For a brand that prides itself on creating exquisite hand-crafted jewellery, things are about to get very, very technical for Isharya. Get in line, because co-founders Gauri and Radhika Tandon will be unveiling the first-ever 3D printed jewellery crafted in India at a private showcase tomorrow.
“I’ve always been really fascinated by 3D printing — I watch programmes about it on TV and discuss it with my son,” says Gauri, admitting that she’s been actively working on the Infinite Petals collection for about a year now. “We had to do a lot of research, because there are very few factories that execute 3D printing in India and even fewer who know how to get it right. We needed to find that one designer who would be able to understand what we needed, and deliver it perfectly.”
The 3D printing process takes an Isharya sketch, and prints it in nylon. The nylon prototype is then cast in brass and finally gold-plated. “The benefit of this process is that you can achieve shapes and sizes that are not always possible with hand-crafted work. And you can print out as many as you want, as quickly as you want,” Gauri adds.
While the cost of 3D printing jewellery is currently higher than having it handmade by Indian artisans, Isharya has kept the prices at par with their other collections “to give it a fair chance in the market. We want to see how the audience reacts, and then we’ll consider investing more effort into this technology.”
First look: Isharya’s 3D printed jewellery
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