My Role: Design, Fabrication
This set of jewelry tools wasn’t only meant to fix and repair fine jewelry but also to be jewelry itself. Inspired by both the angular, geometric forms of military aircraft as well as the organic bodies of sea creatures, this hand polished aluminum product family of pliers, a magnifying glass and a screwdriver were designed with pure beauty and function in mind.
Screwdriver, Magnifying Glass and Pliers. The working end of the tools are designed around their individual functions while the handles all share a common DNA.
Sketches nearing their final form
Early Sketches
Concept sketches featuring organic and angular geometrics forms.
Early concept models focused on each of the two inspiration sources: angular, geometric military aircraft and organic sea creatures. Each tool went through multiple iterations, eventually combining the two most successful forms. This photo highlights a version of an organic screwdriver form study.
Sketches were then translated into models and models were refined on paper. This photo features the refinement of the screwdriver's form.
Prior to the final prototypes being crafted in solid aluminum, the final forms are worked out in Basswood.
Roughing out the shapes from solid blocks of aircraft-grade aluminum.
As the rough shapes are milled out on machines, hand filing ensues and design & engineering give way to craftsmanship.
CAD models were transposed onto all three axes to guide the rough-out process
Hand filing the shapes took immense precision.
Hundreds of hours were used to carefully craft the tools. The handles of each being identical.
Painstaking effort and refinements were made to achieve the final result.
A flawless mirror finish with aluminum is only achievable using solid billet aluminum which has been highly compressed during production.
While these prototype tools could be made on a CNC, we gave these pieces the meticulous craftsmanship that fine jewelry itself deserved.
Sunflower array.
