Handmade men's jewelry, beautiful knives and durable belts.

SCHMAAL.Workshop stands for first-class handmade goods.
Made to live and age with you.

Welcome to my workshop, where silver sparkles, knives are sharp and leather tells stories.
Everything that makes my heart beat faster is created here - handmade silver jewelry
to robust hunting and outdoor knives, super sharp and attractive chef's knives and durable leather goods.

Why is it called SCHMAAL?

In Cologne, people like to say the opposite to “slim” people like me. It's common for the People who see me and I often hear: "There is the Schmaal." The people of Cologne have their own sense of humor, as you'll notice once you've been there. As a broad person, you tend to be called narrow. Adorable, right?

Holger Altgeld

It's me. Trained chemical technician, trained chemical master and self-trained advertising photographer with a focus on portraits. Now self-employed silversmith, knife maker and manufacturer of beautiful consumer goods. My career has changed over the years. Progress and change is something important to me and I like to follow my heart.

What always remains is creativity and working with your hands.

How did this start?

For many years I have been searching every market and every shop for cool jewelry for myself. It's super rare to find anything there. You can almost be wallpapered with women's jewelry, but finding something for men is a gamble with rarely a good outcome.
The only solution was to make the jewelry yourself. I had no choice :)

During the Corona period, a friend came to me who had made an outdoor knife himself and I was immediately fascinated by the idea because I already had a few knives in my collection. No sooner said than done - tools organized and started. The first outdoor knife was hardened in the charcoal grill in the garden.

My sister is a trained saddler and showed me how beautiful working with leather can be.

This is how everything comes together and is connected by the desire to work with raw materials that are alive in a certain way. The metal, wood and leather accompanies you through life and lives with you. It ages with you and gets better with you.

Love for handcraft combined with a penchant for perfection

I couldn't spend my day any other way because what I do is much more than just work - it's my philosophy of life. Every movement, every cut and every stitch is an expression of my passion for craftsmanship.

Why am I doing all this? Because I love how time plays with my creations. Silver develops a patina, knives bear the stories of their adventures, and leather goods recall the journeys that accompanied them. My workshop is a place where raw materials are not only processed, but brought to life.

Every piece is unique

In a world that is often too fast-paced, I pause and dedicate myself to the art of slow, deliberate creation. For me, handcraft is not just a job, but a tribute to the beauty of simplicity. Every piece that leaves my workshop is unique – characterized by attention to detail and a touch of adventure.

Buying from me is a process

A piece from SCHMAAL.Workshop is not something you just buy on the side. It's a piece to fight around. That makes you think twice. What you burn for. That you definitely want to have. Only after this process do you grab it and treat yourself. You experience it. You can enjoy it forever.

Sustainability & respect

Every person, every animal and every food deserves respect. If you adopt this attitude, it will lead you to a conscious and economical use of the resources that our earth has to offer. You buy things that last and are therefore more sustainable than most other consumer goods.

SCHMAAL.Workshop produces products that are sustainable and provide the highest quality. Products that want to be used every day and last a long time with the right care. In addition to many private things, this is my part in helping to keep the planet livable for future generations.