From Stone to Soap: 3D Printed Jewelry

November 28, 2014 by Michelle Matisons 3D Design 3D Printing

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It’s interesting to see what excites different people when it comes to 3D printed items. Some people are excited by printed food, some by printed toys and useful household gadgets, while others follow the whole trajectory of innovative medical and scientific equipment being produced. Me? I am a sucker for the fine arts and fashion possibilities. And since jewelry is wearable art, Lily Su’s Kickstarter campaign, seeking to raise $5,000, in order to realize her 3D printed travel soap jewelry vision has me intrigued. Yes, I am going on a trip, and yes, I am planning to pack my jewelry along with my soap. I know! Why don’t I just bring my travel soap jewelry instead! Why didn’t I think of that?

Are you scratching your head yet? So was I, initially. But when I watched her video explaining how she got started (making Fetus Soap!), and how she views travel soap’s function as more than something to wrap and put away, she caught my attention. But her bold designs are what really intrigued me.

“Be Proud of your Soap”– this is Lily Su’s motto for her traveling soap jewelry campaign. She explains her artistic vision best in her own words:

“Soaps when traveling are usually rationed in cheap wrapping or tiny insignificant containers. Why not celebrate soap and enjoy its scent all day by wearing it proudly like gems!… Some of the soap jewelry will contain interchangeable cartridges, others will have optional fluid dispensers, still others may be a non-changeable statement piece.”

Are you starting to get it now? While I completely understand that soap is a very nice substance, as it smells good and represents cleanliness, what really intrigues me is the use of soap to replace stone in jewelry design. My favorite scent is lavender, and I use it as an essential oil each morning. What I now realize is that I can enjoy that lovely, stimulating scent wafting around me longer if I have a lavender scented soap necklace hanging from my neck. How cool is that?

Lily Su no doubt seems to have the ability to pull this idea off. Her Fetus Soap (available on her Etsy Shop site) has sold very well, and she also has a surreal foot soap, and some classic nude sculptured soaps for sale there as well. She already seems to have a handle on business and marketing.

Lily Su’s vision is just another example of how 3D printing opens up so many design possibilities, introducing combinations we have never seen. This combination is one I would have never thought of, but Lily Su is trying to make it happen! You can watch her Kickstarter campaign video here below and help her out by backing her campaign here. Let’s hear your thoughts on Lily’s idea in the 3D Printed Soap Jewelry forum thread on 3DPB.com.