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Ildiko Jewelry – Written by Anne Ladouceur

Ildiko loves all aspects of silversmithing, something she discovered after stumbling into enjoying making wirework jewellery by picking up a job in a bead shop one summer just for fun. Encouraged by her husband, who saw her frustration in being limited with the commercially made components available for her jewellery designs, she enrolled in a 12 week basic silversmithing course exactly 8 years ago. Ildiko admits she wasn’t the best student as she couldn’t wait to be hands-on right away and jumped at the chance to be in the first group to solder in her third class. She was such a natural that her classmate, a woman who was taking the course for the second time just to have access to the tools, asked for Ildiko’s help in soldering a pair of cufflinks. It was in that moment that Ildiko realized she had a knack for soldering and was hooked.  Realizing it would be some time before she could solder again in the class (16 students and 4 torches), she and her husband (who loved the excuse to buy cool new tools!) went out and bought all the supplies she would need to make sterling silver jewellery the next day, from torches to hammers.

One of the first pieces she ever made was a chunky circle linked toggle bracelet. She improved the design by making the bar a little longer, so that it was still easy to use but would not accidentally slip out while being worn.  This design was a success and she still wears that durable bracelet today.

Ildiko is a Hungarian name that means ‘Warrior Princess’ and Ildiko feels that she was very aptly named as her art involves hammering and working silver into gorgeous pieces of jewellery almost every day.

Explore more of her work at www.ildikojewelry.com

 

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