The Finnish company, A.Tillander was founded by Alexander Tillander who, as a young boy at the age 11, was sent out to go and take up an apprenticeship at a barber in St-Petersburg. Things didn’t go as expected and he ended up at a Finnish master goldsmith’s workshop instead. After 7 years as an apprentice, Alexander started working for a German master named Carl Becks who was a supplier for the Russian Imperial court.

In 1860, at the age of 23, Alexander started for himself in St Petersburg. Working hard, his business evolved into a successful company renowned for its quality workmanship. Following the trends of the time, Tillander produced a lot of classical revival jewelry featuring filigree and granulation over the 1870’s and did well with objects d’art made of precious materials.

In 1891, Alexander’s son, Alexander Jr., returned from a three-year journey which had led him through three different European master jewelers and gained him the position of representative of a Parisian manufacturer of diamond jewelry. Doing well for himself he became a part of the family business which he expanded with an export business of the now very popular Russian gemstone, demantoid, as well as by opening up a new branch of the business which bought and sold second-hand jewelry. At the beginning of the 20th century, he ran the entire operation by himself and business was booming.