They cost quite a pretty penny, but that's luxury for you

Feb 9, 2015 14:38 GMT  ·  By

There are a fair number of 3D printers now that can create objects from metals, even precious metals, but they are very expensive so you are not likely to ever come into the ownership of one.

Fortunately, there is an alternative: 3D printing services! Like Shapeways, which has just announced that they can craft objects from plated precious materials.

Gold-crafted jewelry and other objects were already available through the online service, but there is one key difference: the new ones are more affordable.

This is because there is only a thin coating of precious metal layered on the surface of the objects, instead of them being fully made from them.

Because of this, a square centimeter (cm3) costs less than twenty-five dollars instead of several good hundred.

The new precious plated metals

They are Precious Plated 18k and 14k Gold, 14k Rose Gold and Rhodium. All of them available for around $22 / €19.45, not including the $30 / €26.55 handling fee.

Compared to objects available in 18k gold ($800 / €707 per cm3) and those available in 14k gold ($600 / €530 per cm3), those two tags are effectively a pittance.

It kind of puts in perspective just how much less a jeweler's deft hands are valued compared to the material itself.

Here is how one of the plated precious metal objects is fabricated: first a cast of a virtual model is 3D printed out of wax. Then a plaster material is poured around the cast.

Once the wax is melted out, brass is poured in and allowed to cool. Once it is taken out, you have your object (bracelet, pendant, whatever else).

It is that brass object that is then coated in a thin layer of palladium (for durability) and, finally, a coating of the precious metal alloy just 0.5 microns in thickness.

How to order

If you are in the market for a 3D printed object made from these plated precious metals, all you need to do is drop by Shapeways and place an order. Follow the guidelines there in order to create a 3D model that can be properly crafted.

Precious plated metal prints (4 Images)

Ring in a box
Plated brass ringsFan cufflink
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