KierstenMake your own custom ring in a workshop hosted by a jewelry shop in Seoul. Customize everything from the size, finish, jewel, and engraving, then get to work creating your masterpiece!
I’ll admit up front that this post is a slight departure from my normal coffee content. We could call it coffee adjacent? It involved coffee, but honestly, it was just too cool of an experience for me not to share.
We recently spent our Saturday afternoon trying our hands at jewelry making. We went to an awesome Ring Making Workshop in Seoul!
I cannot 👏rave 👏about 👏 this place 👏 enough
The Shop
The shop is called Add: Ring and is located in Bucheon, Seoul, a south western area of the city, near Incheon. It sits on the fifth floor of a building that is about a block from the subway station, so it’s super convenient.
In addition to this workshop, the shop sells its own creations as well. There are beautiful necklaces, earrings, rings, and bracelets you can purchase, ready made.
It’s a small shop, but there is plenty of room for at least 6 people to each have their own station. It’s bright and delicately decorated with natural wood, plants, and touches of gold.
The Workshop
You will need to reserve your space for the workshop as it is lead by a ring master (he referred to himself as the workshop manager but I couldn’t resist the pun 🙃). To make a reservation, the simplest way is to message them directly on Instagram.
You could also use the Korean messaging app, Kakoa Talk if you have it. You’ll let him know your name, requested time and date, and how many people. Reservations are typically secured with a deposit via bank transfer or card link.
On the day of your reservation, plan to spend around 1-1.5 hrs making the ring and then another hour waiting for the finishing touches.
Making Your Ring
The workshop manager guides you through the whole process. He speaks some English but also uses a translator app for some directions. We were able to follow along with no problems and he is SO nice.
You’ll start by choosing the specifications of your ring – the size, width, style, finish, etc. I was amazed at all the options we could choose from. The hardest part was deciding which one to make!
Once you decide, he gets everything ready and walks you through the ring making process. You do everything from shaping to sizing to polishing. It was really fun to create something pretty with my own two hands.
The ring making “package” includes snacks and drinks also! We got coffee and iced tea, along with some Korean snack biscuits and cookies.
As if all that weren’t enough, while you work you’re also in a photo shoot! The workshop manager takes professional pictures of your hard work and shares them with you after the workshop.
This is great because it lets you focus on creating and connecting instead of Instagramming, and he takes way better pictures than I ever could have. In fact, they discourage taking your own photos so my phone was away the whole time!
We finished our rings to about 90% and then turned them over to the master. While we got lunch (at an awesome place he recommended) the workshop manager added the finishes, set my jewel, and finished them to perfection. I’m sure he also graciously corrected some of our mistakes 🙃.
The Finished Rings
We went back to pick up our finished rings after about an hour and they were GORGEOUS.
Mine is the thinner band with the sapphire blue jewel and my husband made the thicker one with the line etchings. They come safely stored in this travel box and accompanied by a silver polishing cloth.
This is hands down my favorite activity that we’ve done in Korea so far. I love that we could create something that will serve as a memento of our time here and this is much better than a little trinket from a store (in my opinion). Go create your own beautiful ring and tag me so I can see!
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Hey! Nice post! How much was it?? 🙂
It was about $70 for everything. So worth it! 🙂