You may never have heard of the name Catherine Motshwari of Motanka jewellery – but you should! Catherine is the unassuming silver jewellery maker who we have bumped into at local craft markets over the last few years. Catherine makes gorgeous silver jewellery that every girl deserves to have.
If you love silver jewellery, chances are you may already come across her beautiful pieces at curio gift shops up and down the country. Being a huge fan of silver myself and having grown up buying various silver pieces from many a curio gift shop in my native Maun, I would never have guessed the stunning jewellery pieces had been made by the hands of a Motswana lady!
Catherine’s story is one of true inspiration and in our eyes, a story that needs telling. Back when she was a young girl in high school, she was big into the arts. Unbeknownst to her, it was a ‘love affair’ that would span many years. Towards the end of her secondary school education, she met a German man who taught her the basics of jewellery design. Catherine fell hook, line and sinker for this line of work and subsequently set about soaking up every bit of information she could get her hands on relating to jewellery designing. Being the 1990s, this will have been no mean feat without the benefit of countless social media platforms such as YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram and the internet in general. But Catherine couldn’t shake this driving need to learn more and more about the art of making jewellery.
Years later, the universe aligned and set Catherine on the path of a Swedish customer who not only loved her jewellery but liked her story and was big on empowering women. So keen to help Catherine was her good Samaritan that she told her about a Swedish programme that she felt could be the answer to her dreams. The lady helped her fill out the necessary forms and luckily, she was eligible for the much-needed sponsorship. The good deeds of her generous friend did not stop there! She paid for everything Catherine needed to travel to Sweden, where she spent three months learning how to design jewellery. But while she was there, Catherine also threw herself into observing and absorbing everything she could use back in Botswana to ensure her jewellery was well made and could be held to an international standard.
Today, Catherine operates out of a small home workshop and supplies various curio gift shops across the country. She draws inspiration for her designs from Botswana wildlife. Catherine tells us the process starts with smelting silver and shaping it into her designs. She explains the most involved and time-consuming part of the process is designing the concept, but once that’s out of the way, making the jewellery is quick. While she also makes smaller amounts of Botswana argate pieces, it’s very clear that Catherine’s one true love is silver jewellery making.
As Botswana currently doesn’t have silver, she gets it in its raw form from neighbouring South Africa. With the COVID-19 pandemic raging and the subsequent restrictions on travel, her small business has sadly almost ground to a halt.
Prices of her jewellery, which include pendants, rings, necklaces and earrings, are very affordable and range from a modest 90-pula (just under $9). If you want to splash out, Catherine is very happy to create bespoke pieces as well. Prices for bespoke pieces depend on whether you have a concept as well as the complexity of the design. You can either buy directly from her or many of Botswana’s curio gift shops scattered across the country. Being old school, Catherine does not have an online presence. But luckily for you all, we have pictures of some of her pieces right here on YourBotswana. We at YourBotswana strongly believe if there was ever a Botswana-made product that deserves the spotlight, it’s Catherine’s pretty jewellery.
* If you’d like to enquire about Catherine’s silver jewellery, please contact us at – lala@yourbotswana.com
