Earrings with interlocking metal

silverflat

This is a pair of earrings in sterling silver that uses interlocking metal in the process.  3D printing was used to create the wax model for lost wax casting, and Shapeways can now cast metal with interlocking parts.  I love designing earrings with interlocking parts because of the movement that can be achieved in the pieces.   However, I’m learning that one of the limitations of the metal casting and especially the interlocking metal process is that “wire” sizes have minimum diameter restrictions.  This means that I cannot make them as thin as I’d like, which means the earrings cannot be spatially as large as I would like because earrings must not be heavy.  For myself, I find that an earring weighing over 5 grams is probably too heavy and would lead to sagging ear lobes, which is not a pretty sight.

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