Parallel Universe Silver Jewelry Class — Local services in Pulau Bali

This would have been a lovely way to spend a few hours if they let you actually do it yourself.

I wanted to make 2 gifts, one for my mum (a necklace with a stone set) and a simple ring for my friend. I have left feeling quite disheartened about the whole experience.

This is not the first silver workshop I have done but it is the first where the staff takeover at every opportunity. I very plainly expressed multiple times that I would like to learn how to do it myself, they agreed they would let me and then continued to takeover. It was only after the 3rd or 4th time of quite an awkward conversation that a more patient staff member came over to actually help me learn.

There is also no way to tell how much silver you have used (if there is this was not communicated to us) so I spent 5grams over my allotment which is not an expense I expect to pay.

The workshop is overbooked, so that you are too many people to the amount of machines/staff they have. I assume this is why they constantly takeover and rush you, we already know you could make the jewellery better and quicker - the point is I wanted to hand make something for my loved ones.

I can see multiple people have said the same in the reviews and hope that you will start to listen so the next people can have a more enjoyable experience.

The quality of the pieces I have come away with and the space were lovely. If you want to simply design a ring and have it mostly made for you then you would be happy with this.

EDIT: I would like to address a few aspects of Parallel’s response. I did not anneal, I did not shape. I did file, stamp and after Gabi had her stone set FOR her without her realising, we complained and I was then allowed to set mine. The point is that I should not have been make to feel like I have to pester the instructors to be able to be partake in the workshop we paid for.

The scales were categorically not signposted or pointed out to us.

As I said in my original review, you are very skilled silversmiths that can make the jewellery much quicker and better than we can. So even with the ‘ratio’ you are talking about, you did manage to takeover the majority of the process, yes.

I won’t be responding again, the point of this review was for you to be able to take on board our experience and improve for future guests, but I did not want to leave wrong information...

I was disappointed with the experience for several reasons. I did not enjoy the process at all, I found it very stressful and I left having made nothing I felt really proud of...

My group has some suggestions for improvements:

Please make a ring from start to finish and take photos of each stage. You could print this and leave it on the table. The level of English amongst the staff is low, so there were many moments when we were left having no idea what we were supposed to do. This wasted a lot of time - 2.5 hours isn't much time at all and I felt very rushed throughout as I wanted to make two pieces.

Allow people to do things themselves! There were several moments when my work was taken from me and the design was done for me. I was trying to make a present for a friend so it was important for me to do the work myself! It's also a little bit patronising!

Have labels on the sanding/polishing machine saying how to use them and what to use them for. I was pointed there with no explanation of how they worked and had to figure it out for myself.

Have scales available so you can see how much silver you're using throughout. It feels a bit misleading to finish the process and discover you've gone over the allocated amount.

Put labels on the lettering/numbering tools, I probably spent about 10 minutes just looking for the right ones!

Have all the available tools listed or on each table. I spent 40 minutes struggling to hammer in my design with the wrong shapes because I didn't realise other tools were available.

If you made these small adjustments, you could easily go up to a much higher rating for me. The workshop is nice, the staff are very friendly and they allowed me to stay overtime to finish my piece. But this was an experience I've been looking forward to throughout my 4 months of backpacking, and overall it...

The main issue with this workshop was the organization.

At the start we were told to choose a design and stones. After we made our choice, I spent almost an hour just sitting and waiting until my friend pointed out how long it had been. The first step (forming the silver bar) only happened two hours after we arrived. During this time, the staff were busy with other guests, there was chaos, and there were far more participants than masters.

Within the first hour my friend and I already felt like leaving because it did not feel like a workshop at all.

I was a bit luckier than my friend. Eventually, a young man (I don’t remember his name) joined me and explained how to make the stamp for the ring and the settings for the stones. After four hours, all I had personally done was cut the base shape, make the stamp, and prepare the settings. Everything else was done by different people for me, and I simply received the finished ring. It is beautiful, and the jewelers’ craftsmanship is excellent, but as a workshop it was very disappointing.

I also feel sorry for the young man who had to finish my ring late in the evening. He was forced to work that long because the organization at earlier stages was so poor.

My friend’s experience was even worse: she did not make anything herself, nothing was explained to her, they made a different design from what she had chosen, and had to redo it three times.

I came here after reading many positive reviews and was very disappointed. I believe the organizers should clearly state the format in advance: will participants be making the jewelry themselves under guidance, or will the masters do most of it. In our case, 90% of the time we were just watching without even being told about...