Guide
Handmade jewellery price in Bangladesh (2026): types and what's real
10 min read
Key takeaways
Most handmade jewellery in Bangladesh costs ৳100 to ৳1,200. In October 2026, Dhaka markets sold clay and cowrie sets for ৳300–৳1,200, oxidised jhumkas for ৳150–৳800 and fabric earrings for ৳100–৳500, while real silver sets ran ৳3,500–৳15,000. Cheap "oxidised" pieces are usually brass or German silver, which holds no silver. For a first buy, choose terracotta.
On this page10
- How much does handmade jewellery cost in Bangladesh?
- What is oxidised jewellery, and is it real silver?
- How much is terracotta jewellery?
- What do fabric, wooden, bead and resin jewellery cost?
- What about brass and real silver?
- How can you tell handmade from mass-produced?
- Which jewellery is safe if your skin reacts to metal?
- How do you care for each type?
- Which handmade jewellery makes a good gift?
- Do you make jewellery?
How much does handmade jewellery cost in Bangladesh?
Most handmade jewellery in Bangladesh costs ৳100 to ৳1,200 for a pair of earrings or a set. Clay, fabric, wood and resin sit at the bottom. Real silver costs several times more, because you pay for the metal by weight before anyone pays for the work.
The best snapshot is a market survey Jugantor published on 20 October 2026, during the Puja shopping rush in Dhaka's Gausia and Chandrima markets. Ordinary oxidised and metal jhumkas cost ৳150–৳800, clay and cowrie theme sets ৳300–৳1,200, textile and handmade earrings ৳100–৳500, semi-precious stone necklaces and chokers ৳1,500–৳5,000, and silver meenakari or oxidised silver sets ৳3,500–৳15,000.
Our view: if you buy one piece, buy a hand-painted terracotta set. It's cheap, it's made here, and you can see the hand in it. Treat any "oxidised silver" under ৳1,000 as base metal, and pay base-metal prices for it.
Handmade jewellery prices at a glance
| Type | Typical price | An example we found |
|---|---|---|
| Terracotta (clay) | ৳300–৳1,200 a set | Hand-painted clay set from Barishal: ৳350 (October 2026) |
| Beads and cowries | ৳300–৳1,200 a set | Clay and cowrie sets in Dhaka markets (October 2026) |
| Fabric and embroidered | ৳100–৳500 for earrings | Sewn cloth jewellery at Deshal: ৳300–৳3,000 (March 2026) |
| Wood, hand-painted | ৳250–৳450 | Hand-painted wooden jhumkas from Lalbagh: ৳250 (October 2026) |
| Resin | ৳350–৳600 | Resin leaf earrings: ৳350 (2023) |
| Oxidised metal (German silver, brass, alloy) | ৳150–৳800 | Oxidised choker set with jhumkas: ৳420 (October 2026) |
| Handmade brass | ৳120–৳1,200 | Uncoated brass pieces from Karkhana (2024) |
| Real silver, oxidised or meenakari | ৳3,500–৳15,000 a set | Old Dhaka silver: ৳5,000 or more per bhori, before making charges (July 2026) |
These are 2026 listings and reports unless a year says otherwise, so expect some drift. The sections below explain each type: what it is, who makes it, how long it lasts and how to check it.
What is oxidised jewellery, and is it real silver?
"Oxidised" describes a finish, not a metal. The piece is darkened so the pattern looks like old silver. That finish can sit on real silver or on a cheap alloy, and at ৳150–৳800 it's the cheap alloy.
- German silver contains no silver. It's an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc, with 7 to 30 per cent nickel, Encyclopaedia Britannica explains. Sterling silver, by contrast, is at least 92.5 per cent silver.
- Shops say so if you read the listing. In October 2026 Darikar Goyna's "oxidized" range included German silver rings at ৳180 and an oxidised choker set with jhumkas at ৳420, and BD Giftopia sold German silver earrings with an "oxidized antique finish" at ৳790.
- Most imitation jewellery is brass or copper, and most is imported. New Age's business magazine reported in March 2026 that imitation pieces are crafted primarily from brass or copper, and the president of the imitation jewellery makers' association said only 25 per cent is made locally; the rest is imported from countries such as China and India.
- Do the silver sum. A silversmith in Old Dhaka's Tantibazar quoted "Tk 5000 or more" per bhori of silver in July 2026 (The Daily Star). A bhori is 11.664 grams, so a pair of silver jhumkas weighing 10 grams holds over ৳4,000 of metal before any making charge. A ৳450 "silver" jhumka can't be solid silver.
None of this makes German silver bad. It holds fine detail and it's honest jewellery at an honest price. The problem is paying silver prices for it. Ask the seller one question: "What is the base metal?" For real silver, ask for the purity on the receipt; hallmarked silver costs Tk 130 to 150 more than regular silver, the same Tantibazar silversmith said.
How much is terracotta jewellery?
Terracotta means "baked earth": clay that's shaped, fired and usually hand-painted (The Daily Star, 2018). A full set with a necklace and earrings costs ৳300 to ৳1,200.
- Sondesh Moulds, a Barishal workshop that trains and employs marginalised village women, listed a hand-painted clay set with matching earrings at ৳350 in October 2026.
- Prokritee, a fair-trade organisation with outlets in Mohammadpur and Mohakhali, listed a clay necklace and earring set at ৳360. Note the weight its listing gives: 300 grams, which would be heavy for a necklace.
- Utthiti listed a painted "Terracotta Tales" set at ৳720.
Durability: fired clay is light per bead but brittle. It survives daily wear; it doesn't survive a drop on a tiled floor. Check the weight in the listing before you order, and keep each set in its own pouch so pieces don't chip against metal.
How to tell hand-made: hand-painted beads differ slightly from one another, and the two earrings won't be perfect twins. If every piece in the photo looks identical, ask whether it's moulded or printed.
What do fabric, wooden, bead and resin jewellery cost?
Fabric and kantha-embroidered jewellery
Textile and handmade earrings cost ৳100 to ৳500 in Dhaka's markets in October 2026, and fusion pieces that mix fabric paint, ghungroo and cowries were what young buyers wanted that Puja (Jugantor). At the brand end, Deshal makes sewn jewellery from pieces of cloth alongside wooden beads, glass beads, metal and yarn, usually priced ৳300 to ৳3,000, its chief designer Ishrat Jahan told New Age in March 2026.
For kantha-embroidered pendants, the stitches are the proof: hand stitching is slightly uneven, machine stitching is perfectly regular. Our guide to handmade vs machine nakshi kantha and the Nakshi Kantha craft guide show what to look for. Fabric jewellery is the lightest type here, but it stains and fades, so keep it dry and out of the sun.
Wooden jewellery
Hand-painted wood is light and cheap. Kaarigor, based in Lalbagh, listed hand-painted wooden jhumka earrings with mirror work at ৳250 in October 2026, and on Jatra's site the maker Acrylic Geek listed earrings cut from reclaimed wood at ৳450. Kaarigor's care advice: wipe with a dry cloth, and keep the pieces away from water and harsh chemicals.
These handmade bangles and hand-painted wooden stud earrings are on JADUZ:
−16%Bead and cowrie jewellery
Clay and cowrie theme sets cost ৳300 to ৳1,200 in Dhaka in October 2026. One Dhaka University student told Jugantor she'd bought a hand-painted Durga set of cowrie and wood for the first days of Puja. Before you buy, pull gently on the string: a good bead necklace is strung on strong thread and knotted so a break doesn't scatter every bead.
Resin jewellery
Resin is a two-part liquid that's mixed, poured into a mould with dried flowers, glitter or colour, then left 12 to 24 hours to cure. In 2023 the online resin shop Abhisriti priced leaf earrings at ৳350 and a choker at ৳600 (The Business Standard). Moulds mean shapes repeat, so the hand work shows in what's set inside, such as real petals, and in the finishing. Store resin pieces separately so they don't scratch.
What about brass and real silver?
Brass and "city gold"
Brass is where much of Bangladesh's handmade metal jewellery sits. The Business Standard profiled three brands in April 2024: Karkhana works in uncoated brass with about 28 artisans and prices pieces at ৳120 to ৳1,200; Goynar Baksho makes hand-painted pieces and a traditional hashuli in a copper-brass alloy at ৳100 to ৳3,000; and The Purple Box, whose artisans melt and plate metal and add pearls and beads, sells at ৳150 to ৳4,000. Karkhana's brass keeps its natural golden colour without a coating, and how long it shines depends on the wearer's care.
"City gold" is the gold-coloured version: copper or brass with a thin gold coating. In Maheshpur, Jhenaidah, more than 10,000 people in at least 40 villages make it, and their association set a minimum wholesale price of ৳11 for a pair of earrings in February 2026 (Prothom Alo). Jhenaidah also has newer workshops: The Daily Star reported in May 2026 on Salma, who learned by making small earrings in someone else's factory, trained with the Shishu Niloy Foundation, and now employs 10 to 12 people.
Real silver and hill-tracts silver
Tantibazar in Old Dhaka is the silver market. Many of its weaving families moved into jewellery when Bengal's textile trade declined, The Daily Star wrote in July 2026. Price depends on purity, weight and a making charge that "responds to conversation as much as calculation". Lower-purity silver contains more alloy, which lowers both the price and the durability. The same feature showed a silver kaan bala worn by women of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and a collector who buys pieces in New Market's antique shops.
How can you tell handmade from mass-produced?
Jewellery makers told The Daily Star in May 2026 what to look for:
- The finish isn't perfect. "Handmade jewellery will never have a 100 per cent perfect finish; it will have a rough texture," said Tahmina Shaily of Shoilee. Her workshop tells artisans to avoid a "China finish".
- Weight is a clue. Hand carving needs a minimum metal thickness, or the sheet breaks. Machines can make pieces very light and uniform.
- You can see the joins. Machine-made jewellery is often die-cut, stamped into one solid form; a handmade piece shows many parts joined together, said Lora Khan of 6 Yards Story.
Two more checks of our own. Ask who made it and where: a maker can name the district, the process and how long it took, while a reseller usually can't. And be wary of a best-seller photo you've seen on ten pages. When The Purple Box's "Rupkotha" bead necklace took off, replicas appeared everywhere (The Business Standard, 2024).
Which jewellery is safe if your skin reacts to metal?
Nickel allergy commonly starts with jewellery, and earrings, earring backs and watches are some of the biggest culprits, the American Academy of Dermatology says. It recommends jewellery that is nickel-free, hypoallergenic, or made from surgical-grade stainless steel, 18-, 22- or 24-karat yellow gold, pure sterling silver or platinum.
German silver contains nickel by definition, so if your earlobes itch after a day in oxidised jhumkas, that's the likely reason. Clay, wood, fabric and resin are kinder, but their hooks are still metal. Ask the maker for stainless steel hooks, or swap them yourself. Stop wearing anything that itches or reddens the skin.
How do you care for each type?
- Oxidised metal: keep it dry and away from liquids, and avoid chemicals or silver cleaners, which remove the black. It spoils quickly in the monsoon, so store it in a box lined with cotton (The Daily Ittefaq, 2022).
- Real silver: it turns black with use. "Tarnishing is not a flaw. It is a natural reaction," the Tantibazar silversmith said.
- Brass: wipe it after wearing and store it dry; its shine lasts as long as you look after it.
- Terracotta: wipe with a soft dry cloth, the care line on Sondesh Moulds' listing. Never soak it.
- Wood and fabric: keep dry, wipe with a dry cloth, and keep out of strong sun so paint and dye don't fade.
- Everything: put jewellery on after perfume and lotion, and take it off before a bath.
Which handmade jewellery makes a good gift?
Under ৳500, a pair of hand-painted wooden or terracotta earrings; around ৳1,000, a full terracotta or cowrie set; for a mother, a wedding or a big anniversary, real silver from a jeweller who writes the purity on the receipt. Our gifts under ৳500 and ৳1,000 guide suggests fabric or terracotta jewellery for a girlfriend or wife, our gift for wife guide covers anniversaries and Eid, and our handmade gift ideas cover resin and clay pieces you can make yourself.
For a small gift, these handcrafted adjustable rings and cowrie-shell earrings are on JADUZ:
Handcrafted Adjustable Statement Rings – wooden, MDF & Clay Collection
৳55
Little Kohinoor Studio, Dhaka
Do you make jewellery?
JADUZ is a curated marketplace for Bangladeshi makers. Makers are vetted on their portfolio, proof of making and identity, every piece is approved before it goes live, and buyers pay cash on delivery anywhere in Bangladesh. If you shape clay, pour resin, string beads or work brass, read selling handmade jewellery on JADUZ, and see our handmade business ideas for what sells and what it costs to start.