A giant hand cushion ☀️ Finnish sour soda ☀️ Marble cubes – #49

Buonasera from Merano!

Welcome to this week’s installment of what’s hot in brands and products.

Over the past 49 editions, I’ve featured discoveries from more than 27 European countries — including sculptural candles from the Netherlands, a surreal wall clock from Spain, and diamond kettlebells from the Italian Alps.

But I’m always on the lookout for new gems from the lesser-spotted corners of the map.

If you’ve ever stumbled across a perfectly odd design object from Andorra, Malta, Liechtenstein, San Marino… or even Monaco, Luxembourg, or the Faroe Islands — send it my way. I’m all ears (and tabs).

Every week, I share five of the coolest products I’ve come across in the past 7 days.

Let’s dive in.

With love ☀️
Jakob

The Breton Cube [🇳🇱 | 🇩🇰]

Marble: nature’s humblebrag.
These graphic stone cubes are a collab between Dutch studio SolidNature and Danish designer Birgitte Due Madsen, inspired by the iconic Breton stripe. Think classic French pattern, but make it geology. They come on discreet little wheels, so you can pretend you're strong while effortlessly rolling one across your living room. Let it roll into your life

Bauhaus Sushi Set [🇧🇬]

Started as a dinner party idea. Now it’s plates.
Pottery & Poetry is a Bulgarian studio run by two longtime friends — one architect, one lawyer — who decided to spend less time in inboxes and more in the “art zone” of life.

This handmade ceramic set comes with four plates and four dip bowls. Bauhaus geometry, muted tones, and the perfect canvas for sushi, mezze, or snacks that deserve more respect. For snacks with structure

Perso Blood Orange Soda [🇫🇮]

Sour citrus, Finnish attitude.
Perso makes small-batch sodas with real fruit — no artificial nonsense, just sharp, clean flavor and a splash of Sicilian sunshine. It’s fizzy, a little bitter, and just sweet enough to not feel smug about it. You could drink it with lunch. Or at a Nordic spa. Or in a wine glass while pretending you’ve quit alcohol for the taste. Sip something that bites back

Regenbogen Box [🇩🇪]

Somewhere over the crystal.
Handmade in Berlin by Fundamental from heavy crystal and finished with a chromatic film, this box bends light into a full-on rainbow — the kind you don’t grow out of. Each one’s handmade, a little different, and totally unnecessary in the best way. Hide your things in plain sight

Giant Hand Cushion [🇦🇹]

It’s a pillow. It’s a sculpture. It’s a giant hand doing absolutely nothing practical.
Made in Vienna by Wiener Times, a studio that combines historical references, theatrical flair, and a total disregard for minimalism. Their objects are designed to surprise — and maybe confuse you just a little. Oversized, surreal, and comes in a mix of colors and sizes. None of them normal.
I love this kind of thing — playful, weird, and not trying to fit in. Let the hand take over

Know a tiny European brand doing cool things? A ceramic teapot from Malta? A wall clock from Sweden shaped like a goose? I’m always chasing down the beautiful, the strange, and the overlooked.