Our 2015 travels brought us back to Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Turkey. All countries where we have made purchases in the past; it was nice to know our way around!
One of our favourite new finds was ‘Finest Lacquer’ in Hanoi. They produce lacquer with a very different feel and texture; the base of the product is fiberglass with a lacquered finish. The quality is very good and the material quite strong. They design everything themselves and specialize in very unique colours. They produce most of the product in their Hanoi factory and source some of the product in a local village that specializes in ceramics.
The shop is now run by Dat and her brother Hoang Anh Nguyen. With regular supervision and help of their mother. The family’s history is an incredible story that mirrors the past 60 years of Hanoi.
The business was founded 30 years ago by the mother, with the help of her 4 son’s. The father was a tailor who had gone blind and passed away. The mother started the business as a single mother when the children were very small. She learned French, Russian and German as the country moved through different phases of international visitors. Initially she started as a tailor equipment supply store, and then added one service after another to the point where now they have 4 businesses around the world.
The youngest son Hoang Anh runs the Lacquer shop with his sister Dat, the oldest son lives in London and operates an art gallery, the second son runs the factory, sadly the third son passed away, but his wife is running one of the businesses. Five years ago Mother adopted Dat and welcomed her into the family as a sister to her boys. It was obvious from how they operated together that this was a very successful business and family, they operate in both spheres very well.
We hope you will enjoy their products and consider the road they have taken to make it for us.