This is definitely one of my most elegant projects. For a long time, I wanted to get my feet wet with jewelry. Since my workspace at home is not suited for metal work, I knew that I had to use an external service for such a project. My father already had prototypes for his model trains made out of metal with an online service which worked great for him. This gave me the confidence to also give it a try. But since these unique metal pieces cost a bit more than your average 3D printed model, and I am not a big fan of wearing jewelry myself, I wanted something that my girlfriend would like to wear. So I explained my idea to her, which she liked, and one evening we sat together and brainstormed on what could be her next earrings. One of the first ideas was to use the 3D models of our favorite animals, which I had previously created and used in her valentines gift, and let them sit minimalistically in a fine, otherwise empty ring. This allowed for bigger earrings without lots of added weight and a good contrast of the model.
I then ordered them online at https://www.sculpteo.com/ in a process called wax casting. First, the models are printed in wax with the help of a special 3D printer, and these wax models are then casted in sterling silver. Their process is perfect for jewelry since it can replicate very fine details in a given 3D model and the silver cast comes out nearly perfect.
Only were the earrings minimally scratched when I received them, so I bought some microfiber cloths and jewelry polish from France and started polishing them up as much as possible. In the end, they looked so shiny that one person on Reddit even accused them of being fake 🙂
But of course, I could not give them to my girlfriend in a boring bag, so I had to design a cute box for the jewelry to come in. So as always, I opened Fusion 360 and modeled away. The design is quite basic and rather functional. The lid and the case are held together by small magnets that I inlaid in the 3D prints. To prevent the silver from getting scratches, I lined the inside of the box with microfibre cloth.
And one sunny day before giving the gift away, I took it with me on a walk and created a few nice pictures of the final state of the project.
As of the time of writing this blogpost, I don’t yet know if my girlfriend likes her present but I definitely hope so since this is the most time I have ever spent on a project that I intended to give away.
If you also have an idea for a custom piece of jewelry and are looking for help, please contact me using this email address.
