Jewelry Connoisseur

The use of 3D printing has revolutionized jewelry design, making impossibly complex shapes as simple as the push of a button (well, that and hours of going cross-eyed in front of a CAD program). This technology is moving forward again: Not only can jewelers print molds for casting, they can now print directly in gold, silver and platinum by using precious-metal powders that solidify and build up layer by layer. Fans have praised the productivity boost it enables, and heralded the end of waste and mess — though pieces still need to be finished by hand. Detractors, however, have declared it too expensive, with some choosing instead to add precious flourishes to 3D-printed nylon designs.

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