When in Rome, don't buy a souvenir. Make one.
An afternoon at the bench of Sophie, a goldsmith who teaches at Rome's Accademia di Moda Italiana. You shape a piece of silver by hand and wear it home the same day.
We begin with an espresso and a sketch. You decide what to make. More often, a ring. Sometimes earrings, or a pendant to wear close.
Then the silver. You cut it, file it, bring it to heat and curve. I guide you through each step. The technique is Etruscan, older than Rome itself, the craft the Romans learned from the people who came before them.
By the last hour it has stopped being metal. We bring it to a finish, and you walk back into Rome wearing the thing you made.
Hold a bench for my datesI have worked silver and gold in Rome for most of my life, and I teach Contemporary Jewellery at the Accademia di Moda Italiana.
But it is here, at the bench, that I do my favourite teaching. The afternoon is one student at a time, never a group of twenty, so every step is properly hands-on and unhurried. I take you through the whole piece, from the first cut to the final polish.
Every piece here was made by a first-time student, in a single three-hour afternoon. No experience needed.
"Most things I bring back from a trip end up forgotten in a drawer. This ring I wear every day, because I made it myself, by hand, in Rome."
Marta · Lyon"I nearly spent that afternoon in another museum queue. Instead I was at Sophie's bench, learning to shape silver, and I left wearing a ring I had made. The best few hours of the trip."
John · Miami"I am not a maker, and I said so the moment I arrived. Sophie put the silver in my hands and stayed beside me through every step. Three hours later I walked back into Rome wearing something I had truly made."
Rose · LondonMy studio is in Tormarancia, a quiet corner of southern Rome, about twenty minutes from the centre on Metro B. Once your afternoon is booked, I will send you the exact address and simple directions to the door.
There is nothing you need to bring, and nothing to know beforehand. The tools and the bench are all here, and no experience is needed. Most people who come have never made anything by hand before.
There is nothing to pay in advance. You settle at the end, once your piece is finished and ready to wear home. And if your travel plans change, simply write to me and we will find another afternoon.
Yes, gladly. Bring a stone you love or silver with a story, and we will set it into the piece you make. Otherwise, everything is included.
No. It is one student at a time, never a group. The whole afternoon is yours, beside me at the bench. You may bring one person with you for €380.
English or Italian, whichever you prefer. I teach in both.
Write to me with the days you are in Rome and I will hold the bench. There is nothing to pay in advance; you settle at the end of the afternoon.
The afternoon can be given as a gift: a private jewellery-making experience for someone you care about. A voucher for an afternoon at the bench, to be used whenever they are in Rome. For a birthday, an anniversary, or no reason at all.
Arrange a gift voucherWrite to me with the days you are in Rome, and I will hold the bench for you.
If Rome is still weeks away, write to me now, and I will hold an afternoon at the bench until you arrive.
Not on WhatsApp? Write to hello@creagioielli.it with the days you are in Rome.