Shapeways earrings: first look

I just got the first examples of Shapeways' metal casting, and I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with them.

These ones are in polished bronze, and if you look at the picture at full size, you'll also be able to see what their raw bronze material looks like — inside the filigree, where they couldn't polish. It's pretty nice, in both states, and has the additional advantage of being a fraction of the cost of gold.

You can get them gold-plated too, which would be a good option if you want something non-tarnishing. It's a bit more expensive, but not nearly as much as solid gold of course.

Here's the link to these earrings again, just in case you missed it the other hundred times I've broadcast it — http://shpws.me/LPFg

The filigree is a bit confusing, bright on bright; I wonder if it might not be an idea to fume-patinate them and then re-polish the outside, so that the shiny bits show up better against non-shiny bits.

Second Jewellery

Here's another pair of 3d-printed earrings. They're loosely (very loosely) based on forms found among microscopic diatoms, which are enormously varied.

In point of fact, they're actually 3d-printed in wax, then cast by the lost-wax process and polished. But that's splitting hairs; the base form is 3d-printed.

Shown here is Shapeways' material render of 14k rose gold; they're also available in other, cheaper materials: silver, brass, bronze, and various plated metals.

You can find them for sale at my Shapeways shop.

First Jewellery

As well as building little digital tanks and what-not, I've wanted to try my hand at some designs for 3d-printed jewellery.

This is the first fruit of that ambition: a pair of filigreed earrings. The design that makes up the body of the tube is my logo.

I've made them available in various materials — rose gold (as seen here in Shapeways' own material render), silver, brass and bronze, polished and unpolished.

I don't know as yet whether or not Shapeways' handling fees apply per piece or per pair when it comes to things like earrings, so for the moment they're sprued together to keep costs down. If it turns out I don't need to do that, I'll get rid of the sprue, because as well as being a waste of (possibly) precious material, it's also a hassle for the potential customer to have to remove it.