Almost everyone in this city knows about Chamba Lama. It’s the shop to go to if you’re interested in shopping for intricate silver jewelry, but few of us know about how long this store, located in the narrow lanes of new market, has been part of our history. Chamba Lama, with its beautiful silver and metal collection of jewelry and accessories, brings us many stories. The owner, Sharon will tell you about how before independence their family, originally from Darjeeling, would travel to Kolkata in the winters and sell their curios and accessories. Back then handicrafts would arrive on ships in the Kidderpore port and be sold to the British and locals. Sharon’s mother acquired the store in New Market around 65 years ago, and since then the store has always been packed with customers of all ages with different senses of style.When we walk into Chamba Lama, it greets you with a wall full of colourful necklaces, bracelets and earrings. The rest of the walls are covered with silver and metal jewellery, curios can be found in unexpected corners and brass lamps hang from the ceiling. For most of us this was the shop we went to in our early teens to buy our first pair of silver earrings. There is so much variety here – tiny silver tops starting from INR 120 to larger ones which might go up to INR 1,800, heavy silver necklaces which start at INR 1,500 and can go up to around INR 15,000 depending on the amount of silver used on them. Larger earrings such as danglers start from INR 500.
