Jewellery/home/art

Gems are big business in Bangkok, and you can get badly ripped. Go see the nice folk at Lambert Industries / 4/F / Silom Shanghai Bldg. / 807 Silom Rd. / corner Soi 17 / 02 236 4343 / 9am-5pm Mon-fri / 9am-4pm Sat / closed Sun. Harry Winston’s it ain’t, but there’s no pressure to buy, and there is a no quibble cash back guarantee with no time limit. How good is that? Their craftsmen will set your stones, help you realise a design and copy loved or lost pieces. Coming out of Lambert Industries across Silom Rd. you will espy Silom Village / 286 Silom Rd. Over you go, and remember to bargain hard. Don’t enter through the main arch, go up the alley on its extreme left, and about five shops up on the right is J.J. Gift Shop / 02 635 6295. This little shop is chokka with great mango, teak and coconut plates, bowls and vases. Opposite is Cabouchon / 02 235 9070 / for some nifty bags; ask to see Khun Pen. Carry on into the open courtyard to find Artisan’s / 081 444 5919 / on the left for antique Siamese and Asian furniture and artefacts. Exit into the centre courtyard, bear right and go past the little fountain, and turn left to find girlyville Only Sugar. To the left of the carpark is funky hardware central Silpakhom / 02 635 6283 / with a treasure trove of old-style door handles, lighting, fans and wind-up toys. Retrace to Silom Rd. and turn right to find Anita Thai Silk at #298/2 for great dress silks and plaids, by the metre plus ties n’ more to go / 02 234 2481 / 8am-6pm / closed Sun. Motif and Maris at #296/7 / 02 635 9111 / has fab kidswear/toys and garden parasols. Now, cross the road, head left and you’ll come to a Hindu temple on the corner of Thanon Pan, turn right here and almost immediately to your left you’ll find Kathmandu Photo Gallery at #87 / 02 234 6700 / kathmandu-bkk.com / the space itself isn’t the best, but Manit Sriwanichpoon is one of Bangkok’s best photographers and you can buy his prints here, as well as a sprinkling of arty books, T’s and trinkets. Hang out with Bangkok’s art crowd and hop up to the gallery on the 2/F to see if you can catch one of the quirky exhibitions they often host. Back out onto Silom, turn right skip two streets up to Decho Rd. on the left for the lovely House of Chao (see Antiques) at #9/1. Grab a cab and zip along to the excellent H Gallery at 201 Sathorn Soi 12 / (see Art) close by, set in a beautiful house, selling Thai modern art. H. Ernest Lee runs the joint and is informative, browser-friendly and awfully nice. H Gallery is also accessible through Silom Soi 9. By now you’re probably chafing for a chomp. Fret not, the following are all close by: Nahm (see Rest./smart), Garden Gallery (see Coffee), as well as Opus (see Rest./smart) which happens to be our fave winebar in the city (if it’s that hour), or, pamper yourself silly at metro-swish COMO Shambhala (see Spa). Oh, go on dolly, you’ve earned it!