It all started when he was about 10 years old, hunting for spiders in the grass. He would collect the nails he found from the old local railroad tracks and make jewelry from them. Many years later, he upgraded to silver during an evening course, where his skill so impressed his instructor that it was recommended he go to the local goldsmithing school. From there, he was employed by a jeweler in his hometown of Söderköping, and now, more than 20 years after his first foray into jewelry construction, Mikael "Hrafn" Karlsson owns his own business.

That business, Smyckes Smedjan af Hrafn, began in 2010, when Mikael took over from long-time Finspång jeweler Robert Sundell. Since then, he has been busy doing mostly jewelry repair, but his real dream is to do more of his unique, custom pieces; and they are both unique and custom - in the time-honored tradition of a true goldsmith, Mikael's work is all handmade; with only a few pieces mass produced.

Mikael's personal interests come through in his work (he is the drummer for Death Wolf - if you haven't read my review of their self-titled album, you can find it here); he's recreated the claw of the animal for which he is named (Hrafn is Icelandic for Raven), and he's made a ring of the emblem that is both tattooed on the shoulder and hangs around the neck of his long-time friend and Death Wolf bandmate, Morgan Håkansson. He also enjoys making more non-traditional pieces, such as picture frames with themes, and belt buckles; using various materials, logos, and figures in conjunction.

But his interest in history has also lent itself to one unique piece - the city he currently calls home and in which he has a storefront, Finspång, was once the center of Swedish cannon-making. In the early 1900's the gun manufacturing moved to Värmland Bofors, but it left it's mark, and since Mikael re-introduced the cannon (one of his few "mass" produced pieces) to the city, several have already been bought.

Because Mikael's work is custom, prices will obviously vary (depending on materials and such), but if you find yourself at all interested in his work, you can visit his website Smyckes Smedjan af Hrafn, or look him up on Facebook, to see more of his awesome work and even order something!