Unbreakable beauty - animal twist on 3D printed ceramic jewellery

The message of the project

Transform fragile concepts (such as severely endangered animals in Europe) into long-lasting (unbreakable) products.

The idea behind the project 

The vibrant animal family of Chiara Bello's Chic Pig jewellery meets the unique and inventive 3D printed indestructible ceramics of De Olde Kruyk. They share a sense of humour as well as the desire to create unique and long-lasting products.

The creative process will take two directions: aesthetic and technical. The aesthetics will emulate the metamorphosis of animals and wonderfully apply them to indestructible ceramics (which had previously only been utilised in automotive applications) to produce lovely products: the new ever lasting Gramma 2.0 jewellery.

The partnership Chiara contributes skills in industrial design (MA and Msc in Industrial Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College, respectively), as well as knowledge and experience in establishing the Chic Pig jewellery brand (she has already produced 4 collections of animal jewellery handcrafted using the enamel and brass technique). Alf from De Olde Kruyk has decades of experience in conventional ceramics, as well as the capacity and facilities to run 3D printed ceramics machines and an understanding of unbreakable ceramic material.

What next?

The goal is to raise awareness on the fragility of transforming nature by turning it into a  durable and strong concept : unbreakable. The plan is to experiment with 3D printed indestructible ceramic and turn it into something attractive and wearable by using this technology and new material for jewellery.