Polychemy is launching its new online jewelry customisation platform, which allows users to personalize a variety of 3D printable rings and pendants. Rings can be customized with multiple color stones, precious metals and even have names or phrases integrated into the design.
The Singapore based 3D printable jewelry boutique was founded in 2012 by a group of 3D designers, artists and programmers with the intention of creating a simple and easy way to create custom jewelry. Their website already allowed for quite a bit of customisation of their products, however there was no way for a potential buyer to predict how the final product would appear. But with their new platform, users can pre-visualise their jewelry in real time 3D using WebGL, so there is no guesswork involved when placing an order.
Polychemy jewelry pieces are created using a lost wax casting process and can be cast in rhodium plated sterling silver, 18k solid gold (white, yellow or rose), platinum or palladium. Additionally users can further personalize their jewelry by adding in a variety of precious and semi-precious stones. The available stone options include diamonds, black diamonds, rubies, blue or yellow sapphires, emeralds, aquamarine, peridot, amethyst and fire opals.
The process is extremely simple, just select a style of ring or pendant, customize the name or text, select a material and enter your ring size. Once you have visualized your final ring design a 3D model is generated and sent to have the wax model 3D printed where it will be cast in the selected metal material. Then Polychemy’s jewelers will set the selected stones and polish the final ring until it has a shiny finish. The entire process from order to delivery takes roughly about two weeks.
While 3D printing is quite a healthy business, it is still a cottage industry in many ways. But there are areas where that is starting to change dramatically. Rapid prototyping services have become almost irreplaceable for commercial and industrial design companies, while 3D printed dental and medical implants are heading towards commonplace. But the real boom waiting to happen is the production of jewelry in precious metals.
Many websites and companies have already found success selling 3D printed jewelry, but advancements like the Polychemy platform are removing a lot of the guesswork and risk from the process. And it should be mentioned that because it uses 3D printing to create the custom rings it is going to be dramatically cheaper as well.
