STORIES FROM THE ATELIER: HILDUR OTTILIA HÖGLIND
i first connected with hildur over a year ago, when she sent me the loveliest message asking if i was open to featuring new jewelers. perhaps i’m a little biased when it comes to Sweden. my father is swedish, i lived there and have always felt a special connection to the country - but hildur immediately won me over, and i invited her to participate in SFA.
back then the timing wasn’t quite right, though, she was about to begin an important internship, so we agreed she’d come back when she felt ready. and here we are, over a year later, with her participation finally a reality.
there’s something wonderfully serendipitous about hildur returning just in time to be my last SFA guest before i put the series on pause for a while.
sometimes things really do happen exactly when they’re supposed to.
please welcome swedish jeweler hildur ottilia höglind, the woman behind @hildur.ottilia.jewelry
HILDUR OTTILIA HÖGLIND
A few months ago, my mom texted a picture of my old school workbook from second grade.
In it, I had written that when I grow up I want to “become a goldsmith/silversmith/coppersmith/other kind of smith” or ”find stones”.
I had completely forgotten about being interested in metalworking and gems at that age, and it somehow felt very validating to know that goldsmithing isn’t a phase or a strangely early midlife crisis. Years before I wanted to be a writer, psychologist or musician, I wanted to make beautiful things with my hands. Or find stones. Even as a bona fide grownup, it feels nice to know that my career choice has 8-year-old me’s approval.
Now, when it comes to "finding stones”, my other career of choice as an unnaturally eloquent second grader, I hunt for them in the wild a lot less often than 8-year-old me would have ideally liked. In my defense, living in Scandinavia, however beneficial in terms of healthcare and education, is geologically unfortunate. I make up for the lack of everyday sapphire panning and opal digging by stalking auction houses and pawnshops for beautiful gems. Buying antique, old, vintage, second-hand, pre-loved or whatever you want to call it has the wonderful added bonus of giving me the sense that I am saving something from oblivion by granting it a new life.
A newly acquired gemstone releases the same amount of dopamine that a kitten would and turns me into something not unlike Smeagol in The Lord of the Rings. I think it ultimately comes down to the colors for me, and perhaps that’s why I am particularly drawn to cabochon cuts. A cabochon is, in my opinion, color in its very essence; no facets or sparkle to detract from all the beautiful, unadulterated hues and shades offered.
This is my fourth and final year as an apprentice, currently at wonderful Goldfingers in Copenhagen, and although I know I should be focused on my studies and not get distracted by my own grand ambitions, I can’t resist staying late in the workshop to explore my own ideas sometimes. The occasional weekend too. And Christmas and summer, of course. I spend so much time thinking about the jewelry I want to make that I sometimes forget that my career hasn’t even really started yet.
Since middle school, I have been told to slow down, let things take time and not rush the process, but it’s impossible when there’s so much I want to do and so many gems I want to find and so many pieces I want to design and so many colors I want to combine! I don’t see why I would hold off on creating the things I want to create any longer. I know patience is a virtue and good things come to those who wait, but dammit, I’ve waited since second grade.
