“The flame blazes, the cauldron roars,
Sparks fly, the smoke chokes.”
Arany János
October 2014. As if it were only yesterday, the memory is still vivid.
A new job… more free time… and once again, a new hobby. By now, I don’t even have enough fingers left to count them all. My husband has always been restless. But this time… maybe it’s something different.
Outlander. A brilliant series, and the true beginning of it all. The hero carries a finely crafted Scottish sword with a most intricate basket hilt.
And he says: I’ll make this. Filing, bending, sawing. The basket takes shape, the sword comes alive. I’m amazed. But he doesn’t stop there. He says he wants to forge. He gets a small forge, smokes up the garage. Hammering… and so it begins. More and more forged pieces appear, the forge is moved to a small empty stable. People start to notice his talent.
We need a name.
Morning coffee… our little ritual, our time together. We need a name. But not workshop—that’s overused. Not atelier either—we’re Hungarian. It has to be Weigel. What else? Who said it first? Still a matter of debate.
Katlan—a volcanic crater, but also “a hollow dug in the ground, open at the front, or a pit enclosed on three sides with clay or brick walls, in which fire is made.”
Fire. You get it!
Perfect. Let it be Weigel-Katlan.
The logo was born too. Flames inside the W… or W inside the flames? Doesn’t matter—it looks good. We love it.
June 2017. A new job again… more free time. But this time, for me.
Morning coffee… our time. I should do something too. But what? I’m drawn to glass art, but he says: Why not try enameling? He’s biased, of course—metal can be decorated with enamel. Enamels are beautiful, I like the idea. Alright, I’ll look into it…
But patience is not his strong suit. Two days later, he brings home a small kiln for me. I tell him I know nothing about enameling. Doesn’t matter, you’ll learn. We already have two colors: turquoise and deep red. Experiments, failures, shattered enamel. But I like it. A strange passion drives me—to make it beautiful. Something starts to take shape. And suddenly, people notice me too. Well, well!
Can I join? I want to be Weigel-Katlan as well.
Welcome to the Weigel-Katlan workshops
Our shared life began in 1998, when we first met at the Hungarian National Police Horse Base. Two young people, full of energy, a little naive—but from that moment, together. Through good times and bad, as the saying goes. We married in 2000, then moved to the countryside, where we soon built our family home, which has been our beloved nest ever since.
Looking back, there were times when we could have made changes earlier… should have. But it seems it was written for both of us to wait until we were forty to finally say: we need to do something else. Something that creates, not destroys. Something that holds value, joy, and fulfillment. It took more years and more courage, but in 2022 we both stepped away from the ordinary life and embraced creation as our full-time calling.
That’s how he became a blacksmith. An ornamental smith.
And I became an enameler, and later a jeweler.
My name is Mónika Weigel.
My husband is Harri Weigel.
We are Weigel-Katlan.
A warm welcome to the Weigel-Katlan website
On our site, you’ll only find handmade creations. We both work to bring real value into a world too full of poor quality. Forged iron pieces here are truly born of fire—traditional techniques, hand-forged from raw iron, never welded together from pre-made elements.
In the jewelry workshop you’ll find handmade pieces too, often requiring days of patient work—sawing, filing, soldering—before the final form emerges. From these master models, molds are made, so that the bases can be cast more efficiently. Each cast base is then carefully filled with enamel, fired in a hot kiln. I never use cheap cold enamel or hobby-store bases. On our site, you’ll find jewelry made of copper, bronze, and silver—all crafted with care, made for you.
Read our personal introductions if you’d like to know more about us, take a peek into our workshops, watch how we work, browse the galleries, and of course—don’t forget to discover our creations!
We wish you a wonderful time in the Katlan!
