Designing diamond jewelry & cost control....

[perry]

Princess likes the sparkle from the melee diamonds on her ring so much (except when she is driving) that I figured I would design her some stunning earrings.

I have run into two issues so far: Sketching different options just is not giving me a good idea; and its also really obvious that my "initial" concept would cost 4-5 times what I had envisioned for a nice set of custom "sparkly" earrings due to the cost of high quality and modestly sized melee (and my initial concept cost was not cheap).

I also found that I could not adequately describe the design possibilities to the jeweler I had contacted. Too unusual.

What do all of you do in that situation? While I have gone down a path that should work - I am open to other approaches (and guys never think of everything...). does anyone know of a simple modeling program for jewelry?

What I did decide to do is to actually model the design with children's modeling clay and use low grade CZ's of different sizes (I found I could purchase very small melee size low grade CZs in lots of 50 and 100 cheaply, and ordered 7 different sizes). Then when I have something that works from both a design - and likely cost standpoint; I can take pictures and send them on. This is probably the best use of CZ's there is - modeling jewelry.

Any other comments?

Perry

 

[JewelFreak]

Can you find photos of something sort of generally similar, Perry, and tell the jeweler how you want it modified? I've done that, & the back & forth with sketches or CADs eventually comes up in budget & what I want. The jeweler's input on cost during the process is one of the really helpful parts. Good luck!

--- Laurie

 

[perry]

Laura:

Thanks; but no. I have not found anything similar in concept on a variety of other sites. I believe due to the cost of the item. It seems that there is an upper limit on earring cost for most people - and truly stunning designs with lots of real bling do not seem to exist.

Sorry for the late reply; Princess and I spent the weekend in the Chicago area; event Saturday night, then Museum of Science and Industry on Sunday (which had a huge impact on Princess); and then legal appointment on Monday AM in downtown. We got home late today.

Have a great day,

Perry

 

[chrono]

If no such design is even close to being similar, I cannot think of anything else other than sketching in 3D from various angles. To me, that is easier than making a clay model. If there are elements that you like but have difficulty drawing, there must be pictures of it in parts of a ring/earring/jewellery piece that you can reference, hopefully?

 

[perry]

If no such design is even close to being similar, I cannot think of anything else other than sketching in 3D from various angles. To me, that is easier than making a clay model. If there are elements that you like but have difficulty drawing, there must be pictures of it in parts of a ring/earring/jewellery piece that you can reference, hopefully?

I believe that you miss one of the key aspects that sketching by itself does not provide. This is not just about coming up with a nice design - I already have several possibilities. But in sizing the collection of diamonds - and progression of sizes - such that I can control the cost of the earrings (these are not just single or a few diamond earrings).

Unless I had an accurate CAD program - I cannot think of a better one than using appropriately sized CZs in clay - and know real size and have a fairly reasonable estimate on cost.

Have a great day,

Perry

 

[chrono]

Perry,
AutoCad can do 3D to scale. Do you have such a software at your disposal?

 

[perry]

Perry,
AutoCad can do 3D to scale. Do you have such a software at your disposal?

No I do not - which is why I asked if anyone had (or knew of) a good jewelry modeling program.

But, I do note that it should in fact be fairly fast to model in clay with CZs as the stones.

Have a great day,

Perry

 

[TooPatient]

Perry,
AutoCad can do 3D to scale. Do you have such a software at your disposal?

No I do not - which is why I asked if anyone had (or knew of) a good jewelry modeling program.

But, I do note that it should in fact be fairly fast to model in clay with CZs as the stones.

Have a great day,

Perry

I love AutoCAD and have also used SolidWorks. AutoCAD offers a free trial that you could use to do this.

I've never tried with jewelry (but that would be a fun project!) but you can set super small tolerances, assign materials, and render in different ways. It is pretty easy to figure out, especially with internet help options.


Your project sounds fascinating! I love the super sparkly look it sounds like you're going for. A graduated size melee would be gorgeous! I really like your idea of modeling it in clay to get a feel for how it would look in reality. It is easy with 3D programs to work zoomed in/out and not really get a feel for the size. You can probably get it pretty close to what you want with the clay and then send pictures to your jeweler for him to enter into a program.


ETA: Here is a link to the free trial page -- Trial

 

[JewelFreak]

Wish I had more ideas, Perry. Your idea sounds incredibly interesting. Having no talent for modeling anything, I can't imagine coming up with something useful, but you must be more blessed in that direction. If you do it, please post photos -- would love to see them. Good luck!

--- Laurie

 

[perry]

Wish I had more ideas, Perry. Your idea sounds incredibly interesting. Having no talent for modeling anything, I can't imagine coming up with something useful, but you must be more blessed in that direction. If you do it, please post photos -- would love to see them. Good luck!

--- Laurie

I have lots of past experience with children's modeling clay - mainly from playing with it as a kid. But I have found it useful for other things since.

As far as posting pictures of my design ideas. Hmmmmm..... I had thought of that. But, perhaps it'd be better if it were a surprise. Maybe I'll post some pictures of the designs I rejected for the project....

Perry

 

[Karl_K]

model it in casting wax it will hold up better than clay and take more detail.
If you do good enough job a jeweler may even be able to modify your wax directly for the cast.
If you really want to save money find someone to cast your wax in silver and set it with cz and call it a day.
But remember the wax has to be bigger than the expected size if you go that route.