Charles Davis May 3, 2013:

@ Eliza You're welcome! I really don't know whether that's what it's meant to imply.

Another thought has occurred to me on this. One of the symptoms of the economic crisis in Spain is that shops marked "Compro Oro", where you can sell your gold jewellery, have sprung up like mushrooms; there are 8-10 within a block or two of where I live. Some of them, in fact, are former jeweller's shops. They're a bit like pawnbrokers. A huge amount of gold has been sold for cash and much of it, apparently, has left the country.

So I wonder whether "orfebrería" might be code for money laundering, or something of that nature.

This reminds me of the historical phenomenon of goldsmiths as early bankers. Since they handled gold, they had always acted as money changers/lenders. Here's an interesting account of it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_money#Goldsmith_bank...

Whether any of this is relevant, and whether any reader would get the point even if it is, I don't know.

Eliza Ariadni Kalfa (asker) May 3, 2013:

Thank you so much, Charles. That was exactly my worry - that 'goldsmith' in English would not carry the same connotations. 'Craftsman' seems like a better fit here. Thanks a lot!

Charles Davis May 3, 2013:

Perhaps all you can do, as has been suggested here, is to translate it literally. But the problem, in principle, is that although "orfebre" plainly means goldsmith (or silversmith), the way these words are used in Spanish and English respectively may not be the same. Thus Spanish readers may be able to read things into "orfebre" that English readers will not be able to read into "goldsmith". And if the person being addressed as an "orfebre" is not in fact a goldsmith or silversmith, it does seem that we are supposed to read something into it.

I don't have the solution. But what is certain is that "orfebre" is commonly used to mean a consummate craftsman in fields other than the working of precious metals. In literature, particularly, it is almost a cliché to describe a writer as an "orfebre de la palabra" or "orfebre del lenguaje". We don't use "goldsmith" like that in English. "Orfebre" can describe patient, painstaking skill and perfectionism.

Whether this is relevant I couldn't say. Perhaps it means something like "I understand you're a real craftsman". Perhaps it means that he is very skilled at some illicit activity.

Eliza Ariadni Kalfa (asker) May 3, 2013:

Thanks for the suggestion. Patinba - because of the context, and the rest of the story - that is not what his job is (sorry, I can't include the whole story here!).

Juan Mattei May 3, 2013:

I do agree with Patricia.

If the men mean something else by "orfebrería", that's the reader's job and not yours.

patinba May 3, 2013:

I do not understand why if someone says to another "I understand you are a goldsmith" you should think that it is metaphorical?

Patricia González Schütz May 3, 2013:

That's what the reader has to figure out (if it is used in a metaphorical way or not, and I suppose it is), not you as a translator...