Goldsmith and sculptor Raul Valladares Valdes, a diehard cigar smoker, combines wisdom and good taste into this artistic trade.

Raul Valladares Valdes put his name on the world map of the fine arts since he created the statuette for the Habano Man of the Year Award, a prize handed out every year at the closing ceremony of the Habano Festival. Mr. Valdes, 44, with over 20 years of experience under his belt, is a gold and silversmith who likes puffing at good Cuban cigars. He admits he always loved the arts, even though his father wanted him to follow in his footsteps as a cigar roller, a trade that runs deep in his family’s bloodline.

His contact with the artistic world of tobacco and cigars harks back to the 1990s when the first international Habano festivals teed off. The idea of giving the Habano Man of the Year Awards came up in 1995. A contest to pick the symbol of the prize was held and Mr. Valdes’ statuette was the winning piece.

The statuette, exclusively made for the world-class award, is 35mm tall and is carved in silver, propped on a granite base. “I still get kicks out of making it,” says an enthusiastic Mr. Valdes. “The party lasts only a few days, but for me this is job that takes several months and that I enjoy very much.”

The artist also makes very special humidors, most of them sold under the gavel at high price tags within the framework of the Habano Festival. “I don’t make humidors on a regular basis, however I’ve built nearly a dozen of them with an artistic view,” Mr. Valdes goes on to say.

The creator of the Habano Man of the Year Award statuette has knocked together over 300 pieces of unfathomably artistic value, including a humidor dedicated to the Cohiba brand that sold for a quarter of a million dollars during one of the festivals. His sculptures are in the hands of private collectors, in museums in France, Switzerland, Spain and other countries, and a very special one that stands in the Habano House at the Beirut International Airport, in Lebanon. He still dreams of one day putting one of his pieces in a Cuban museum.

A man of the arts: Raul Valladares Valdes. Havana, November 7, 1960. Autodidactic. Eight individual exhibits and over sixty collective expositions in Cuba and abroad. Picasso Medal in 1997. Creator of the F-1 Speedboat Grand Prix Cohiba Cup trophy in 1996. Author of the Habano Man of the Year Award statuette in 1995.