STORIES FROM THE ATELIER: HUGO CAHILL
- eliane de luca peres
- 12 minutes ago
- 2 min read
i love it when i meet someone and we immediately click. not necessarily in person, either.
these days, with all the ways we can connect, it is entirely possible to build a meaningful friendship without ever meeting face to face. of course, that is always the cherry on top,
but sometimes it simply isn’t possible, so we continue nurturing these digital friendships,
which can be surprisingly fulfilling.
i had the pleasure of meeting hugo a little over a year ago, and we have stayed in touch ever since. beyond our shared love of jewelry (yes, rings), we speak portuguese, exchange thoughts about life, people, artists, and all the things that move us. dividing his time between london and lisbon, hugo brings a sense of elegance and curiosity to everything he does.
it is my pleasure to share his story and his impeccable work. he is a gentleman, a generous soul, and someone i am very glad to have met. i hope we finally manage that lunch in lisbon one of these days.
My entry into jewelry came through proximity to making. My grandfather and uncle were goldsmiths, and my father was a hand engraver. I grew up around workshops, drawings, tools, and the strange seriousness that surrounds objects made by hand. Long before I understood what I wanted to do, I was already observing how things were constructed.
Years later, after studying Art across Portugal and elsewhere in Europe, I moved to London and worked across different ateliers in costume and fine jewelry. It was an important period for me, not only technically, but personally. I realized I was not searching for a place within someone else’s vision, but for the freedom to construct one of my own.
The House began in 2020.
Most pieces begin quite instinctively, usually with an idea or form that refuses to leave my mind. From there, the structure, proportion, and materials gradually reveal themselves. I often return to the same obsessions: celestial bodies, architecture, geological formations, couture, tension, light moving through stone. At the end, though, everything settles on the body.
That is where jewelry finally becomes complete.
