For years custom designed jewelry has been created
using old world techniques dating as far back as the 1800's. Until
recently, almost all-custom designed jewelry was created using these
methods. The introduction of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer
Aided Manufacturing (CAM) has changed all that and in it's wake ushered
in a whole new universe of possibilities. Designs that were never
thought possible can be made to the highest quality standards.
How
is Custom Designed Jewelry Made? Before learning about the benefits of
3D-CAD you'll need to know more about the custom jewelry design
process. Most jewelry is made using a method called lost wax casting. A
skilled artisan/jeweler hand carves a jewelry prototype out of jewelers
wax using small scalpels and knives. This wax prototype also known as a
"model" is placed in a flask and plaster called "investment" is poured
all around the model. Once the investment hardens an exact impression
of the model is formed inside of the flask. The wax model is burned out
of the flask leaving a cavity of the jewelry design.
Next molten
metal is injected in the flask mold using vacuum or centrifugal
casting. When the metal cools and hardens the investment is broken away
revealing the un-finished jewelry casting. This casting is filed,
polished and prepped for assembly, which may include setting the
gemstones or welding other precious metal parts to the casting.
The
process of hand carving the wax prototype has always been the accepted
process for creating custom jewelry. The problem with this process is
that the human hand can't be as precise as a computer-aided machine
when carving the model. Precision equates to more design possibilities
and much higher quality jewelry production. In the end you'll have a
product that looks crisper and won't be prone to stone loss or breakage.
What
is Computer Aided Design? Computer Aided Design is a sophisticated
modeling process using advanced software to plot coordinates for
mechanical drawings. These drawings can be exported to various types of
prototyping machines called CNC mills or growing machines. CNC mills
cut-away material from a block of wax to make the jewelry model. The
growing machines layer material from side to side much like a printer
to build the model, samples of this process can be viewed at design your engagement ring
The precision of these models exceeds what any human could do while
hand carving the jewelry model. Design possibilities become limitless
because the 3D-CAD software enables the designer to create parts and
design elements that aren't possible using outmoded tools and methods.
Another
benefit of 3D-CAD jewelry design is the ability to see a computer
rendering before the final completion of the jewelry. In old methods
the jeweler would create crude counter sketches of your concept and the
rest would be left to your imagination. Now the designs that the
jeweler creates in 3D-CAD can be rendered to photo-realistic images for
you to view before making your final decisions.
Choosing a
Jeweler for Custom Jewelry Design Like any other occupation or trade
there are good jewelry craftsmen and there are bad ones. It is
important to pre-screen your jeweler to determine if he/she is skilled
at making custom designed jewelry. Ask to see their portfolio and
examine their designs to determine if the flair they have for jewelry
design matches your style requirements. Also, pay close attention to
their communication and interpretation skills because much can get lost
in the translation of your ideas if you're not careful. Once the
jewelry is made its too late to make changes and the typical jeweler
will not re-make it again without added fees.
At this point
higher qualified and better skilled custom jewelry designers have moved
to using 3D-CAD to create their designs. If you feel 2 jewelers are
equally matched in aptitude and skills then you should choose the one
that is using 3D-CAD design. You'll pay a little more to have your
jewelry created in 3D-CAD but the final results will be amazing. The
jewelry will look 1000% better than if it were hand carved and it will
last much longer because of the precision of the jewelry model.
Andy Moquin
President
Andrews Jewelers Inc.
Andy
Moquin has spent 20 years in the jewelry business buying and selling
over $20,000,000 in diamonds, engagement rings and custom designed
jewelry. He as traveled to Belgium and Israel to work with
international diamond dealers and works as an advisor for DBC Diamonds
an international consortium of diamond dealers. His experience in the
jewelry business has become invaluable to consumers and business
owners. He can be contacted at learn about diamonds or 716-630-7091
Subscribe to this comment's feed