Revolutionizing High Jewelry: Boucheron's 3D Printed Rings are Indistinguishable from Real Ones

As the application of high technology in people's daily life extends to more and more fields, jewelry, a commodity that once seemed to have nothing to do with high technology, has gradually been involved in the wave and began to inject high-tech factors.

But don't worry, compared to the smartwatch, which some have called a "fashion disaster", jewelry with a tie to high technology seems to be trying to be more fashionable.

In the jewelry industry, the most common way to be associated with high technology is 3D printing jewelry. As the world's largest 3D printing supplier, Shapeways launched its jewelry brand Spring & Wonder in April this year, specializing in providing customized 3D printed jewelry. Customers can choose different materials such as silver, 14k gold, copper, etc. according to their preferences. Create a personalized and one-of-a-kind 3D bracelet, necklace or ring by matching your own patterns such as letters, geometric figures, and celestial bodies.

3D printed jewelry accessories Image credit: Spring & Wonder

This kind of 3D printed jewelry is the most affordable type of cross-border cooperation between jewelry and technology. Generally speaking, the price is around tens of dollars. For example, the price of Spring & Wonder's 3D printed jewelry ranges from 45 to 60 dollars. .

A second, more direct way to make jewelry high-tech is to embed high-tech devices on the jewelry, making it "smart jewelry", with functions similar to smart watches or smart bracelets, such as step counting, detection physical health, etc.

At present, brands such as Motiv and Bellabeat specialize in making smart jewelry. They have launched products such as smart rings and smart necklaces. Users can download a special APP to link with the brand jewelry, detect and record the user's heart rate, running mileage, and sleep. time etc. Because its main function is to monitor physical conditions, the design of this type of smart jewelry is more simple and concise.

Another combination of jewelry and high technology is to make jewelry return to its core role, that is, beauty and decoration. With the help of high technology, the production process of jewelry is more refined and jewelry is more special. Recently, the high-end jewelry brand Boucheron launched this kind of jewelry that has become more special and fashionable through high-tech means.

Boucheron's most recent 160th anniversary series of jewelry features a special petal ring. The petals on this ring are derived from real flowers scanned by state-of-the-art 3D scanning equipment at the medical laboratory level. Each ring corresponds to A unique flower in nature. The delicate petals are made of sapphire, garnet or spinel and are studded with titanium stamens and inlaid with diamonds.

Boucheron's petal ring Photo credit: Boucheron "It's the most high-tech jewelry we've ever made," Boucheron creative director Claire Choisne told the South China Morning Post, "before it's actually finished. , we're not sure it's going to be successful."

Boucheron's high-tech attempt finally succeeded, and such a delicate ring made by high-tech technology sells for about 2.6 million yuan each.

Jewelry design and carving master Chen Shiying is also an artist who advocates the integration of high technology and jewelry. The jewelry he designs enjoys a high reputation internationally for its unique innovative design and revolutionary technology. In March this year, he also once Lectures on high-tech and jewelry art at Sciences Po.

"Take 3D printing as an example. In the process of jewelry making, we can use 3D printing technology to first make a model that simulates the finished product. This model does not have to be worn like the finished product, but they allow us to use it as a reference to improve the design." Chen Shiying said in an exclusive interview with "Women's Wear Daily" in March this year, "In this way, the final jewelry product will be as close as possible to the perfect design we imagined."

This year, the 11th Portland Jewelry Symposium will be held in Portland, Oregon, USA from September 30th to October 1st. The theme of the seminar is "Craft meets Technology: Staying Real in a Digital World". How jewelry makers strike a balance between art and technology will be discussed.

“This is a topic we keep hearing people discuss,” Teresa Frye, founder of the Portland Jewelry Symposium, said in an announcement from the symposium. atmosphere, but now it’s time to think about how to incorporate high tech into the industry.”

“Nevertheless, I hope jewelers don’t let technology completely rule the design and making of jewelry, but instead see technology as a powerful tool that enables them to better design jewelry,” Teresa said.