My Current Favorites [September 2022]: Stardust Ring, Leather Craft Classes, Slim Cera

September is always an exciting month for me because it’s one more excuse to treat myself: my birthday.

As every year, I never wait for my birthday to buy myself nice things or experiences, but it’s always cool to have them right in September. As usual, we didn’t throw a party or invite friends, but there are plenty of gifts. Thank you, thank you!

P.S.: My parents bought a cream-filled cake just the way I like them, and JB treated us all to an amazing weekend in Yen Tu (see the travel diary here).

Stardust at Beautiful Accident

Let’s start with this custom ring I had made at Beautiful Accident. They now offer a “slow life” deal. Every year, they’re flooded with orders at Christmas and Valentine’s Day and have few orders the rest of the year, so they came up with a 7 to 15% discount offer for anyone who can plan ahead at least a bit: if you order 2 months in advance, you get a discount.

Because we’re about “fair pricing”, there are no sales at Beautiful Accident, yet you can enjoy a 7 or 15% discount all year round with our “slow life”* offer.
How? By giving us an extra 1 or 2 months for the crafting of your order instead of the standard 4 weeks.
Why? Because there are only two of us and every year, at Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day, we have to turn down orders from last-minute shoppers.

Since my birthday is fixed every year (lol), I know when I’ll need it, and I was able to order a ring I’ve loved for a long time: the Stardust ring (star dust), in rose gold (you choose what you want), and with a sapphire (you choose the stone you want, or you can go without a stone). Sapphire is the birthstone for Virgo, but I’ve never owned one, so this will be my first sapphire ring. I didn’t give any specific instructions, but I knew Bruno would pick the most beautiful stone for me, and he did.

I’ve already talked about Beautiful Accident, Bruno, and Anne-Charlotte here. They’re talented craftsmen, and they offer a variety of jewelry to suit everyone. This is my second piece from them. The great thing about the Stardust ring is that you can stack them. Someday, I’ll get a second one in white gold and wear it with my rose gold. You can use them to mark important events, like one ring per child.

Since I was abroad, I ordered remotely, paid a 50% deposit via bank transfer, and the rest when I picked up the ring. For those who live far away, Bruno ships via DHL or Colissimo. Personally, the ring cost me €432.5 in September 2022. Since I received it, I can’t stop looking at it—it’s stunning!

Here are their contact details again:

Beautiful Accident Paris
Shop & Atelier
129 Rue Vieille du Temple, 75003 Paris, France
Google Maps
Instagram account
Facebook page

Small leather goods workshop

Those of you who follow me on Instagram know that I’ve been obsessed with luxury leather goods lately.

During my stay in Vietnam, I got very close to a few leather craftsmen and took a small leather goods workshop with one of them (Dolio School in Hanoi): 5 full days, 6 hours of work per day, just to make a leather wallet. My craftsman is so picky that he doesn’t let me do sh*t, and I spent a lot of time perfecting details that no one will ever see.

I found it very tedious at first because I’m slow, but being the perfectionist I am, I find a certain satisfaction in invisible perfection, which only top-tier craftsmen can offer their clients. My wallet is full of mistakes and imperfections, but I’m still very proud of the work. A careless eye would have found it perfect. Dad now uses it—he’s the one who chose the thread, the color, and the style of the wallet.

I’ve spent time with various artisans and tried different crafts, but I find that leatherworking is the activity that tires me the least. The required precision is around 0.1 millimeters, whereas with jewelers, it’s around 0.01 millimeters and that tires me a lot more. The mandatory activities I dread the most, like sharpening knives, are ultimately less demanding than that when you have good gear from the start.

I left Vietnam with a bunch of top-quality tools (thanks to the proximity to South Korea and Japan, you can find the best tools in the world at a reasonable price) and I have a mini workshop that I carry everywhere to do small leatherwork (bags will come later). Without a teacher, my standards drop instantly, but I’m happy to be improving every day.

Since I’ve been taking jewelry, sewingleatherworking classes… I can no longer buy crappy stuff. Shopping has become super selective. A piece of clothing can be beautiful, but if I zoom in on the stitching and it’s ugly, I can’t buy it anymore. Now, with leatherworking, I can’t stand machine stitching. If it’s not handmade (like 99% of products on the market), I won’t buy it. Luckily, during our trip to Vietnam, we had quite a few leather items made (here, here , and and there), and I can make them now. I must not take woodworking classes because I might end up in “handmade or nothing” mode hahaha and no longer find joy in browsing at IKEA.

Carré 90 Robe Légère d’Hermès

I’m supposed to stop buying from Hermès until 2023, but I love this design too much. Théo de Gueltzl always comes up with designs with so many details that they all become bestsellers and are sold out everywhere.

JB built me a website to scan all Hermès scarves so I can compare designs and colorways more efficiently. Because on the Hermès website, some designs are only available on the US site, others only on the Japanese site, and you never get the full inventory of scarves and colorways.

I love this site, I use it all the time, and I think collectors will love it too. Thanks to this site, I was able to get my hands on a rare and beautiful colorway of the Hermès Robe Légère scarf. I love it so much! It’s not available in stores, and it had to be ordered.

This is the first 90cm scarf that isn’t double-sided that I’ve bought from Hermès, but that’s not a problem because the other side is still very interesting and detailed. If I’m not mistaken, Hermès uses a special technique for printing black and white scarves.

Slim Cera Gold

Slim Cera is a Japanese roll-on that oxygenates the skin and gets rid of wrinkles. Its shape mimics the movements of an esthetician’s fingers, so I use it because I can’t go see Simona in Italy every morning (sniff).

I have wrinkles along my nasolabial folds (they’re the only ones I have, thank you genetics!!) and when I use the Slim Cera, they temporarily disappear (you have to start again the next day). The Slim Cera became super trendy in Vietnam when a contestant with gorgeous skin appeared on the show “Vietnam’s Next Top Model” and she used her Slim Cera day and night. I was able to get my hands on the Gold version (gold-plated), which is no longer made. I know the Slim Cera+ version has more advanced technologies, even more effective for wrinkles, but I have a dental crown so I prefer the mechanical version.

You can find them second-hand on Vinted, they’re indestructible (Japanese quality) so there’s no problem using a used product.

I hope you enjoyed this article, and see you soon!