Hi!!
I’m Maoro Tiger Joe Bultheel. I’m 24 years old and from Brussels. The name Tiger Joe was given to me at birth, so don’t assume I made it up. I’m a Belgian jewelry designer and an overall creative—if I may say so myself.
As I’m writing this in July 2025, I’m still a student. I’m entering my final year in Product Design at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam and will graduate in the summer of 2026.
In my creative work, I usually explore a set of recurring themes. These often revolve around integrating the natural into the manmade, or playing with dichotomies. I’m fascinated by the concept of Material Fetishism—finding unique materials with interesting origins and making things from them. I do a lot of 3D design and work involving coding, sound, 3D scanning, and that kind of stuff.
For my latest collection, Brutal, I wanted to improve my traditional techniques, so most of the pieces are handmade and goldsmithed. The collection is inspired by Modernist architecture and Brutalism, so it features a lot of bold, straight shapes.
I’m also a fashion model. I’ve been modeling since 2018—let me tell you, it’s been a journey. But after COVID and all the lockdowns, I lost most of my clients, so that lifestyle sort of faded. That’s when I decided to start studying.
First, I enrolled in a full-time goldsmithing course at Syntra. After completing that, I went to the Academy of Antwerp to study jewelry design. They failed me in the first year and told me, “This is not your pond.”
Anyway, I took a year off and did a piercing course—so yes, I’m a licensed piercer too. Then I moved to Rotterdam to study Product Design, which is what I’m currently finishing.
I chose Product Design because I didn’t want to stick to just one medium—I wanted to get better at all the other ways of making things: woodworking, welding, pottery, stitching, etc. Right now, I’m learning everything except jewelry design.
The jewelry you see here was made by me on my small workbench in my apartment in Antwerp.
I’m Maoro Tiger Joe Bultheel. I’m 24 years old and from Brussels. The name Tiger Joe was given to me at birth, so don’t assume I made it up. I’m a Belgian jewelry designer and an overall creative—if I may say so myself.
As I’m writing this in July 2025, I’m still a student. I’m entering my final year in Product Design at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam and will graduate in the summer of 2026.
In my creative work, I usually explore a set of recurring themes. These often revolve around integrating the natural into the manmade, or playing with dichotomies. I’m fascinated by the concept of Material Fetishism—finding unique materials with interesting origins and making things from them. I do a lot of 3D design and work involving coding, sound, 3D scanning, and that kind of stuff.
For my latest collection, Brutal, I wanted to improve my traditional techniques, so most of the pieces are handmade and goldsmithed. The collection is inspired by Modernist architecture and Brutalism, so it features a lot of bold, straight shapes.
I’m also a fashion model. I’ve been modeling since 2018—let me tell you, it’s been a journey. But after COVID and all the lockdowns, I lost most of my clients, so that lifestyle sort of faded. That’s when I decided to start studying.
First, I enrolled in a full-time goldsmithing course at Syntra. After completing that, I went to the Academy of Antwerp to study jewelry design. They failed me in the first year and told me, “This is not your pond.”
Anyway, I took a year off and did a piercing course—so yes, I’m a licensed piercer too. Then I moved to Rotterdam to study Product Design, which is what I’m currently finishing.
I chose Product Design because I didn’t want to stick to just one medium—I wanted to get better at all the other ways of making things: woodworking, welding, pottery, stitching, etc. Right now, I’m learning everything except jewelry design.
The jewelry you see here was made by me on my small workbench in my apartment in Antwerp.