Personalized message ring at Munak, Eunpyeong Seoul ring workshop

If you want to make a wax-carved ring in Yeonsinnae

Today I’m here with my visit to Munak (무낙) in Yeonsinnae, where you can make a wax-carved ring. If you’re tired of the usual date of going out for food and then coffee at a café, this could be a truly different kind of date at this Seoul ring-making workshop!

Ahem, I’m single, but I got tired of my boring life and decided to try learning this and that. While looking around, I found this place—not the usual ring-making where you simply make silver all shiny, but one where wax lets you create more varied shapes and unique rings—so I had to visit!

How to get to Munak

It’s in Yeonsinnae, set a little way inside the neighborhood. Look for the orange sign on the building in the photo!

Go around the right side of the building and you’ll find stairs. Head up to the second floor, and you’ll arrive right at Munak in Yeonsinnae, where you can make a wax-carved ring!

A cozy ring workshop that feels like a café

The moment you walk in, it’s so cozy and the workshop atmosphere is wonderful. Honestly, I expected a workshop to be cramped and all that, but this felt like walking into a lovely café!

Spacious and comfortable, full stop! You could really tell how much care went into the interior. A ring workshop filled with the owner’s affection, haha.

It’s much easier if you choose your wax-carving design in advance, but even if you haven’t looked anything up, there are samples in the workshop that you can use for inspiration.

There are so many designs, and once you try making one yourself, you realize you can’t even imagine how much practice it must have taken to make them this well...

The wax-carved ring-making process

This is the hands-on area! There are four seats in total, so even a double date is possible. It was my first wax-carved ring, so exciting...

There was wax at my seat, and I was curious about the process of turning it into a ring. First, you check your ring size with the owner, consult about the engraving and design you want, and then get started.

Checking the size as you carve little by little

I chose size 11 because I’d wear it on my index finger, and you rotate it like this to get the size right. But you know how it is. I carved once, checked it, then got lazy and carved a lot at once—and it became a size 11.5... haha.

A ring that’s too tight can be fixed, but one that has become too loose can’t, so please carve a little at a time and keep checking!!!

Time to refine the thickness and shape

Once the size is right, the next step is the ring thickness! You sand it as shown in the photo, but this part was surprisingly hard. My finger joints are a little pronounced, so I wanted the ring to be thin. Hehe. (Though thicker is better when it’s silver... haha.)

Once you’ve sanded it to the thickness you want, it’s time to shape it! Be careful—it gets really hot. The owner showed me how to make the shape, but it was seriously difficult.

Actually, because I wanted it super smooth and as thin as possible, my ring split. It got holes too.... haha. It was okay because you can fill it back in with wax. Hehe.

A ring with an encouraging message and rabbit engraving

I made mine to wear on my index finger, with a little wish to encourage myself, so I added lettering in a very free-spirited way. A beginner’s excessive sense of adventure, hahaha. But I liked it in my own way, so I was excited to see the finished silver ring—so exciting!

For the inside engraving, I asked for a four-leaf-clover rabbit too. I can’t draw, so I asked them to refine my drawing, and they said they would—now I’m even more excited for the finished piece. Hehe.

My very own wax-carved ring, with the owner’s aesthetic touch added too! It takes 5 days or more to make, so they’ll contact me when it’s ready for pickup! Haha. If you’re tired of ordinary dates, try making a wax-carved ring at Munak in Yeonsinnae for a different kind of date!!! Making gifts for each other at this Seoul jewelry ring workshop sounds lovely too. Haha.