• What is CAD/CAM?
• What opportunities this new technology can offer to jewellery factories?
• How can CAD/CAM be utilized to the best?

To sum up, let us try to show when it is profitable to use CAD/CAM and when it is not through some examples:

Cases where CAD/CAM utilization is profitable:
When a pair of earrings is to be manufactured, after making the model of the first one, Figure 14, the bigger problem is to make the model of the second one of the pair as a mirror image copy of the first, Figure 15. This operation is very complicated and time consuming when carried out by hand, even more than the production of the base model. By means of the computer it is quite simple and fast, Figure 16.

The time required for the production of a mirror copy depends only on the power of the computer in which the program has been installed.

The more power, the faster it is. The same reasoning is applicable to the resizing of a ring or of a clasp or a pendant.

We know very well that, when we put a new set of jewellery on the market, we cannot offer a single model, but we should offer several variants, even if only in the different standard size variants, that is small, medium and large. To satisfy this simple requirement, the model maker would have to make the same model three times, each in the different dimensions. When a computer is used, it is sufficient to scale up or down the relevant CAD model parameters to obtain all the required size variants offered by CAD/CAM designing, Figure 17.

Fretwork is another example of the advantages offered by CAD/CAM designing. The bangle discussed earlier, Figure 7, is a good example: If a model maker is required to cut by hand a set of little hearts or flowers on a bracelet, he needs several hours’ work, and eventually the work may not be accurate enough. If the same operation is carried out with a computer, the time required is much shorter and the final result is accurate to a hundredth of a millimeter. The same holds for joints or hinges for watchcases and wrist-watch bracelets.

Cases when CAD/CAM utilization Is not profitable:
A fairly common error made by companies that use CAD/CAM is trying to make their models completely with this system for all cases. In practice, it may be preferable to produce some extremely technical and complicated pieces that are difficult to make by hand, by means of a milling machine or other suitable machine. Other pieces can be committed to the skill of the goldsmith. Therefore, CAD/CAM should not be considered as a substitute for traditional techniques, but as a complementary technique that helps the goldsmith to carry out some operations more rapidly and more accurately.