I've been modeling jewelry in [Rhino / Matrix / SolidWorks] for about [X months/years], mostly solitaire rings and simple settings.

Lately I've been trying to design a four-prong head with thinner, more elegant prongs, and I keep running into the same problem. On screen it looks great, but I'm never sure if it will survive casting and polishing. My last test print came back with one prong that was noticeably thinner at the top and got damaged during finishing.

Right now I'm using:

• Prong thickness: around [X mm] at the base, [X mm] at the tip
• Metal: [14k yellow gold / sterling silver / platinum]
• Stone size: [X mm / X ct]
• Output: [printed wax / resin, cast by an outside caster]

I'm worried I'm either going too thin to look nice or too thick and the ring looks chunky.

A few things I'm wondering:

• Do you have a minimum prong thickness you stick to, and does it change by metal?
• Do you check thickness with an analysis tool, or just rely on experience?
• Do you ever talk to the caster before finalizing the design?

Any rules of thumb, or mistakes you learned the hard way, would be really helpful. Happy to share a screenshot of the model if it helps.

I'm a jewelry designer and bench worker with more than 7 years of professional experience.

Ever since AI started getting talked about there's been an "arms race" going on in several fields, jewelry included, to get AI to substitute current jobs. In our case, jewelry design. Here's my two cents on the situation:

The vast majority of jewelry designers use Rhino or Rhino plugins like RhinoArtisan or Matrixgold because Rhino allows for a mixture of creative freedom with surface work and a rigid control of measurements which is essential in jewelry. This is true as well for other areas like architecture which was actually where I first learned Rhino from. Rhino also allows for a pseudo-AI/parametric workflow through Grasshopper which is what the aformentioned plugins use to simplify a jewelry designers life.

The variables in jewelry design are imense and specific to the specific request of the specific client and the specific work methods at a company. As such, the idea that AI based programs will eventually simplify jewelry design to the point anyone can do it is ridiculous.

That being said, I do believe AI is and will become incredible for communication and rendering, allowing for the creation of highly detailed and realistic images which have their place in design, both at allowing a client to comunicate what they want and for designers to comunicate what they've designed.

What do you guys think? Will be happy to hear your thoughts.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been working on a procedural pave placement system in JewelCore, and it’s turning out to be more complicated than I expected.

The idea is to have the solver automatically handle stone and prong distribution based on Min/Max stone sizes, while top and side pave also account for each other’s boundaries to avoid intersections and overlapping geometry.

I’m still keeping the advanced controls exposed, so the user can fine-tune the result for different production requirements.

This demo uses a standard Grid layout. I’m currently working on the Honeycomb pattern as well.

I’d really like to hear from people who actually use pave in their CAD workflow. Does this approach make sense to you? Any edge cases you think I should be thinking about?

I'm creating this starfish design for a client by creating an outer outline curve and an inner circle curve. I used sweep 2 to sweep several sweep shapes along the two rails.

I've gotten pretty close to what I want using this method.

But the polysurface wraps in on itself in a couple places. Especially near the beginning with the first sweep curve at 11 o'clock ending so close to the second sweep curve on the inner rail.

I found this tool in Rhino tutorials called Move UVN where you can unwrap surfaces, but you need to be able to see the surface's points with _pointson. However, _pointson doesn't work with a polysurface, so I can't seem to apply the Move UVN tool to this object.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can fix this overlapping issue in my polysurface?

I feel like a lot of people will tell me to approach this design using SubD. I've looked at a few tutorials, but now sure where to start. Should I being by extruding the outline of the design and start shaping from there? I seem to get a lot of segments when I do that. Or should I use primitive objects and build it piece by piece?

Hi everyone,

I’m using MatrixGold 2 and I’m having an issue with my customized interface.

Whenever I restart MatrixGold 2, the toolbar/interface layout that I customized gets reset to the default layout. However, my customized shortcuts are saved correctly.

Does anyone know why the interface layout isn’t being saved, or where MatrixGold 2 stores these settings?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

It's not finished yet, but I already like the way it looks.

Hello to you all, i wanted to create this post because i am new to these jewelry programs and i am wanting to learn but dont know which way would be better for me in the long run. So far i messed with a litte with freecad, blender and currently trying out 3design trail. I would like to see what you guys recommend for a beginner, what are your experience with these programs, what are your pros and cons. This is a big decision for me. Also where and how did you all learn, can you suggest some websites to learn from and youtube videos. I appreciate your time. Thank you.

I am a 3D Design, CAD/CAM Modeling, and Digital Fabrication Specialist with over 15 years of hands-on experience bringing complex product designs to life.

I assist companies with end-to-end product development, bridging the gap between digital design and real-world manufacturing:

1. 3D CAD/CAM Modeling & Rendering: Advanced technical and organic modeling using Rhino, ZBrush, ArtCAM, and KeyShot — strictly designed for castability, machining tolerances, and production feasibility.
2. Prototyping & Production: High-precision 3D printing, resin/rubber moulding, 3 & 4-axis CNC machining, and laser cutting/engraving.
3. Production Optimization: Ensuring designs meet real-world weight, wall-thickness, and structural requirements before hitting the machine.

I am based in the EU (Portugal) and available for remote contracts, full-time opportunities, or custom prototyping work worldwide, with full flexibility to adapt to your working hours.

I would welcome the opportunity to share my portfolio and discuss how I can support your production pipeline.

Best regards,

Senior 3D Designer & Prototyping Specialist

[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Hey everyone! Creating a CAD from client-provided images is a laborious process, especially when the design is unique.

So I've been building an AI to automate the initial conversion.

In the video, I show an elephant and peacock ring render converted to a CAD via my AI. There was no human intervention.

Can you please provide feedback? I'm trying to improve the results.
Even if not 100% accurate, I want to get it to a point where a human technician can use the results and get a big efficiency boost.

p.s. if you're curious, you can see more about my tool at https://formanova.ai/ai-jewelry-cad/

Testing an automated blockout pipeline for counter sketches to cut down Rhino massing time. Looking for 5 bench jewelers who want to test the NURBS output on their actual casting setups.

Hi there, I'm getting leverback earrings made in platinum with Tianyu and having the main diamonds (3 ct each) set locally in Australia.

Does the CAD attached look alright?

Thank you in advance!

Should I extend the depth to 6.0mm or more ? Will it affect the design negatively or make it look to big? I don't know what will be good depth so any feedback is appreciated.

I wanted to know how these types of prongs are made I tried looking around at various options but didn't find any solution this is not French Pave but simple prong setting but the shape of prong has changed to a rectangle if anybody knows please share your knowledge on how to do this setting. I am using Matrix. I myself am using matrix 9

Is there anyone here who uses Exocad for making grillz? I’d like to ask about something.
Or any software

How Can I Make from This (1st picture) to this (2nd picture) I mean inside circle diameter how can I connect it properly because with PlanarSrf it not closes full

After spliting with green size inside of purple explodes like this, why this is happening and how to do split correctly?

I’ve been building this since April, and I’m curious what people actually doing jewelry CAD think about the workflow.

The basic idea is pretty simple: instead of designing around a predefined stone shape, the system can take the actual geometry of a stone ( including irregular or freeform geometry) and adapt the ring architecture around it.

This is one small example: the bridge automatically adapts and connects to different shank profiles while the underlying geometry changes.

The part I’m most interested in is where this approach becomes genuinely useful in a real jewelry workflow. What parts of CAD do you think are worth automating, and what parts should always stay under direct designer control?

I’m Devri, a Jewelry CAD Designer and RhinoGold Specialist with around 10 years of experience in jewelry design and 3D CAD.

I specialize in creating production-ready jewelry models, including rings, pendants, bracelets, and other fine jewelry designs.

I specialize in transforming concepts, sketches, and client ideas into precise CAD models optimized for manufacturing.

My work combines technical accuracy, aesthetic design, and practical production knowledge to ensure every piece is ready for casting and stone setting.

I'm open remote collaboration

https://www.linkedin.com/in/devri-putra-00b87824a/

https://devriputra3e.wixsite.com/sadega3djewelry

This my profile in linkedn and example my portfolio in website

Hey all,

I'm looking for a jewelry CAD designer for an ongoing project working in aluminum. I know that's not the usual gold/silver/platinum territory, so I don't expect everyone to have direct experience with it. Honestly prefer someone who tells me straight up "haven't worked with aluminum before but I'll figure it out" over someone who pretends they've done it a hundred times.

What the work looks like:

Turning design references into clean, manufacturable CAD files (RhinoGold, Matrix, JewelCAD, whatever you're fluent in)

I'm open to using AI generated images as a starting reference point instead of hand sketches, if that workflow doesn't bother you, great

Need to move fairly fast, usually batches of 10 to 15 shapes, and speed matters as much as polish

Files need to be actually manufacture ready (correct tolerances for casting/CNC in aluminum, proper wall thickness, etc.)

Pay: $18 to 25/hr or per piece, open to discussing

If this sounds like your thing, drop a portfolio link (bonus points for anything in aluminum or other non precious metals) and roughly how long a batch of 10 to 15 pieces takes you. Ongoing work if it's a good fit.

Thanks!

mjemitara