SAIGON

Saigon is the best type of assault on the senses, all of them. The fragrance of fresh baguette from a corner bakery merge with spice notes of star anise from the phở stall on the sidewalk, meanwhile the cacophony of motorbikes nearly drowns out the chorus of church bells being kept in time by the rhythm of jackhammers. Heat, broken by a unacknowledged afternoon downpour. It is a place of intrigue and a place misunderstood in all it’s storied history. The scars of war and the influence of the colonial past are worn with pride, it emerges as a lotus from the Mekong.

“One of the great joys of life is riding a scooter through Vietnam; to be part of this mysterious, thrilling, beautiful choreography, thousands upon thousands of people: families, friends, lovers; each an individual story glimpsed for a second or two in passing sliding alongside, pouring like a torrent through the city. A flowing, gorgeous thing; as you ride you not only see, you hear, a hundred intimate moments in miniature. You smell wonderful unnameable things cooking issuing from storefronts and food-stalls; you hear the sounds of beeping, laughing, announcements from speakers, the put-put and roar of a million tiny engines.”

-Anthony Bourdain

The culture and people of Vietnam are ripe for the growth the country is seeing. The younger generation is passionate about what they do and eager to learn, from the previous generation, old-world skills elsewhere forgotten. The finest wood carving, Églomisé, shagreen, marquetry, and vellum work, are among the specialized techniques of our Saigon workshop. Having come up in a city laid out and ornamented as a French colony, the culture familiarity and admiration for traditional European form and flourish is a daily activity for those fortunate enough to call Saigon home.