Take Two

Modifying Award-Winning CAD Designs for Optimal Manufacturing

By Tina Wojtkielo Snyder

What do you do when you realize your virtual inventory is virtually impossible to manufacture? With so many jewelry designers turning to CAD to realize their visions, such predicaments are becoming more and more common. Those thin edges, tight settings, and tiny details look great when magnified on a computer screen, but try to translate them to cast metal and the reality of physics kicks in: After the metal has shrunk and worn away under the polishing wheel, suddenly those sharp details have become flat and lifeless—and don’t think about trying to fit a stone in what’s left of the setting.