Where to Buy Leather Cord End Decorations - A Visit to Sinseol-dong

I wanted to make a cardholder necklace for a friend but had difficulty finding leather cord knot decorations.

Most of the end decorations online were quite large with a diameter of over 3mm.

What I needed was a gold-colored cord end decoration with a diameter of around 2.5~3mm.

With the desire to find the perfect metal decoration of the size I needed, I headed to Sinseol-dong on a whim.

Due to the nature of leather, the offline market is still more active than the online market, so if you have a decoration you want to find, you need to walk through the market.

Today is my exploration of Sinseol-dong to find leather cord end decorations.

1. How to Get to Sinseol-dong

Since you have to walk about 10 minutes from any station to Sinseol-dong traditional market, just choose the station closest to your home and walk from there.

I usually get off at Sinseol-dong Station, but today I tried walking from Dongmyo Station.

There were many people selling goods in front of Dongmyo.

And there were also many people looking around these items.

I was surprised by the vibrant foot traffic of people selling and browsing in the middle of a weekday.

And a bit further along, there was a place selling clothes piled up in heaps.

This kind of place was something I'd only seen on TV, and it was quite amazing to realize I was actually there.

There were also areas filled with second-hand shops.

The prices were incredibly cheap, so I wanted to browse, but my main goal today was to find leather cord end decorations, so I moved on.

2. Workshop Department Store

Workshop Department Store has been a regular stop for selling leathercraft materials.

The shop owner is extremely kind and often gives customers yogurt.

I frequently visited because they have many items cheaper than other stores.

I've often compared prices on the Internet, and even compared to the reputedly cheap prices on Naver Store from "Leather Master," they are comparable.

The place is located at the entrance to Sinseol-dong Leather Market from the Dongmyo side on the 2nd floor.

There's a sign in front announcing the Workshop Department Store. Even with a sign, it's hard to find unless you look closely.

Going up the 2nd-floor stairs leads to the Workshop Department Store.

Inside, there are various metal decorations, adhesives, reinforcements, zippers, and other accessories for leathercraft.

I mainly purchase edge coat, water-based adhesive, awls, metal locks, etc., from here.

However, there were no cord end decorations here. 

ON my way to another place, I saw the Inno Mold where I ordered a metal mold before.

It was intriguing to see places I only knew from the web, concentrated offline here.

It felt like seeing a celebrity.

3. Various Metal Decoration Stores

I think I've visited all the stores selling various metals.

One Metal, Pretty Decoration, Garden Decoration, Diverse Trade, and so on. I couldn't find the cord end metal decoration of the size I wanted.

They had it at Diverse Trade, but the color was silver.

The owner of Garden Decoration told me, since each store has different metal decorations, the only way is to walk around and look. 

4. Seongwon Decoration

Seongwon Decoration was a place where I usually only looked at the metal decorations displayed outside in passing, but wanting to find the leather cord end decoration, I entered for the first time.

There were so many decorations inside that when I asked the owner about the cord end decoration, he kindly guided me.

And there...

There were more types of cord end decorations here than all the ones I've seen combined.

And they even had the exact size I wanted!!!  

5. On the Way Back

On the way back, I spotted Hwangso Leather, known for selling Korean vegetable-tanned leather.

I also browsed through the cheap vegetable-tanned leathers placed along the roadside on my way back.

6. How to Buy Metal Decorations

Due to the vast variety and range of metal decorations, it's crucial to have a specific idea of the color and form of metal decoration you want before going to Sinseol-dong.

If you just go wanting to buy D-rings without a specific idea, you might become bewildered by the overwhelming variety and return empty-handed.

I learned a lot about how to shop for accessories while wandering around Sinseol-dong this time.

And the leather cord end decorations are at Seongwon Decoration!!!

If you're looking for cord end decorations, head to Seongwon Decoration.