Additive Fab Meets Jewelry

It was 4 p.m., and I was slated to speak at Singularity University at 7 p.m. about additive fabrication and what it offers to the “new marketplace.” Since SU is a small, new university, it had no class ring. Suddenly, all became clear: the lecture would feature a real-time, real-world demo. By 5 p.m., a decent ring model was generated in several ring sizes in CAD. And during the lecture, the rings were uploaded to my Shapeways marketplace site (shapeways.com/detail?model=132566&mode=3d), and orders were placed via iPhone as I finished speaking.

The lecture demonstrated what is truly revolutionary about a “fabricate-on-demand” marketplace. I had no upfront costs, no fabrication costs, and no inventory, so creating a ring was not a risky proposition for me, the designer. Even better, I managed to extract some beer money out of the process, though I had put nothing more than an hour into it. I faced no cost for my exploration, no headaches of setting up a business, no need for business sense. I saw all upside, yet with no downside risk. That’s the new market in a nutshell. But the wonders of this new way of thinking don’t apply to all products just yet.

While preparing the demo project, I poured over the Shapeways site and found that jewelry represents a sizable percent of its business. Same goes for Ponoko (ponoko.com; I’m including laser cutters in this, though they’re actually anything but additive, in truth, so bear with me). And much of the work is beautifully crafted, showing a sense of form and proportion that one might only expect from professional designers. So just what is it with jewelry? Perhaps the reason for the flood of DIY jewelers has something to do with the nature of rapid technologies.

    • Jewelry is small. This is obvious, but it has everything to do with the proliferation of home-brew jewelers. Since you pay by the run-time, the total enclosed space and the material volume, small size is everything. And jewelry generally meets that requirement rather well. A stainless-steel ring on Shapeways? Around $10. Gold plate it? $13.
    • Jewelry communicates well. Only one compelling image is needed to convey everything about the product. No words, no in-use shots, no description needed. What you see is really what you get.
    • The tools are sufficiently mature. RTAM (rapid technology and additive manufacturing) parts were once miserably stair-stepped. And metal parts created this way were unrecognizable. But things have changed, owing in part to new machines which offer high precision metal fabrication with minimal grain or stepping. With a bit more effort, professional results can be reached with wax deposition models, perfect for lost-wax casting. And, as of this year, glass has been introduced as an AM material. I attended a lecture recently where an artist pointed out that the best part of RM glass is that it has absolutely no value except for the arts.
    • Jewelry is adventurous. Art, in any of its embodiments, thrives in newness. When we eliminate the downside risk that traditionally accompanies upfront investment, the artist is liberated to explore with abandon. Since no real understanding of undercuts, nominal wall thicknesses, material flow, etc., awaits to curtail the designer’s ambitions, what remains is a tool capable of creating a seemingly infinite variety of forms. And, unlike RTAM’s other main users in aerospace, architecture and medicine, this is a totally unregulated market. Kiss that barrier-to-entry good-bye.
    • Jewelry can be complex. Creating forms with geometric complexity and precision traditionally meant for the designer a lifetime of art school, training, apprenticeship, and plenty of trial-and-error. But in the RTAM world, complexity holds no associated cost increase. A glance over Shapeways’ site shows how the enthusiasts have embraced this revelation. Mastering complex forms on a garden variety, open-source, 3D modeling software no longer represents any great investment of time or money. And the more serious user can pick up Rhino Jeweler and reach a level of even greater professionalism almost immediately. Furthermore, this process invites interlocking parts, like the ball-and-socket spheres designed by byAMT (byamt.com/#/ABOUT/) or the chainmail-inspired “fabric” created by Freedom of Creation (foc.com).
    • Jewelry is personal. One-size-fits-all applies when designing C-clamps. But jewelry is rooted in a very personal aesthetic, and begs for that individual touch. In truth, jewelry often appeals because of its rareness, and is likewise devalued as production volumes rise. This creates the perfect formula for additive technologies, which actually favor production volumes closer to one. If you want to make one ring scaled to each finger or family member? Easy, since no additional costs come with individual instantiations. Just fork over $10 per ring and wait two weeks. Just don’t try this in any traditional method.
    • Who needs metals? SLS, SLA and other AM materials also offer qualities to the new jewelry designer. This remains the ideal process for many students who prefer large, not-completely-expensive fabrication volumes to explore their visions. I ran across a gallery exhibit of SLS and SLA generated jewelry in Philadelphia last year, and discovered the work of Joshua DeMonte (coroflot.com/public/individual_details.asp?individual_id=276125&), who creates adventurous forms that challenge the traditional notion of jewelry. Molly McGrath (mollymdesigns.com), a solo jewelry designer armed with a laser cutter, left her architecture job and now creates a wide variety of intricately patterned products from her studio in San Francisco. Her work is now carried throughout the city in traditional stores, and business is only growing. NERVOUS SYSTEM (n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com) creates adventurous designs that interpret natural forms and concepts into beautiful and accessible objects. These can be found at Etsy and Shapeways, just keeping to the theme of the modern way of doing business.

Beyond Today
Here is a quick list of evolutions in this field that I’m looking forward to.
    • Jewelry meets 3D Scanning. Scanning technology is still nuanced and therefore remains one step beyond the reach of your typical Shapeways user. This is destined to change as 3D continues its drive into every last facet of our lives. And just imagine rethinking the traditional portrait locket, only one that is now driven by a 3D scan of the loved one (polyvore.com/etsy_antique_cameo_
portrait_locket/thing?id=4944775). And then think of where the traditional Mardi Gras mask could go. Taking this one step further, DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine) data, in the hands of an inventive designer, could be used to drive particularly inventive, uniquely personal jewelry. There could be something particularly enticing about paying tribute the beauty of the internal body with an artifact showcased on the outside.
    • Silver and gold. Sometime. But not for a long while. With the costs that would be required to fill the bed of a DMLS machine, we may have to wait.
    • Democratizing design. A generation of computer-
literate art students is hitting a world where art/design students (I was one, so I can say this with authority) cannot get jobs yet refuse to work a tradi-
tional 9-to-5. Innovation soon follows hunger. This
lies behind the overall democratization of design. I look forward to watching what takes shape.