Could Black Be the New Gold? Design-Driven Challenges in New Sustainable Luxury Materials for Jewelry

Is there a new material for use in jewelry, matching gold and precious stones, capable of maintaining the same perception of “preciousness” but that is also more sustainable, ethical, and inexpensive? This article deals with a case study within the European EcoDesign Network research project, aimed at investigating how sustainable design can help prestigious companies pinpoint new materials for the creation of jewelry, focusing on new and environmentally friendly opportunities while preserving their market position and target audience. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were performed. Adopting the exploring design path, a jewelry background analysis pointed out both stereotypes and possible innovations in the jewelry field: an analysis was carried out on the perception of jewels by a panel guided by a cognitive ergonomics specialist, also using the eye-tracking machine to examine participants’ reactions to the jewelry involved in the study, and to establish paradigms of sustainability, preciousness, and innovation. Several meta-project proposals regarding innovations in materials and finishing were hypothesized and tested, following the main guidelines and principles of ecodesign. Lastly, a prototyping phase and some mechanical tests were implemented to verify the hypotheses of innovation. The results allowed the creation of a first set of sustainable jewelry, currently on the market

The Effects of Chemical Composition on Soft Magnetic Materials Behaviour

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an experimental study of aluminum alloy matrix composite reinforced sic made by hot pressing method

Abstract The present work investigates the possibility of using powder metallurgy processing for producing a metal matrix composite. Materials were prepared from AlSi5Cu2 chips with reinforcement of 10, 15, 20 wt. % silicon carbide. Aluminum alloy chips were milled with SiC powder in a high-energy ball mill by 40 hours. Mechanical alloying process lead to obtain an uniform distribution of hard SiC particles in the metallic matrix and refine the grain size. The consolidation of composite powders was performed by vacuum hot pressing at 450°C, under pressure of 600 MPa by 10 min. The results shows that the addition of SiC particles has a substantial influence on the microstructure and mechanical properties of composite powder as well as consolidated material. Hot pressing is an effective consolidation method which leads to obtain dense AlSi5Cu2/SiC composite with homogeneous structure and advanced mechanical properties

"I Have Your Back" — How Innovative and Advanced Materials Cover Design in Complex Model Manufacturing

Aesthetics and design have become critical factors for the jewelry industry, especially considering that product value no longer concerns just precious metal content but is more and more related to fashion trends, innovative design concepts, and new artistic expressions. In the last decade the jewelry industry has therefore shown an increasing interest in innovation, both in terms of design and production capabilities. Digital modeling is becoming essential, allowing designers to fully express themselves. This powerful technique is completely exploited only when coupled to innovative production processes and materials. Designers then have to analyze and further deepen their knowledge of new processes in order to shape their ideas, using technical and constructive parameters completely different from traditional handicraft criteria. Their intensive use is leading to better application of new technologies, taking full advantage of all possible potentials. The aim of this work is to analyze a real-case scenario and to show an example of the "idea to product" path, mainly taking into account technology options and their feasibility and effectiveness. The direct casting of RP models and the use of soluble resin core techniques are considered and compared during the designing of hollow jewelry part