Hector Aguilar was born in 1905 in Mexico City. Not much is known of his early years, but a chance encounter with William Spratling in the early 1930s set him on a silversmithing career that would span three decades. Aguilar brought tourists from Mexico City to the small town of Taxco, a place that as fate would have it also was where Spratling was starting his silver workshop. Aguilar worked for several years as the shop manager for Spratling while also becoming an apprentice silversmith. After three years, Aguilar left to start his own workshop, Taller Borda. That workshop would create countless beautiful pieces, with unceasing quality up until its closure in 1966.