Why stick to the same old boring jewelry items when you have so many options? These handmade jewelry businesses can revamp the way you choose to accessorize your outfit. Here we bring to you their stories so that you can make a conscious and ethical choice while picking out pieces to go with your style.

ASHER JEWELRY

@asherjewellery

The founder, designer, and artisan of Asher Jewelery, Sony Quinkel started the brand because of her passion for jewelry. Quinkel, who loves accentuating her everyday looks by styling appropriate jewelries with it, worked with an NGO prior to the launch of Asher Jewelry in 2017. She has since resigned and is now dedicating her full time and energy to develop her brand.

Because she knows how expensive most jewelry items that use gold and other precious metals and stones are, Quinkel creates all of Asher Jewelry’s products in either brass or silver (The brass designs are later plated in gold.) “My designs mostly resonate with young and working women as many of them can’t afford to buy expensive jewelry,” says Quinkel adding that all of her products are reasonably priced and affordable. 

Quinkel bases her designs on foliage and flowers. She mentions that she has always found designs based on flowers and foliage very charming and thinks that unlimited inspiration can be taken from them since they’re found in such a wide variety. She also reveals that jewelries based on those themes haven’t been made in contemporary designs so customers often remark on how her designs are fresh and unique. Till date, Asher Jewelry has been mostly producing commonly worn items like rings and earrings but they do have plans of branching out to other products and designs in the future.

Even though the manufacturing process of these jewelries takes a lot of time, Quinkel claims that she enjoys every bit of it. She reveals that a lot of the times she isn’t satisfied with the first physical model of products and has to remake them – tweaking little things here and there at least a few times to get the design just right. “What upsets me is that many people don’t realize that a lot of hard work goes behind making jewelry by hand,” she says. But she does admit that slowly more and more people are starting to value handmade jewelry and this business is becoming more mainstream everyday.

Asher Jewelry currently doesn’t have a physical outlet. Quinkel did run a store for the brand for a year at Chhaya Center in Thamel but she had to close it down a few months ago because things didn’t work out as she had planned them. Asher Jewelry products can now be found on display at KTM Haat Bazar and One Tree Stop. A lot of customers also buy their products directly through the brand’s Instagram page and through the e-commerce site, Daraz.
 

SILK JEWEL NEPAL

@silk.jewelnepal

Even before the launch of Silk Jewel Nepal last month, its founder Abishek Pokharel had been selling silk infused jewelries on E-Mall Nepal, an e-commerce website that he founded last year with three of his friends. Pokharel, who is an environmentalist, is always thinking of ways he can reuse and recycle items, and wrapping off season or out-of-fashion jewelry with silk threads is something he thought of a few months ago. That is also the concept of Silk Jewel Nepal.

“I’m following a sustainable business model (to run Silk Jewel Nepal) that will both help reduce environmental waste and independently sustain this brand,” says Pokharel adding that Silk Jewel Nepal is a home-based business brand (run from Chitwan, Bharatpur) and his own family makes all the products. 
Most of their products are seasonal and bridal jewelry – like bangles, earrings, neckpieces, gajra – but he mentions that time and again they also introduce a new product with contemporary design that can be worn casually. Pokharel actually visits collection sites to get used bangles and plastic products that are then used to create Silk Jewel Nepal’s products.
Like Bosah Studio, Silk Jewel Nepal will also not be opening their own physical outlet anytime soon. Pokharel claims that since technology and internet have taken over the world, remote businesses are also getting a chance to succeed in a larger market and he plans to take full advantage of that. Customers can buy Silk Jewel Nepal’s products either through E-Mall or by connecting with them on Instagram and Facebook.
 

BOSAH STUDIO

@bosah.studio

Bosah Studio is an ethical and a minimal jewelry brand that started in early 2019. It’s founder, Ruchita Shakya, mentions that making and selling jewelry has always been a family business for the Shakyas and that she naturally developed an interested in jewelry making by seeing her family members do it. “People from my generation and those younger than us are losing interest in traditional crafts like jewelry making. So, one reason I started Bosah Studio is to remind them that these skills are precious and we should learn and preserve them,” says Shakya who is an architect by profession.

Even though the process of starting a jewelry business was a bit easier for Shakya because her family – primarily her father, Gautam Shakya – helps her out with a lot of things, she mentions that having a full time job and operating Bosah Studio is still difficult for her to manage. She states that her fascination with jewelries and her passion for designing things are what motivate her to keep pushing herself.

Most of Bosah Studio’s products use silver because it’s a metal that Shakya thinks works with contemporary fashion. “Silver is also a precious metal. So, if you buy something made out of silver, the value of that item will keep increasing,” explains Shakya adding that even though she wants to add stones and gems to a lot of her designs, that isn’t always possible because it’s difficult to find professionals who have the skills to cut and shape it. She releases the products one (themed) collection at a time and states that the buyers can customize the sizes (of the products) and types of stones, according to their preferences.

Currently, Bosah is a completely online-based brand and Shakya reveals that she has no plans of opening an outlet for it anytime soon. She mentions that Bosah is doing well enough by connecting to its customers either through Instagram or Facebook and claims that she doesn’t have the time to run a physical outlet for it right now.

 
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