What is 3D printed jewelry and why should your next jewelry be 3D printed?

If you ever wondered what 3D printed jewelry is, here is an explainer video below and further down you can read more why 3D printed Jewelry is a good thing.

What is 3D printed jewelry

3D Printing is the process where a machine turns a digital recipe into a physical model.

In making 3D printed jewelry 3D artists first shape the jewelry in 3D modelling software. The resulting 3D model is then converted into a set of instructions that can be processed by a 3D printer. The printer then follows these instructions depositing layer upon layer until your ring is complete.

What are the benefits of 3D printed jewelry

In order to explain that you first need to understand the steps of Jewelry manufacture. It includes 4 steps, sketching, modelling, casting and finishing.

The steps of jewelry-making

Sketching – From idea to visualisation. The jewelry is drawn by hand or using sketching software.

Modelling – In order to cast the jewelry a wax model is created that is an exact copy of the jewelry to be, but in wax. This has traditionally done by hand, through 3D printing this can be entirely automated.

Casting – Once the wax model has been created it is attached to a wax tree. This is placed in gypsum which then is placed in an oven to burn away the wax. The remaining negative space is then filled with molten precious metal.

Finishing – Finally when the jewelry has cooled off the jewelry is separated from the tree and polished and the stones are set.

The game-changing part about 3D printing is being able in the Modelling phase to entirely skip physical labour and also ensuring perfect results every time.

Benefits of 3D printing when buying Custom jewelry

Because a 3D model of the jewelry is necessary for the production, you also get the possibility to visualise your jewelry before you buy. This allows for you to be more involved in the process of the jewelry taking shape. By getting to see the jewelry you can also be sure of what it is you will get before you decide to proceed.

Additionally 3D printing allows you to make shapes that are either extremely complex or impossible to create by hand. You can finally get exactly what your dreams desire.

What benefits are coming

The next step is skipping the entire wax modelling step. 3D printers that print directly in Gold, Silver and Platinum recently became available. They make it possible to print directly in the precious metal instead of first creating a wax model. Not only would this save billions of litres of water yearly but 3D printing directly in the precious metal results in a harder end product. This means the prongs holding your diamond are less likely to break. However these printers are still in early stages and more open-source initiatives are needed to make the technology competitive. If you’d like to hear more about Direct-to-metal printing please write on our chat or contact us

---

Make your dream jewelry come true today