Infinity meets reality

Polyamide 12 for 3D printed fine jewelry

How Evonik materials support innovations in the colorful world of fine jewelry by BOLTENSTERN

Use case at a glance


Set in the heart of Vienna — a city renowned for its Baroque and other architectural gems — is a family‑owned jeweler that is becoming known for its own form of modern, architectural jewels.

Enter Marie Boltenstern, the current CEO and namesake of BOLTENSTERN GmbH, a jewelry company with a long reputation among connoisseurs for its range of exquisite designs, handmade by her father.

Today, however, BOLTENSTERN is also known for its intricate, geometrically shaped jewelry created through 3D printing. An architect by training, Marie’s passion for three-dimensional shapes and designs carried over into wearable creations when she took over the helm of the company.

“With code, it’s possible to create an infinite number of beautiful, elegant shapes,” says Marie, “but of course, in a computer everything can look OK. I needed to bring my complex, moveable structures to life.”

CHALLENGE: COMPLEX DESIGNS AND FINE MATERIALS

The most exquisite of BOLTENSTERN designs come in a variety stunning materials like yellow gold and rose gold, and feature diamonds and other gems. However, printing directly in gold during the developmental phase would have been very costly.

Fortunately for Marie, there was an ideal material for her to test her designs: Evonik’s polyamide 12 - THE multipurpose material for infinite 3D printing applications..

SOLUTION: PA12 POWDERS CUSTOMIZED FOR THE DEMANDS OF 3D PRINTING  

A high-performance thermoplastic, Evonik’s PA12 is specially designed to be used for additive manufacturing  processes such as selective laser sintering (SLS), high-speed sintering (HSS), and multi-jet fusion (MJF). These polyamide-12 based powders have excellent material properties sought after by demanding end-users, including excellent powder flow, high impact strength and high flexibility, and a great surface finish that can be easily dyed after printing.

Initially working with PA12 for her prototypes, Marie realized the potential of the meterials' various properties. It was the beginning of what was to become her FABNORA line of jewelry.

“Evonik’s PA12 is actually a great asset for jewelry — especially earrings — because the resulting product is super light. The material is also very strong, yet to the touch, it feels like fabric. It adapts wonderfully to the body like a second skin,” says Marie.

RESULT: VIBRANT, FINE JEWELRY WITH VIVID COLORS

The FABNORA jewelry line comes in a vivid array of options. “We offer FABNORA in a rainbow of 20 colors that are renewed every summer and winter,” says Marie.

The colors range from neutral to super bright tones, and are specially performed by DyeMansion, a German-based company specializing in bespoke hues, thanks to its Color Matching service.

Coffee & Cases by DyeMansion: Marie Boltenstern, CEO & Head of Design at BOLTENSTERN, gives an insight on the idea behind and the creation of her 3D-printed FABNORA collection. Robert Razavi, CEO & co-founder of FORMRISE tells us more about the demands placed on 3D-printing service providers, the challenges of the 3D-printed earring collection and the benefits of DyeMansion's print-to-product workflow.

Looking ahead, Marie is continuing to work on her latest designs and plans to expand into more markets across the European Union.

As for Evonik, the company is excited about the infinite possibilities of additive manufacturing and is focused heavily on developing more products for this innovative field as part of its long-term growth strategy.

All images are copyrighted by BOLTENSTERN GmbH
Video is copyrighted by DyeMansion GmbH