14 stores · curated ORBIS register
Borosilicate glass becomes jewellery at Tabi no Kiseki (タビノキセキ), the small Itoshima studio that also makes earthenware pieces. The workshop repairs its own glass accessories, including cracked pieces, extending its work beyond making new ones. Kanazawa's Gold-Knot combines gold leaf with silk thread in earrings and necklaces, alongside other accessories sold by the shop. Kobe's Yokota Pearl sources and sets akoya pearls for its own jewellery, sold from the Hanakuma-chō shop.
Itoshima, Fukuoka, Japan
A small studio in Itoshima's Shimakoganemaru district hand-forms borosilicate-glass accessories and earthenware pieces, working glass that its maker describes as lighter yet stronger than conventional glass so pendants and jewelry hold up to daily wear. The shop also repairs its own pieces, including cracked ones, for a flat fee plus return shipping.
Best for Handmade glass accessories, aroma pendants
Minamicho, Kanazawa
A local jewelry brand and shop combining Kanazawa gold leaf with silk thread in earrings, necklaces, and other accessories.
Best for Kanazawa gold leaf combined with silk thread in earrings and necklaces.
Chuo-ku (Hanakuma-cho)
Yokota Pearl sells akoya pearl jewelry from a shop in Kobe's Hanakuma-cho, near JR Motomachi and Hankyu Hanakuma stations, in a city that has processed and traded pearls since the early twentieth century. The company sources and sets its own necklaces, earrings and rings under its own name rather than reselling through wholesalers.
Best for Akoya pearl jewelry
Nagasaki / Japan
Founded in 1944, this third-generation Nagasaki workshop hand-carves bekko (tortoiseshell) into necklaces, brooches, kanzashi pins and eyeglass frames. Pieces are sold at the Imahakata-machi shop and through the studio's online store, where the artisans also take in older tortoiseshell for repair and polishing.
Best for Bekko, tortoiseshell, jewelry, hair ornaments
Naha
A Naha goldsmith workshop in Shuri practicing kuganizeiku, Okinawa's Ryukyu-era metalwork tradition dating to a 1509 craft mission to China; now run by seventh-generation master Kenjiro Matayoshi, making traditional ji-fā hairpins and cord ornaments.
Best for Traditional Okinawan kanzeiku hair ornaments and jewelry.
Kanzeiku Matayoshi is a goldsmith workshop in the Shuri Ishimine neighborhood of Naha, Okinawa, practicing kuganizeiku (also rendered kanzeiku), the metalworking craft that developed during the Ryukyu Kingdom. According to the workshop's own historical account, the tradition began in 1509, when a craftsman dispatched by the Shuri royal government traveled to China to learn goldsmithing techniques, which were then brought back and adapted for the kingdom's court. During the Ryukyu period, kuganizeiku artisans were commissioned by the royal government to produce nearly all metal ornaments used in court life apart from ironwork, including the ji-fā hairpins that marked social rank, along with cord rings and tassel rings worn as part of traditional dress. The craft nearly disappeared after the destruction of the Second World War, when tools, workshops and trained artisans were lost; it was revived in the postwar decades through Japan's folk-crafts (mingei) movement, with the earlier generation's Matayoshi Seiboku credited as a key figure in that revival. The workshop today is led by Kenjiro Matayoshi, identified as the seventh generation of the family to practice the craft, continuing production of traditional Ryukyu-era metal ornaments using techniques passed down within the family line rather than an industrial process.
Teluk Nara, North Lombok
The AUTORE Group operates a working South Sea pearl farm and boutique showroom at Teluk Nara on Lombok's northwest coast, where visitors can follow oyster seeding, nacre growth and harvesting before browsing the finished jewelry collection. Founded by Rosario Autore in 1991, the vertically integrated family business farms in waters facing the Gili Islands and the Rinjani range.
Best for Working South Sea pearl farm tours and jewelry
Tokyo / Japan
Kobayashi Glass has cut Edo Kiriko glassware in Tokyo since founder Kikuichiro Kobayashi apprenticed under a Meiji-era craftsman in 1908, now in its fourth generation with a jewelry line called tokoba. The family workshop sells from its Koto-ward flagship store, which requires an appointment, and through a dedicated online shop.
Best for Edo Kiriko cut glassware and the tokoba jewelry line
Harajuku, Tokyo
Japanese jewelry atelier for handcrafted feather pendants and leather accessories. Worn by rock stars and collectors worldwide. Pieces are only available in-store and buying involves.
Best for Japanese jewelry atelier for handcrafted feather pendants and leather accessories
Ginza, Tokyo
Recognizable by its landmark clock tower. An exceptional selection of fine watches, jewelry, and meticulously crafted objects since 1881.
Best for Watches, jewelry, and crafted objects in Ginza
Shinmachi, Kumamoto City
Higo Zogan is Kumamoto's centuries-old technique of hammering gold and silver wire into blackened steel, a skill once reserved for samurai sword fittings and now shaped into brooches, cufflinks and hairpins. Mitsusuke works from a shop in Kumamoto's old castle town, its pieces ranging from simple bookmarks to gold-inlaid rings priced up to ¥66,000.
Best for Inlaid jewelry, cufflinks, Higo Zogan gifts
Kabira, Ishigaki Island, Okinawa
Founded in 1951 by Susumu Tokashiki at Kabira Bay, this pearl farm was the first in the world to successfully mass-produce black pearls, cultured from black-lipped oysters in the northernmost waters where the species grows. Its Kabira, Ishigaki and airport stores sell the black and South Sea pearls the company still farms and grafts by hand.
Best for Cultured black pearls (Ryukyu pearls) and South Sea pearl jewelry
Chiba
Handmakes silver jewelry, including rings, bangles, pendant tops, earrings, bracelets and chains, in 925 silver with K18 and K24 gold-plated details, sold as original made-in-Japan pieces with custom-order options.
Best for Handmade silver and gold plated jewelry
Japan
A jewelry workshop making silver pieces set with gemstones such as synthetic ruby and star sapphire, using hand-chiseling and engraving techniques developed over 30 years, with ateliers in Morioka, Urawa and Suginami offering custom orders and jewelry-making classes.
Best for Handcrafted silver jewelry and jewelry classes
Japan
Handmakes silver jewelry, including rings, necklaces, bracelets, bangles and beads in horseshoe, breastplate, feather and cross designs, using 925, 950 and 1000 silver plus K10 to K18 gold and turquoise or tourmaline, made without wax or CAD by hand-stamping raw sheet and wire.
Best for Handmade native american style silver jewelry
Curated ORBIS register · official links shown where recorded
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