If you're in the market for a beautiful, handcrafted bowl, you're in the right place!
I'm Claire, owner and designer-maker at Chow Bella, and I'm here to walk you through why my bowls cost what they do.
Every single Chow Bella bowl is made from scratch. I'm a professional potter, with a Higher Education Diploma in Ceramics, and have been making bowls for 18 years. I can offer you a rainbow palette of colour choice as well as top notch customer service (you can check out my reviews here).
There's a price for this, of course, and an average sized bowl (cocker or medium size) will set you back around £38. For that, you get this:
If you'd like to see how my bowls measure up against some of the others out there, this blog takes a look at cocker spaniel bowls so may help you decide whether Chow Bella bowls are a good fit for you and your budget.
I have various options available, so (sticking with the cocker bowl) here's what you'll get for your money:
£37.99 will get you a personalised bowl, your wording being stamped into the clay, a choice of symbols, and any of our stock colours.
Here's how it happens:
Every single bowl is personally handmade by Claire Pearson-Cowell - I never use ready made bisque, which means that I can easily adjust any of the dimensions if needed. Handmade bowls just "feel" different!
The next day, I trim the bottom of your bowl to tidy it up, and it is then left to dry out for up to 10 days.
After bisque firing, your bowl will be painted by hand by either myself or my assistant Carla.
So that's how every single bowl is made, and for just £37.99 you can have a handmade, personalised bowl like these ones (based on medium or cocker spaniel size):
Patterned bowls: If you'd like to add a pattern (polka dots or hearts for example), that's £3.50. These are made by painstakingly applying stickers to the clay, painting over them, and then peeling them off. Patterns are only available in Linen White (the natrual clay colour)
Extra band of colour: For added contrast you can have an extra band of colour. Handpainted with a fine brush, this will cost you £2.50.
This is the bowl I'm painting in the picture above!
Custom colour - £3.50: Perhaps you've just redecorated your kitchen and would like your bowl to match your gorgeous new Farrow & Ball paint? Select "custom colour" and just let me know what you're trying to match, and I'll do my best to get as close to it as possible. The only colours I really can't do are very bright pink (eg hot pink) as these are not possible in ceramics.
Hazel's bowl (below left) is in a custom pale orange to match the hue of Willow's bowl which is in our standard Pale Olive.
Rainbow colours (£8.00): You can add rainbow colours to your bowl by just clicking this under the colour swatches.
Ombre Effect (£5.00): If you'd like the colour to blend from dark up to light, I can do that for you (please note that as this is done by hand, it will vary from bowl to bowl).
Go-Slo Bowls: If you have a dog that tends to inhale its food, you can turn your bowl into a slow-feeder by just picking the "Go-Slo Bowl" option when placing your order. Our Go-Slo bowls have proved hugely popular since their introduction in May 2023, with customers telling me that they are the best slow feeder they've tried! Not sure? Watch this video!
P&P is FREE within the UK. The bowls are packaged in 100% biodegradable packaging and strong, double walled boxes. I generally use Royal Mail Tracked 48.
That's the awkward conversation out of the way - I hope it helps and that you now understand just how much work goes into a Chow Bella bowl and why they are priced at this level.
If you need any more advice on choosing your pet's perfect bowl, please just get in touch and we'll be happy to help.
We're a small team, so you'll either hear back directly from me, or from my extremely capable assistant Faye.
Let's see what we can create for you. Chow Bella - because it's not "just" a pet bowl, is it?