank you Mamasan for such an amazing surprise!

Here's what the work stations look like:

We were met with our instructor who explained and demonstrated the process. There was a tub of melted pewter in the middle of each table:

And you can basically create shapes on the table itself. Here, he demonstrated how to make a tree:

You can also make lines and write your name and make a name stand:

and if you're unsatisfied with your creation, you can just throw it back in to melt it and start again.

You can experiment and make different things, like a bracelet for example!

Since I like braids, I decided to create a simple braided bangle from three lines of metal I created. Doesn't it look so nice??

Do note that I'm wearing gloves because the tub of pewter and the table itself is too hot for bare hands. Plus, even though the pewter solidifies quickly, it's still too hot to the naked touch.

Everyone else was so creative! Tammy made a crown:

And Mira made something similar to me, except she attached it to a stand to make a sort of mystical figurine:

Tammy also created a jewelry plate/bowl, but we were only allowed to take back two scoops' worth of pewter (and her plate was humngous haha)

Aside from doing it freehand, there's also some mold that you can use. The work the same way as the cup handles I mentioned and showed earlier.

You basically need to squeeze them both tight and fill it to the brim with pewter:

You then bend off the excess and polish it to make the edges smoother and the whole thing shinier:

and voila! Vintage accessories!

It looks so pretty after polishing!

In the end we left the Royal Selangor Visitor Centre decked in our new "Tiffany" and "Thomas Sabo" inspired jewelry!

Here's our total haul:

Dash created a huge tree for hanging accessories on, but unfortunately I couldn't take picture of it. If you're wondering what happened to Mira's mystical stand thing, she added an accent made from one of the molds available and ended up with a super expensive looking piece of decoration!

It was definitely an afternoon well spent. It was actually only my 3rd day of working in Althea, and although I knew my team members beforehand, I think this team bonding session made me closer to everybody and is the first of many to come of our team moments (at least for me la, since I'm the newest addition to the team haha). Once again, thank you Mamasan for such an awesome team bonding session!

I didn't really ask how much the whole thing was because I paiseh like that, but after researching online, you too can visit the Visitor Centre for free (with complimentary guided tours). There are two hands-on pewtersmithing workshops available:

The Foundry
Create a take-home pewter accessory freehand or from existing moulds using fundamental pewter crafting processes – casting, polishing and decorating.
Price: RM 180 Per Pax (including GST)Duration: 60 minutesGroup size: 40 (maximum), 2 (minimum)Language option: English and MandarinOnly 15 years old or older are allowed to participate in this workshop. 

School of Hard Knocks (SOHK)
Craft a take-home engravable pewter dish using traditional tools, similar to those used by pewtersmiths more than 100 years ago. 
Price: RM 65 Per Pax (including GST)Duration: 30 minutesGroup size: 50 (maximum), 2 (minimum)Language option: English, Mandarin and Japanese 
Certificates of completion will be presented at the end of each session.

*PS. We did the Foundry package*

And that's all for this post! As always, thank you so much for reading. See y'all in the next post! 💕