3D printed Mobius ring in rose gold.
Architect and designer Jenny Wu will today launch three new materials in the LACE 3D printed jewellery collection. The range, which was unveiled last year, will now be available to customers in grey steel, stainless steel and rose gold.
Inspired by line-based geometry and organic movement, the LACE collection was produced in collaboration with Stratasys using the Fortus 400mc 3D Production System and FDM. As the designer plans to roll out these new materials, the original nylon Mobius rings will be replaced by a range of much more durable materials capable of the same high resolution.
Describing the new steel collection, the Jenny Wu blog states; “The new steel collection is especially exciting for us since it is the first time our collection will be 3D printed directly using steel powder through a binder based 3D printing technology. This technology was previously used in industrial applications but is now available for high-resolution 3D printing applications such as jewellery.
3D printed Orbis earrings in grey steel.
“Unlike other 3D printing technology, binder jet technology does not require a heat source like laser during the printing process. Instead, liquid binding agent is selectively deposited to join steel powder particles to form the object. The object then goes through an infiltration process inside a furnace to harden the final piece.”
The rose gold collection takes advantage of both 3D printing technology and the metal plating process to achieve a high quality precious metal finish at an affordable price. To do this, the model is initially printed using a high-resolution wax 3D printer. From this, a mould is produced and undergoes a casting process in brass. Then a two-step plating process is applied firstly with a layer of palladium for strength and then in 0.5 microns of 14K Rose Gold.
The collection includes complex and delicate pieces such as the Papilio ring which reflects the movement of a butterfly wing and was created alongside Solidscape. The new materials are also available for the Gemino earrings and Orbis earrings.
Papilio ring is grey steel.
The LACE collection is now available in these new materials from the Jenny Wu store.
