In the good old days of 3D printing hype, a new designer or artist was working with additive as a medium every week. People would try to get us to write about opening a plastic bag. Now you have to work a bit harder to get noticed by the likes of us. Designer Maeve Gillies of MaeVona has caught our eye with the new Tùsaire collection. The collection was created with the help of Platinum Guild International (PGI), a promotional organization that hopes to convince us all to embrace platinum jewelry.
MaeVona makes jewelry with a Celtic twist, and this collection of 30 works is no exception. The collection includes earrings, colliers, rings, and more—some pieces even feature Scottish stones. Tùsaire means “pioneer” in Scottish Gaelic, and Gillies is doing tùsaireach work with platinum and additive. Some of the jewelry items are finished, while others are left unfinished to show how they emerge from the machine.
“This exciting new technology, and my amazing technical collaborators, have allowed me to start to bring to life my dreams of where platinum can take us- To see the collection realized in full precious metal with my Celtic-inspired style, is a magical experience,” Gillies said.
“We really wanted to put 3D printing of platinum to the test, to identify advantages and challenges, in hope to expediate the technology’s application in jewelry to create novel designs and experience,” said Tai Wong, global director of innovation at PGI. There is no doubt additive manufacturing will be very important for the future of jewelry, as it unlocks many new possibilities,” stated Tai Wong, global director of innovation at PGI.
Less interest in mined diamonds and greater acceptance of lab-grown diamonds sent diamond prices 75% lower at the end of January. Worse still, such a crash could dismantle the De Beers monopoly and challenge the notion that abundant diamonds are a store of value. This could shift the value of jewels toward their designers’ names or cutting-edge design, for example. Alternatively, it could mean designers will begin overusing previously prohibitively expensive natural diamonds or turn more freely to lab-grown ones.
Gold, meanwhile, is up 10% since the beginning of the year and 34% over the past 12 months. As increased economic uncertainty often fuels gold rallies, its price is likely to rise further. In contrast, platinum prices tend to fall when economic growth slows and industrial demand drops. Currently, an ounce of platinum costs about a third of an ounce of gold, and that disparity may widen if growth weakens and uncertainty persists.
Kudos to whoever is handling market data over at PGI, as this seems like the perfect moment to rekindle interest in platinum jewelry.
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