Victor Söderberg, a manufacturer of chronometers, was at the family home on one occasion when he gave her some challenging mechanical exercises to do.

Victor Söderberg was then amazed at the ease with which she completed them and immediately suggested that Hilda Petrini should train as a mechanic.

[1] In 1858, at the age of 20, she began her studies as a student in mechanics under chronometer watch maker Victor Söderberg and completed her apprenticeship with good results.

She made her application to the association of handicrafts (still commonly referred to as guilds) in accordance with the Fabriks och Handtwerksordning.

[1][2] She died in Stockholm on 30 January 1895, at the age of 57, an event that was reported in national newspapers that recounted her work and success as groundbreaking for a woman.