Björn Altmann grew up in northern Germany. His first encounter with jewellery was during a metal workshop, where he made a copper beaker and then experimented with leftover brass making rings and brooches. He then studied graphic design in Wismar and Kassel.

After finishing his degree he moved to London 15 years ago, where he is working as a branding consultant and illustrator.

Collecting antique silver and research into the unique English hallmarking system rekindled his interest in metalworking. He started designing and making gold and silver jewellery in 2020 and participated in the Milano Jewellery Week in 2022. His focus is on elegant Nordic style and hexagons as a basic shape in our universe. The Nordic aspect matters to him because he has travelled a lot in Scandinavia and always felt a connection to this part of the world: it’s calm and friendly, but also a bit mysterious.

Portal Jewellery is a design studio based in London. Jewellery designers Di Ananieva and Björn Altmann combine their talents to create futuristic 3D modelled pieces in sterling silver and
gemstones.

The inspiration came from a common interest: mythology and fairy tales. Pathways that can only be found once, a door that only opens if you have deciphered the code, hidden portals to another world – all of these exciting ideas formed the starting point for the designs.

This collection is about glitches or faults in the fabric of the universe, a connection to something that normally remains unseen. The hexagons as a base shape represent the everyday appearance of things whereas the shapes presented here are disrupted, out of the ordinary. Something might have passed through and by doing so caused a disruption to the orderly arrangement of things.