Solidscape Announces Winners of 2017 Baselworld 3D Printed Jewelry and Fine Art Competition

Solidscape, a Stratasys subsidiary, is one of the top manufacturers of high-precision 3D wax printers for the jewelry industry. Its 3D printers are used for a number of direct manufacturing applications, including casting fine jewelry, medical and orthopedics, turbine blades, and electronics, and feature high standards in accuracy, surface finish, and material castability. Its customers can make complex wax patterns for metal and silicon molds or metal investment casting. Each year, Solidscape gives jewelry designers the chance to earn some international recognition for their creativity by competing in the Baselworld Design Competition, and this year is no different.

Baselworld is the “focal point” of the jewelry and watch industry, and each year, top designers and industry leaders have the opportunity to present their work to the world at the event in Switzerland. Baselworld 2017 just wrapped up, and Solidscape is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s Baselworld Design Competition. Solidscape received a record number of contestants, and the seven winning designs were chosen from a total of 43 contestants hailing from such countries as India, Canada, Thailand, the US, Ireland, and Ukraine. The vast majority of jewelry designs are rings, but there were some other pieces of jewelry entered in the competition, like cufflinks, a brooch, pendants, and hair clips.

Fabio Esposito, Solidscape President, said, “Solidscape is proud to showcase the most creative and innovative jewelry designs that embrace cutting edge 3D printing technology. This year’s winning designers have created complex geometries and organic shapes that are impossible to produce through traditional hand carving techniques. These designers are thrilled because Solidscape’s precision 3D printing technology allows them to unleash their imagination and push the boundaries of creative design.”

All design entries were judged on a number of criteria, including:

• best design (artistry and style)
• successful wax modeling printed by a Solidscape 3D printer
• best use of technology (CAD/Solidscape 3D printing)

The judges chose two winners for each jewelry category of this year’s competition, because of the overwhelming number of contestants.

Platinum Award – Jewelry

Ukrainian CAD designer Anna Popovych of IE Popovych and her “Drop of Freedom” ring won the Platinum Award for Jewelry, which is based on technical criteria and design aesthetic. Popovych isn’t stopping with this ring, but is actually designing an entire collection around her beautiful jewelry, inspired by nature.

The “Elementum 17” ring, by US designer and CAD specialist Daniel Coffey, celebrates how beautiful shapes can be, and tied for this year’s Platinum Award for Jewelry. The judges said that Coffey’s difficult design “with its delicate, interwoven lines is an excellent example of the design freedom possible with Solidscape high precision printers.”

Gold Award – Jewelry

This beautiful “Rainforest” ring by Stuart McGrath is probably my favorite. McGrath works at Ireland-based Armoura Designs, and while he designed multiple entries for this competition, he won the Gold Award for Jewelry with this ring, which features water- and forest-colored gemstones, and a few exotic creatures at the top. His collection features a recurring nature theme.

The ring that Ananya Chuechanglek of Thailand designed was inspired by the cone shape and pattern of a Chalom, which is a hand-woven bamboo basket used often in her home country. Her tradition-based and modern-looking ring took the second Gold Award for Jewelry.

Silver Award – Jewelry

India’s Meenakshi Rawa, whose work has taken home awards in this competition before, works at CADonDemand, a subsidiary of Mumbai-based CAD/CAM company Intriguity. Her delicate “Leaf Hair Pin” took the Silver Award for Jewelry, with the judges noting that not only was she able to “realistically capture the detail of the leaf’s netted veins, but she added a subtle twisting curve to the leaf’s blade, adding to its overall beauty.”

The 3D, double-sided “Resting Butterflies” pendant takes the second Silver Award for Jewelry, and was designed by K. Abeney, from Canada-based CADLoft. If you look closely, you can see that on one side of the pendant, a dozen butterflies, which are woven together, are resting; flip it over, and you can see “a beautiful pattern created by the wings of the butterflies.”

The Fine Art category was added in 2015, and the non-jewelry designs actually represent free form expressions of jewelry, but which are still executed in a way that’s similar to jewelry-making. Designers in this category still need to master Solidscape’s 3D printers, and CAD mechanics, to create castable pieces.

Platinum Award – Fine Art

The winner of the Platinum Award in Fine Art was Prachaya Viriyasuthee of Jewel Impress by Triratana Jewelry in Thailand. The beautiful design, an incense burner, mimics a lotus blossom, which is a common symbol of purity. The design’s tapering edges were “recreated perfectly by the Solidscape high precision 3D printer.”

You can see the other design entries from this year’s Baselworld Design Competition on the Solidscape website. Discuss in the Baselworld forum at 3DPB.com.