Reduce your costs with CAD and CAM

3D printing is for jewellers what digital photo was for photographers 10 years ago: not a gimmick but a big revolution in their way of working. It is important that they realise it as soon as possible and find ways to ride with the winds of change.

When talking about 3D printing in the jewellery business, it means producing wax or resin from a 3D designed model. Wax or resin is then casted to be turned into gold or any other metal. CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) becomes the first step of the whole manufacturing process.

Today, the main players are already using 3D design. It is a pity that it is not that much used by independant jewellers. Indeed, it could help them to face most of their challenges.

What are the current three major challenges of independent jewelers?

• First, independent jewelers have to reduce their cost per unit when deisgning and making jewelry. Their low purchasing power in relation to the sharp rise in the cost of raw materials (gold, diamonds...) strongly undermined their price competitiveness.
• Second, they need to give more appeal to their collections by creating frequent new models. Jewellery is now largely influenced by fashion and customers expect the collections to change from one year to another. They want to see new offers and not the same classic rings in the window shop every year. Thus jewellery collections need to be frequently renewed.
• Third, they must meet the growing expectations of customers in terms of tailor-made and exclusive jewellery. Customisation is all about making the client feel unique.

How 3D wax and resin printing could be the best solution?

• 3D design and 3D printing is a whole process that matches perfectly with the manufacturing of limited or unique edition. It is the key added value of independant jewellers. Bespoke jewellery is one of the service customers do expect from an indendant jeweller. 3D printing allows to create prototypes and customized jewellery on a tight schedule and at a competitive price.
• Thanks to 3D printing, it became easy and fast to renew jewellery collections. 3D printing, together with 3D photos, videos and animations, is a great opportunity to test and sell jewels even before manufacturing them. Production on demand brings tremendous time and cost savings.

Thanks to wax and resin 3D printing, independant jewellers can find an alternative to mass production from the big players. It is the perfect answer to standardized "Made in China" production. With 3D printing, jewellers can choose an other business model than mass production. Welcome to digital production and micro-industry.

Aquilaes wants to be the partner of jewellers in this new world by offering simple and competitive 3D services that will help jewellers to take the benefits from 3D printing.