Celuk in silver capitol of Bali

The Balinese are renowned for their artistic and craft skills. One of the most popular areas is silver jewelry and the most famous center of production is Celuk.

I have been through Celuk before but never stopped to check it out. Today riding from Kuta I took the Bypass to Sanur, headed in the direction of Ubud and took the turn off in the direction of Sukawati. About a mile further I came to the begining fo a long strip of silversmith’s shops which included small independent places and larger more organized ones.

The journey from Kuta took about 40 minutes and Celuk was easy to find. Along the way I stopped at a traffic light. A friendly local pulled next to me, “Excuse me Sir are you going to Ubud, I live in Ubud.” he said. “No” I said, “I’m going to Celuk.” He followed right behind me for a couple of miles then at another light said “I have a relative in Celuk with a shop, you want to look?” I thought ‘I’m sure everyone in Bali has a relative with a silver shop in Celuk’ and told him thanks but I’d check it out alone.

There was such a choice of places I just picked one at random called Asmana (FAX 62-361-298869). There was a lady and a younger guy working and and they let me photograph the cases of silver jewelry. I asked the lady the price for a simple silver ring and she said 20,000rp. I asked how much for 100 rings and she said 2,500rp per gram. I think you can negotiate as well as shop around. The lady told me I could get custom jewelry made here and all the stuff here was made in Celuk. I have been told much of the stuff comes from Java.

Across the street was a weird looking place called Satu Satu Silver (FAX 62-361-248121). They were trying hard with their display and describe themselves as a ‘factory outlet & wholesale, ethnic & contemporary design.’ I asked if they did custom work and they said no. I checked out the items on show but not being into jewelry don’t have much to comment on. They are trying hard to promote their brand obviously.

Half a mile down the street I stopped into a small shop inside a family compound. The business was called Nyoman’s ( phone - 0361 298309) and owner Nyoman Sudarma was busy at work with his staff making new pieces with shells. He can do custom work. I saw his small display area and his wife said I could bargain and that all the pieces are different so its hard to give a blanket price.

Heading back to the main road to Ubud I saw a very impressive place called Sari Dewi ( phone - 0361 771210) and had to stop. This place is 2 years old and is big. I parked in the rear, the security guard looknig after my helmet, entered through the staff area and observed them coming back from lunch to their work benches. The showroom is huge and is loaded with cases of gold and silver items. Great selection here and if you are in a hurry you’ll probably do well to come here.

A friend of mine Josh Grillo went to Java last year and visited a few large manufacturing places for silver jewelry and got good prices. That is probably your best bet if you are looking to export in quantity. Camille who was here recently got some custom stuff made in Celuk for a decent price and said the guy she used was very experienced and made suggestions that helped the jewelry look better and help reduce the cost. Bali does have enough of a silver jewelry trade where you will find good craftsmen and get good items.

After the last place I grabbed some nasi Padang and a drink for 11,000rp and hit the road for Ubud. My goal was to see the gallery of Antonio Blanco, which you will hear about tomorrow.