Trusted by the people we work beside

A workshop stays honest when others can check the work. These are the partners, suppliers and community groups we have built pieces with over the years, from stone dealers who let us pick through a parcel by hand to the families who bring us their grandmother's bangles for resizing.

Ratan Stone Traders

Loose diamonds and coloured stones

We have bought from their parcel table for eleven years. They let our setters examine every stone under the loupe before it goes into a ring.
Durban Indian Cultural Society

Community and festival partners

We repair and restore temple jewellery for their Diwali and Navratri programmes, often on a tight turnaround before the first evening.
Marais & Co. Refiners

Gold refining and assay

Every scrap and old piece we melt down passes through their assay first, so the karat on your paperwork matches what is actually in the metal.
Verma Family Trust

Bridal commissions since 2016

Three generations of wedding sets, from a first engagement ring to a full bridal order for their youngest daughter last spring.
Cape Goldsmiths Guild

Craft standards and training

Our apprentices sit their bench assessments through the guild. It keeps the handwork honest and the finishing consistent.
Naledi Insurance Brokers

Valuation and cover referrals

When a finished commission needs cover, we hand clients a written valuation they can take straight to their broker.

How the atelier grew, one bench at a time

Shikhar Jewellers did not start with a showroom. It started with a single workbench, a rolling mill and a handful of regulars who brought in bangles to be resized and chains to be repaired. The decisions below shaped what the studio is today.

Early years

A repair bench becomes a workshop

The first orders were practical: resizing a grandmother's bangle, re-tipping claws on a worn ring, restringing a temple necklace. Word travelled through families in Durban and Johannesburg, and the workload outgrew one bench. We added a second goldsmith and set aside a separate polishing corner so finishing work no longer competed with stone setting.
Bridal commissions

Wedding sets move in-house

Clients kept asking for full bridal sets rather than single pieces, and sending that work out meant losing control over timelines and finish. We brought casting, setting and hand-polishing under one roof. A wedding set now moves from sketch to final polish without leaving the studio, and the same goldsmith who sets the stones signs off on the last polish.
Documentation

Written quotes and care guides

Too many clients arrived with vague promises from elsewhere and no paper trail. We introduced a simple rule: every commission gets a written quote, a timeline and a care guide before any metal is cut. It slowed the start of each project slightly, but it removed the guesswork, and it is now the part of the process clients mention most often.
Today

Two traditions, one bench

Traditional South Asian motifs still sit at the centre of what we make, but a growing share of orders are quiet everyday pieces: a slim gold band, a single-stone pendant, a pair of studs for a first job. Working on both keeps the hand sharp. Filigree teaches patience; a plain band teaches precision. The studio stays a working space, and visitors see the same hands that will finish their piece.

Inside the workshop, piece by piece

These are the stages a commission passes through at our benches in Port Garthtown. Each tray carries a job in progress, and each job carries a name.

Stage 01

Sketch pinned at the bench

A client's drawing sits above the rolling mill for weeks. Goldsmiths mark proportions, note the karat, and adjust the curve of a bangle before any gold is cut.

Stage 02

Stone setting under the loupe

Loose diamonds wait in shallow trays. One goldsmith sets claws by hand, checking each stone for tilt and grip before the piece moves on.

Stage 03

Polishing filigree by hand

A temple necklace or bridal bangle is worked with fine brushes until the filigree catches the light evenly. No shortcuts here, only patience and a steady wrist.

Stage 04

Half-finished wedding sets

Trays hold rings and pendants mid-assembly. Some are waiting on a resize, others on a final solder joint. Every piece is logged before it leaves the bench.

Stage 05

Repairs and resizing

A worn clasp, a loose stone, a ring that no longer fits. We open the setting, restore the surface, and return the piece with a note on what was changed.

Stage 06

Final check and care guide

Before delivery, the piece is weighed, photographed for our records, and packed with a written care guide. The same hands that made it sign off on it.

A working atelier, not a showroom

Shikhar Jewellers is a family-run workshop in South Africa, making handcrafted gold, diamond and bridal jewellery for Indian and South African families. The doors on this page open onto the room where that work actually happens.

Ivory walls, brushed gold fittings, and a row of benches where our own goldsmiths sit through the day. One sets stones under a loupe. Another works a bangle until the filigree catches the light. The room carries a faint smell of metal and wax, and trays of loose diamonds, gold sheet and half-finished temple pieces sit within arm's reach.

We are not a retail counter that sends work elsewhere. The hands that sketch your commission are the same hands that set, polish and resize it, and every stage is written down as the piece moves from bench to bench.

Who we make for

Families preparing for a wedding, couples choosing an engagement ring, and anyone bringing in an heirloom that needs care.

What sits on the bench

Bridal sets, temple jewellery, bangles, chains, everyday gold pieces, and repairs that come back to life under the same roof.

How we talk to you

Plainly. Karats, stone choices, sizing and timelines are explained before anything is cut, and you leave with a written quote and a care guide rather than a vague promise. Traditional South Asian motifs and quiet contemporary designs share the same bench here, and both get the same patience.