Ugo Mighali discovered his passion at thirteen, the age at which the renowned master knife maker Charles Roulin took him under his wing. The man who would become his mentor passed on his craft, allowing this unique art to endure.
For several years, Ugo practised making knives in his bedroom and in the master’s workshop.
The year he turned 19, a colleague with a passion for knives discovered the young craftsman’s talent. Aware of his potential, he entrusted him with his very first commission: a knife adorned with three chamois, symbolising his three children, who were going through a difficult time.
Despite his young age, Ugo did the subject justice. His adventure in art knife making could not have begun better.
After completing his apprenticeship as a jeweller — during which he won second prize at the Piaget awards for jewellery — the artist added another string to his bow with a second apprenticeship as a stone setter at a renowned house.
Although his talent quickly opened many doors, he followed his heart and took the risk of devoting himself to his dream: becoming an art knife maker.
Hearing it today, it is a beautiful story. Yet it could have taken a very different turn for the young artist.
At 13, Ugo was an unruly teenager, dropping out of school. A rebel at heart, he spent his days at the Plainpalais skatepark in Geneva, surrounded by “slightly punk guys”, and in the evenings watched their clumsy attempts at forging blades.
He tried his own hand at it and caught fire for the craft. Then came the meeting with Mr Roulin, a man Ugo readily says saved his life and kept his soul from going astray.
Ugo now devotes his life and soul to his knives, which he considers almost as his children. Every commission, once finished and handed to its owner, fills him with immense pride… and a slight pang of sadness.
Forever grateful to his mentor and committed to keeping alive the legacy passed on to him, Ugo intends to leave his own mark on the demanding world of art knife making.
Young as he is, the artist has already forged a style of his own. His expertise in jewellery, combined with his eye as a knife maker and sculptor, opens new perspectives for an art whose limits are waiting to be pushed.
Ugo makes it a point of honour to let harmony and emotion guide each of his creations. Shaped by the aesthetics of the 2000s, he gladly owns his love of fine stones — the very love that drew him to jewellery.
Diamonds and gold have always enthralled him… and today they adorn his knives.
This taste for brilliance also shows in his signature symbol: the lightning bolt, an emblem of power since the dawn of time, as unpredictable as it is fleeting.
When designing a knife, it is essential for Ugo to talk with his client, to fully understand their wish and immerse himself in it.
This human contact, and the conversations it sparks, feed his inspiration and shine through in each of his works.
Nothing makes him happier than his clients’ reaction when they discover their knife: it is this emotion that drives him ever further in his creations.
Heir to the great Genevan tradition of 16th-century goldsmiths, micro-sculpture took root in the silence of the workshops of the Fabrique, where a single gesture could seal or ruin months of work. In Geneva, this art of extreme detail has never been showy: it speaks to those who take the time to contemplate.
Ugo’s work today continues this craft. The artist carries on a heritage in which mastery of the gesture is embodied in the material, which becomes a field of microscopic expression. Each piece is an opportunity to shape a world of which he is the master.
At the crossroads of a centuries-old heritage and a futuristic vision, his creations carry Geneva’s DNA of precision into a revolutionary art of knife making that stirs new emotions.
I could not embark on the adventure of art knife making without paying tribute to my mentor and teacher in life, Charles Roulin, the true inventor of this unique art that I proudly carry on.
Great as the artist is, the man is just as great, and it is also his philosophy of life that made me want to do this work. Despite the hardships he has faced and his worldwide success, Charles has remained deeply attached to his values of sharing and authenticity.
I will be forever grateful to him for treating me like a son, welcoming me and teaching me his art without ever expecting anything in return.
Ugo M.