Four chairs · By appointment · Since 2017
A tattoo studio on Zviad Gamsakhurdia Street in Batumi. We work from an agreed sketch, at an agreed price, on a booked date — and we will tell you plainly when an idea won't age well before you pay for it.
The chairs
Pick by style, not by price. If the style you want isn't in this list, say so in your request and we will tell you honestly whether someone here can do it well.
180₾/ hour
Continuous ornamental bands that wrap a forearm, calf or thigh, drawn to your actual limb rather than to a flat sheet. Georgian and Anatolian pattern work, blackout panels, and the groundwork most cover-ups here start from.
Won't takeSingle-needle script under 4 cm. It looks perfect for two years, then the lines spread and it reads as a smudge.
160₾/ hour
Bold outline, limited palette, built to stay readable at arm's length in thirty years. Anchors, swallows, roses and Black Sea nautical work — pulled from the studio flash book or drawn into that language from your idea.
Won't takeTraditional designs shrunk below 9 cm. The line weight that makes them last is the line weight that needs the room.
220₾/ hour
Long-form realism: animals, portraits, drapery and stone. Anything worth doing here runs six hours or more, usually across two or three sittings booked a fortnight apart so the skin recovers between passes.
Won't takePortraits from a screenshot of a screenshot. Bring a sharp photo at full resolution, or the face will be a guess.
140₾/ hour
Type set by hand in Georgian, Latin or Arabic script, spaced for the curve of the body part it sits on. Also geometric and dotwork pieces aligned to the centreline so they stay symmetrical when you stand up straight.
Won't takeAny wording without a second proofread. Spelling is checked twice with you, in writing, before the stencil goes on.
Rates
Every figure below is in Georgian lari and includes the sterile setup, stencil and single-use cartridges. We quote the whole piece at the consultation; the hourly rate is only how we get there.
| Service | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum session | Anything up to one hour, including setup, stencil and a fresh kit. Small pieces cost this even if the needle runs for twenty minutes. | 150₾ |
| Hourly work | After the first hour, billed in half-hour increments. The rate is the artist's, not the studio's — see the four rates above. | 140–220₾per hour |
| Day session | Six hours with breaks, one client, the chair held for you all day. Used for sleeves, back panels and long realism work. | 900–1,200₾ |
| Custom sketch | Drawn to your brief, delivered within seven days, two rounds of revisions. Credited in full against the session — you pay it once. | 100₾credited back |
| Cover-up | Assessment of the existing tattoo, a redraw that works with what is already there, and a plan in one or two sittings. | from 250₾ |
| Touch-up | One free pass within six months, on our own line work, once the tattoo is fully healed. Sun damage and picked scabs are not touch-ups. | Free |
First message to healed skin
This is a sequence, not a menu. Skipping a step is how people end up with a tattoo they argue about later, so we don't skip them.
01
Send the idea, the body part, a rough size in centimetres, your budget range and the dates you are in Batumi. Reference images help; so does telling us what you do not want.
02
We check the skin, measure the placement, draw the outline straight onto you with a marker, and give you a total price. Free, and it commits you to nothing.
03
The deposit comes off the final price. The sketch arrives within seven days with two rounds of changes included. Nothing is booked until you approve the drawing.
04
Eat beforehand, no alcohol for 24 hours, wear clothes that expose the area. The stencil goes on and you check it in the mirror, standing, before the first line.
05
Second-skin film goes on, we photograph the piece in flat daylight, and you leave with written aftercare and a phone number that answers on the same day.
06
Send a photo or come in. If a line dropped out or the shading healed patchy, we book the free touch-up. Most pieces need nothing.
Aftercare
A fresh tattoo is an open wound in a humid, salty, very sunny city. Follow the day ranges below and it heals clean.
Leave the second-skin film alone. Some fluid collecting under it is plasma and ink, not a problem. Then peel it off slowly under lukewarm running water — never dry.
Wash twice a day with clean hands and unscented soap, lukewarm water, no cloth. Pat dry with kitchen paper, then the thinnest possible layer of ointment. A shine, not a coat.
It flakes and itches. Do not scratch, pick or peel — that is where lines drop out. Switch to unscented lotion. No sea, no pool, no sauna, no gym, no long hot showers.
The surface looks healed; the dermis underneath is not. Keep it fully out of direct sun. Once the skin is closed and smooth, SPF 50 on it whenever it is uncovered.
SPF 50 on every beach day, for life. Sun is the single fastest way to turn crisp blackwork into a grey bruise, and the Batumi summer does it in two seasons.
Read this part twice
Infection is uncommon and serious. Stop the aftercare routine and get medical help the same day if you see:
Go to a clinic first. Call us afterwards — we need to know, and we will sort the tattoo out once you are well.
House rules
No one under 18, with or without a parent standing there. No one who arrives drunk or high — you lose the deposit, not the argument. No work on sunburnt, broken or freshly moled skin, and none over a mole we can't see the edges of.
No hands, neck or face as a first tattoo. No hate imagery, ever. And if your idea will not age well at that size, in that place, on your skin, we will say so before you pay — that is the whole point of the consultation.
Step 01
Written by a person, answered by a person, within a day. No deposit is asked for at this stage and nothing here is a booking.
Salt & Needle
12 Zviad Gamsakhurdia St, Batumi 6000
Tuesday–Saturday, 12:00–20:00 · appointment only
English, Georgian, Russian
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