15 April 2026 · Behind the scenes · 5 min read
Purl's studio: a guided look
Inside the Ann Siang Road workshop where every piece begins.
The studio is one room above a coffee shop on Ann Siang Road. North light through three shophouse windows, a long teak bench, and a hand engraver who has been with us since the second month.
We deliberately kept the space small. Every piece passes across the same bench, which means every piece is touched by the same pair of hands before it ships.
Mornings are for engraving — the quietest task, and the one that demands the steadiest hand. Afternoons are for assembly, polishing, and the slower work of finishing.
Visitors are welcome by appointment on Thursdays. You'll be offered a cup of tea, a stool by the window, and the chance to watch a piece move from blank metal to finished object.
“Every piece passes across the same bench. That constraint is the whole point of the studio.”
The shophouse
Ann Siang Road is one of the oldest streets in Singapore's commercial core. The building we work in dates to 1925 — Peranakan tile floors, teak shutters that warp in the rain, and a staircase narrow enough that we carry every shipment down in two trips.
We chose it over a more practical industrial unit because the light is honest. Jewelry photographed under north light looks the way it looks in real wear. There is no flattering it.
The bench
The bench was built by a retired carpenter in Joo Chiat from a single slab of reclaimed teak. It has a sweep — the curved cutout that catches filings — deeper than most, because we recover and re-refine every gram of waste metal we generate.
Three jewellers and one engraver share it. The arrangement forces conversation, which is how mistakes get caught early and how new ideas surface.
Visiting
Appointments run from 10am to 4pm on Thursdays. We keep them to forty-five minutes so the studio can keep working around you. If you're collecting an engraved piece, we'll schedule the engraving to finish during your visit so you can watch the final pass.
The takeaway
- ●One room, one bench, three jewellers, one engraver.
- ●North light by design — no flattering the metal.
- ●Thursday appointments, 10am–4pm, by request.
Written by
Amelia Tan
Founder & Lead Stylist
