Store Tour – The Silver Shop

Warm and beckoning!

The jeweller allows me to wear the sapphire blue lake on my finger, emerald green leaves around my neck, and take the citrine sunset with me wherever I go. Jewellery has become my daytime link to nature in an office with no windows. And if I have to work late, there's nothing like diamond stars and a pearl full moon against an onyx night sky. ~Astrid Alauda

This quote beautifully summarizes the allure of jewellery.  It transcends beyond being a mere accessory; it evokes memories, arouses feelings, induces poise and makes you feel unique. I am not much of a jewellery person and more into minimalistic delicate jewellery. But I have recently discovered the power of accessories for an outfit and started dabbling in some statement jewellery and now I am always on the lookout for unique pieces. My ex room-mate Madhavi introduced me to this amazing shop around 4 years back and I still have not gotten over it!  Every time I am in Commercial Street I always have a quick peek.

This tiny shop in Commercial Street in Bangalore is a stylist’s paradise. Stocked with silver jewellery and gemstones, this shop is like a candy land full of colourful gemstones of all varieties, some known and some unknown. It is here that I first saw Alexandrite which is a rare gemstone that changes colour depending on the light and is often described by gem aficionados as “emerald by day, ruby by night”.  Having started with made to order gold jewellery way back in 1958, this shop now specializes in silver and semi-precious gemstone jewellery owing to the turn in the trend since the past 10-15 years. Sourcing the pieces from all over India, you can see the fine craftsmanship and artistry of the silversmiths from different states and regions, each distinct with their trademark style. Most of the silver jewellery is handmade and has this charm and uniqueness about it that can only be brought by the touch of human hand. They also stock machine made fine silver chains, bangles etc but they are not half as impressive as the handmade ones.

The sheer variety of stock here ensures a constant stream of customers and the shop is always over flowing. Mr. Babu Prasad, the owner of this place attributes this success to the perfect vaastu of Commercial Street. Being close to the cantonment area during the British occupation, Commercial Street received patronage of the British officers whose wives were enchanted by the wares of this exotic land! Commercial Street was indeed the commercial hub of Bangalore and its significance is obvious by its pin code – 560001. Even now it is the first place we think of when it comes to shopping for fabric and jewellery. But now the charm of the Commercial Street is fading according to Mr. Prasad and it is becoming too commercial (now that’s an oxymoron). Earlier all the shops on Commercial Street had houses attached behind the shop façade but now none of the families live here, they have all migrated to better homes and greener pastures. Mr. Prasad’s shop cum house is the only house left on Commercial Street where people still live. This 160 year old house has seen 5 generations and is still standing firm. Apparently this house is somewhat of an architectural marvel having a 22x22 feet hall without any pillars.

I had an amazing time talking with Mr. Prasad and his lovely wife about their shop, the nuances of the silver jewellery and gemstones and history of Commercial Street. However if you want to explore the shop at leisure, I suggest you visit over a weekday when they are comparatively less occupied and will show you box after box of wonders till you have found what you are looking for. It is definitely a must visit for finding unique statement jewellery that go well with ethnic as well as western wear. I specially love their mind boggling variety of silver jhumkis and my Mom loves their statement necklaces which look amazing when paired with crisp cotton sarees and even traditional silk sarees. Hope you will the find the shop as attractive as I do :)

Statement Necklaces galore!

Love their silver earrings collection

Arm candy

Array of silver jhumkas

Packed house

Statement rings with semi precious stones setting

The big picture

Necklaces with semi-precious beads

Pendants

Ganeshas in semi-precious stones

Last glance

Address: The Silver Shop, 28 Commercial Street. Bangalore

Just ahead of Krishniah Chetty Jewellers on Commercial Street if you are coming from Mysore Udyog side. 

Timings: 11.30 AM to 2.30 PM and 4 PM to 7 PM (closes in between for lunch)

You may want to check out my other Commercial Street finds:
Store Tour - Asiatic Arts and Crafts

Store Tour – Mecca Lifestyle

Store Tour – Mecca Lifestyle

Love at first sight!

Roaming the by lanes of Commercial street I stumbled (yup stumble a lot but always with a good find so far, so touchwood :P) upon my dream kitchen. Yup you read it right, a store selling stuff of my kitchen dreams lodged in a busy commercial street by lane amidst the stores selling handbags, footwear, accessories and all those things synonymous with Commercial Street shopping. As I stared entranced debating whether my mind was playing games with me due to the overdose of drool inducing cookery shows on  TLC and Foxlife with the equally drool worthy cookware, when the elegant store lady with chicest outfit for her age invited me with a broad smile. I followed her inside determined not to buy anything as I really did not have space or occasion for fancy cookware and declared it at the outset. Sensing that I was a first timer at the store, the lady showed me around patiently yet stepping back and giving me space to marvel and examine the pieces closely. The store had the most exquisite handpicked yet affordable collection of ceramic cookware and crockery I had ever seen up close. They had rows of neatly arranged dinner sets, tea sets, soup bowls, mugs, jugs, serve ware, oven friendly cookware, diffusers, vases, and the list is endless. I just couldn't decide which amongst the colourful yet earthy pieces were my favourite and ended up going around in circles in the tiny space of kitchen paradise I just discovered and also felt that my resolute control of not buying was slowly fading away replaced by panic that I would not be able to buy my dream’s worth this time!

The store had at least eight collections of dinner sets and serve ware in various motifs and colours which Noori; the aforementioned elegant lady J  and also the proprietor of the store; informed me were in Mughal or multi Mughal style. She also told me that the pieces were handpicked by her and her family on their regular trips to UP, Agra, and Muradabad and that all of them are hand painted and hence each piece was unique in its own way. While she was highlighting the nuances of the pieces with additional inputs from her husband, in walked two sturdy men who turned out to be her sons and I witnessed a most funny yet touching scene where each family member was trying to tell the story of their business and how it started etc. It was heartening to see the sons so involved and so proud of their mother. They are this one big happy family with entrepreneurship in their blood each supporting each other’s ventures and interests. Turns out their family business started way back in the 1920’s with balloons and moved to buttons, electric, and plastic to more recently a circulating library from 1974 to 2010 when the ceramics business was started. On top of it, Noori also had a successful boutique till some time back with some regular clients still coming back to her even now. I forgot to compliment her on her outfit the other day but let me say it now that it was very chic and classy, long kurta with palazzos J. She dabbles in interiors also but for now the ceramic business is her baby that she is nurturing and she has plans to slowly include more household stuff also into the store.  The store is an apt gift place (cough cough, birthday next month :P) where all the pieces are useful, long lasting, and functional and not to mention very aesthetic. They would make excellent gifts for housewarming, wedding or even Mother’s day. And of course the warm conversation is the icing on the cake! All in all a warm place with a warm lot, definitely worth a visit J

 Genie in a bottle!

  

Yellow or blue? I say both!

 Loved the blue block print stlye mugs top right

 Big fat planter

 Too many choices!

 Got a pie dish in blue :)

 Pretty window display

Psst: Noori knows Commerical Street like the back of her hand and can give excellent pointers on where to get good fabric, sarees, silver jewellery etc J

Address: #4/2, China Bazaar, Commercial Street Cross, Next to Shiv Sagar Hotel, Bangalore – 560001

From Commercial Street, take the lane adjacent to Anand Sweets.

You may want to check out my other Commercial Street find:
Store Tour - Asiatic Arts and Crafts

Store Tour - Asiatic Arts and Crafts

Today I am sharing a treasure trove you will love rummaging through to find unique antique finish curios from whimsical birdcages to vintage looking clocks to ornate wall lamps and chandeliers to intricate brass work statues and lamps and door knockers. Tucked in a narrow tiny shop on the busy commercial street, this store is jam packed with all things pretty and the place where I had chanced upon my precious vintage looking birdcage spotted here and the stunning motorcycle miniature spotted in the third pic here. And when I say jam packed, I am not exaggerating, you remove one item from the shelf to admire it and a few more beautiful pieces will come tumbling down and so you will be drawn deeper into this treasure hunt. And it is indeed a treasure hunt, all you need is some patience and you can score some really unique curios at a reasonable price. And there is something for all tastes, be it quirky or vintage or ethnic or spiritual, the variety is mind boggling. It is also a very good place to find unique meaning full gifts for weddings or house warming (in fact I wouldn't mind anything from here on any occasion J). So check out this place the next time you are in Commercial Street.

Where - Right beside McDonald's on Commercial Street, Bangalore

The board is misleading, Kashmir House is the basement shop.

Left or right? I think it was one before...I prefer the left one...

Treasure trove!

I am not blowing my own trumpet...but this is awesome :D

Serene

Beautiful and intricate - Vishnu on Ananta Sesha

Stuck in a time warp

Tu cheez badi hais mast mast (brilliant joke isn't it? :D)

Bling Ring

Light at end of the tunnel

One last glimpse

Tip - There is scope for bargaining, so give it a shot. Also check the piece thoroughly before you buy it as there was a slight defect in one of the pieces I bought there. Happy treasure hunting! :)

DIY – Makeup brushes holder

I did my own makeup for my wedding (did I see raised eyebrows in surprise :P). I did not trust the beauty parlour I knew in Visakhapatnam and more than that I did not want to shell out thousands for every occasion. One of my cousins spent a whopping total of 25k for makeup for 5 occasions! (that is considered a lot in traditional south Indian families, our weddings are more subdued than north Indian weddings which I love btw am waited to be invited to :P). My logic was that it’s better to buy makeup products worth 25k and learn to apply than pay so much and hope that he/she does a good job. And finding a good makeup artist in Visakhapatnam would have been tricky as I was in Bangalore and was traveling there just in time for the wedding. Anyway I am always in for DIY, my wedding lehenga was a DIY for god sake! I had a harrowing time getting it done but at the same time I had a lot of fun J (does that make sense :P)

    So I became all makeup junkie, reading reviews online (IMBB was a boon), watching tutorials, getting to know the difference between a bronzer and a blush etc and in the process collected a whole lot of makeup. My makeup collection before consisted of a kajal, a compact and a few lip balms (all of it fitted into my old college pen pouch) and after the wedding I had cream blushes, powder blushes, eye shadow palettes, mascara, two different foundations for matte and dewy (I did not even know these terms before) and etc etc. I am proud that other than one or two lipsticks (thanks to the mall lighting when I tried on at the store) there were hardly any misses (again the credit goes to IMBB). I have not become a pro at makeup but I am decent now (I can apply blush without looking like a clown and I can apply eye shadow without looking like someone gave me a black eye).

     With all that makeup came quite a few makeup brushes (never knew there were so many types) and I wanted to store my fluffies properly so that the bristles were not damaged and they were handy at the same time. A mug was an obvious choice but I wanted to up the cute quotient and make it all girly and pretty. So I took the plain white mug and painted makeup products all over it. I went all high end and painted Channel lipstick, Dior eye shadow palette, Givenchy mascara etc on it. I just googled for the images of real products and drew the same, first with pencil (it does not come out very dark, but it is enough for outline). Then I went over the same thing with acrylic paint. I tried to keep the colours same and added the logos and tried to copy the labels as well. At the end here is what I got J

On my vanity shelf :)

You can paint dresses or bags or shoes or even teddies or hearts or you can just doodle cute stuff on the mug. It would make a cute addition to your vanity display and more importantly all your brushes will be in one place intact.

Psst: It also makes a very good gift for your bestie :)
And psst again: This post is dedicated to IMBB which inspired me to start this blog :)

DIY – Gift for an expectant mother

I find the whole gift giving business quite tiring (Sheldon Cooper thank you very much!) but I also secretly enjoy it J I love finding the perfect gift suitable for the person, suitable for the occasion and ya also suitable to my wallet. Now with so many factors thrown in, finding that perfect gift which will make the other person go “Wow! that was what I wanted” or at least “Wow! I never thought I should have it.” is quite a challenge.

But challenge accepted (à la Barney, that’s the second sitcom reference, I should stop now :P). So where was I…. ya so we have established that fact that I love buying/making/fussing over the perfect gift. Now when my cousin’s wife broke the good news, I immediately started thinking of a good gift to take along when we go to visit them. Sweets, chocolates, flowers etc are done to death and between the morning sickness and mood swings, remote chances that she would have enjoyed them. My next option was a pamper basket including hand cream, body butter, scented candles, the works. But I did not get the perfect basket to pack them all in (yup I am such a nitpicker) but more than that I did not have time to hunt for all of that and the basket. I wanted some easy way out yet without compromising my unique and perfect gift condition. So I thought of customizing something, and a mug seemed to be quite simple and easy. I went with the super mom theme, twisted it to make it more appropriate by adding “to be”, added her name and googled a fun image for the mug and photoshoped it all together into one image. Just give the image to any of the customizing kiosks and it was ready in one day J. I got it done in Kodak customizing shop in Jyothi Nivas College Road, Koramangala, Bangalore. But you can get it done anywhere. And you have an appropriate gift which conveys the thought aptly. Pack it up in a cute way and you have upped the gift’s aww factor even more J

Here are the pictures (sorry for the bad quality, took them in a hurry with a phone just before giving :P)