About Us

Handmade jewelry by Tiljon: How it all began...

Tiljon means handmade jewelry from Cologne. Tiljon means us: Christina and Maxim Kouperman. She is German, he is Israeli with Ukrainian roots – together we stand for cosmopolitanism, tolerance, and intercultural empathy.

Many years ago, the artisan market in Tel Aviv, which we explored during our joint travels to Israel, served as inspiration for our jewelry collection. We were fascinated by the multifaceted nature of jewelry design there. East and West merge into a unique blend. Thus, the cultural background of the respective designer is often reflected in the jewelry. The people we worked with in Tiljon's early days, for example, have Yemeni, Russian, or Iranian roots – and are nevertheless (or precisely because of that) typical Israelis.

The artisans we had the privilege of meeting in Israel served as a role model for us when we opened the Tiljon store in Cologne in 2009. They still are today. In a time when many Germans do not see the people in Israel, but only the country's government, we think of the designers, friends, and family members in Israel who are currently engaged in the struggle to preserve democracy there. For the future, we wish that all people in the Middle East can live together in peace, security, and mutual respect.

Over the years, our small jewelry shop, where we once sold jewelry from Israel, has become a workshop. Since 2015, we have been making our own jewelry here – Tiljon is 100% "made in Cologne"! The name Tiljon, by the way, means "jewelry pendant" in Hebrew, and our rings also bear Hebrew names. Thus, our Cologne creations contain not only all our craftsmanship and passion but also a piece of our personal history and values.