The next generation of lapidarists are entrepreneurial, engaged online, and see the craft as a means for artistic expression.
Trade show fixture Celida Hidalgo dies at 95
Celida Hidalgo, co-founder of the Hidalgo Jewelry brand and mother of designer Silvio Hidalgo, died this summer. She was 95 years old.

Miami--Celida Hidalgo, co-founder of the Hidalgo Jewelry brand and mother of designer Silvio Hidalgo, died this summer. She was 95 years old.
Hidalgo was born in Cuba in 1918 and graduated from the University of Havana in the 1940s with a doctorate in education, making her one of the first women in her family to have a college degree.
She worked with many low-income families in Cuba to insist that their daughters be allowed to remain in school rather than stay home to help in the house, her son Silvio said.
In 1961, Celida and her husband, Silvio Hidalgo, Sr., moved the family from Cuba to Miami. Shortly after they worked with other family members to start Hidalgo Jewelry, catering to the city’s Cuban community with chain necklaces. The two of them retired from the business in the 1970s.
Their son Silvio re-launched the business in 1983 as Hidalgo Corp. to create his own jewelry designs, focusing on fashion jewelry with an accessible price point. Celida and her husband kept their link to the industry through the guidance and advice that they gave to their son.
“Mom and Dad would always recommend to me things I should be adding to the collection, so they became an integral part of the business,” he said.
Celida and her husband also have been traveling the trade show circuit including Las Vegas and Basel with Silvio for the past 25 years, visiting more than 100 countries and instilling in him a love for travel as well, he said.
“My mother was the reason for my success and I will miss her every day of my life,” Silvio Hidalgo said, adding, “I am most grateful that both my parents lived very long lives and were able to see and share with me the great success I have had in this wonderful country first in technology and then in my avocation, the wonderful world of jewelry.”
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