If there is one thing Eduard knows about is the secrets of Mompox’s many goldsmiths. This is so because he has worked with them since he got introduced into the trade at the tender age of 17. Remigio Jaraba, Daniel Garrido, Javier Padilla, Javier Santos, and Samuel Ricaurte were his teachers. Today, he regards them as being great mentors of his.

He started out sanding welds: the most basic task in the craft of filigree-making. He also decorated small pieces. Both of these tasks are the only things an apprentice is allowed to do. He recalls with amusement how surprised Remigio looked when he saw Eduardo stretching 100 grams of gold threads with the hand crank without a drop of sweat on his forehead. His endurance was that good because he got accustomed to “bang away at the mill” when he was a child. He did this when he wanted to help his grandmother make corn chicha. He had proven he had the strength that the job required. He split his time between his apprenticeship and being a Nazarene at Mompox’s famous Holy Week processions.

He realized that the wares he crafted were beautiful and that he could easily make people fall in love with them. Yet, his love arrived with the bitterness that sometimes characterizes that sort of story. Gina Elvira was the daughter of one of his teachers: “Don Tito.” He was wary of the skilled young man who was quickly learning everything he could much from him. Eduardo, however, soon noticed that Don Tito respected him and that there was no bad blood between them. Nevertheless, the young apprentice left the workshop to avoid giving rise to any suspicion. He also did this as a sign of his serious intentions with Gina Elvira. His intuition was right: his actions led him to become the father of three children. He even named his workshop after his eldest son.

>He is committed to cultivating his craft and learning “small tricks to simplify things and carry out tasks a little bit faster.” This, for instance, happened when he began molding tomatillos. He had only seen them in their finished stage, but he attained such fine results through his experiment that he surprised even his masters. He knows that, whenever he embarks on a new endeavor, he does not stop until he achieves his goal. We need to look no further for evidence of this claim than the time he told his mother that he would tile their back patio. He pushed forth with the tiny tomatillos until he had made 2000 of them. They earned him his first million pesos. He followed this achievement with his becoming a master in crafting filigree animals.

He is a grateful and determined man. He is also one of the youngest goldsmiths in Mompox. Now, he and his wife own a workshop and, with this, a new stage of their lives has begun.