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Indian jewellers

Indian jewellers or Indian goldsmiths designed and hand-crafted gold jewellery that was sold either in shops or directly by them to their customers. They were Indian men who worked mainly around Little India especially in shophouses along Upper Dickson Road and Buffalo Road, off Serangoon Road.

History
Indian jewellers came to Singapore from the late 1940s onwards, but the trade became popular only from the 1950s. Most of the Indian jewellers in Singapore were from the state of Tamil Nadu in Southern India who were born into jewellers' families in India and later came to Singapore to better their prospects in life. Known as the patters or acharis, they donned the poonal, or religious threads over their shoulder and upper torso, around the age of ten when they were initiated into the craft. Being a family trade, the jewellery crafting skills were imparted to these jewellers by their fathers and other relatives from a young age. After a while, they joined another jeweller as an apprentice. After their apprenticeship, most jewellers went back to working for their fathers or uncles while others sought their fortune overseas. Older jewellers too later sought work overseas. After arriving at Singapore, some of these jewellers adopted Singapore as their homeland and continued the tradition of donning the poonal and teaching their sons the secrets of their trade here. However, Indians of other castes later learned the art of goldsmithing and went into the trade. The trade of goldsmithing was most affected during the period of the Japanese occupation when nearly all jewellers had to work as labourers.

Job scope
Jewellers worked from their individual work cubicles which they adorned with pictures of their favourite Hindu deities and family memorabilia. They worked on all days except Sundays. Some of them worked for up to 20 hours a day. The traditional jeweller sat cross-legged on a floor mat, bent over a small bench to work. The common tools of their trade were screws, files, hammers, acid, sandpaper, water and a lamp. The customer selected a design from a book of designs the goldsmith kept with him or would request for replicas of pieces that they brought with them. The jewellers also fixed broken pieces of jewellery for a fee. Their work started with drawing out a rough design on a gold bar. Then they would cut out the design and carve it with their various tools to get the desired shape. They would melt gold as required over a lamp. The steady flame of the lamp was also used to join two pieces of jewellery to make a bigger piece. Their work demanded patience, creativity and very skilful fingers. Sometimes the roughly cut shapes would be imported from India and the jeweller would cut out and carve the design later. A small burner fuelled by petrol was also used to melt gold. After melting, the gold was picked up with tweezers, put into a can of acid followed by water. When the gold was still soft, it was shaped into the required design. Most of the jeweller's orders were from jewellery shops and the customers at the shop were from all races. The Indian Tamils and some Chinese walked into a jeweller's cubicle to order and buy jewellery from the jeweller directly. The jewellers earned more during festive seasons and auspicious Hindu months when occasions such as weddings and other ceremonies were more frequently held.

Development
Mechanisation was largely responsible for the decline of the Indian jewellery business. Jewellery that was machine designed was cheaper than a hand-crafted one. Customers therefore went to shops to buy such jewellery. Machines of various types could churn out greater number of pieces over a shorter period of time with minimal wastage. The number of designs the machines could make were many more than the jeweller had in his own book of designs. A few customers however continued to have preferences for hand-crafted, exclusive pieces of jewellery that could not be found elsewhere or those with unique designs which could not be made by machines. Because of this, a few these craftsmen have remained. However, they are hired by jewellery shops to work for them and are paid a monthly salary. They are not businessmen as before, who took orders and sold jewellery on their own accord.



Author
Naidu Ratnala Thulaja



References
Lo-Ang, S. G., & Huan, C. C. (Eds.). (1992). Vanishing trades of Singapore (pp. 29-33). Singapore: Oral History Department.
(Call no.: RSING 338.642095957 VAN)

Sullivan, M. (1993). "Can survive, la": Cottage industries in high-rise Singapore (pp. 152-155). Singapore: Graham Brash.
(Call no.: RSING 338.634095957 SUL)

Whither the glittering glamour? (1987). Goodwood Journal, 3rd Qtr., 35-37.
(Call no.: RCLOS 052 GHCGJ)


Further Readings
National Heritage Board. (n.d.). Archives & Artefacts Online, Singapore. Retrieved on January 27, 2003, from www.a2o.com.sg

The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we can ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Commerce and Industry>>Labour and Employment>>Vanishing Trades
Jewelers--Singapore
Artisans--Singapore
Ethnic jewelry--Singapore
Business, finance and industry>>Economics>>Labour economics
People and communities>>Fashion and grooming>>Clothes and accessories
Arts>>Decorative arts>>Jewellery making



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