Royal Selangor (Pewter)

My sister CY and I went to the Royal Selangor Visitor Centre (showroom and factory) in Setapak Jaya, early in the year. I am a big fan of pewterware (especially their photo frames), so I wanted to see the story behind it. Pewter is an alloy of tin, copper and antimony and Royal Selangor has been around since 1885 transforming this alloy into homeware and gifts that are now sold in more than 20 countries around the world.

When we arrived, a guide was assigned to take us around to explain the history and science of pewter, and also point out exhibits of interest, like the Royal Selangor (RS) version of the twin towers (made of 7,000 pewter tankards!). We find out that despite modern technology, every piece of RS is still handcrafted to some degree. There were some dedicated workstations where we could watch the artisans file, solder and polish objects to create the RS finish.

Posing by the year 1885 when it all started (Our guide 2011)

Royal Selangor's story coincides with the development of tin mining in the Malay Peninsula in the 1800s. Hence the Pewter Museum has exhibits of tin mining, traditional pewtersmithing tools and ancient tin currency.

A giant replica of tin 'money' (CNB 2011)

Replica of a tin dredge (CNB 2011)

A Tin towkay and consort? (Our guide 2011)

We could also peek into the factory area but did not join the School of Hard Knocks - a workshop in pewtersmithing. (We did not have the time for it because we had to go back before school was out when CY's grandson would be home then).

The factory on right & SoHK on left (CNB 2011)

We made a quick dash into the Visitor Centre store where I bought a pewter frame memento. Then we took some pictures by the largest tankard in the world (?) before going back to Taman Kramat. We were just in time to greet CY's grandson, dropped at her gate by the school bus.

CY & I (Our guide 2011)

By the largest tankard in the world (CY 2011)

Reference: RSVC brochure
2011