Additive Manufacturing Moves Into Precious Metals

EOS and Cookson Precious Metals sign a strategic development partnership to introduce highly innovative additive manufacturing technology to the precious metals, jewelry and watch industries and change the economics of making jewelry or watches.

EOS Electro Optical Systems GmbH (Krailling, Germany/Birmingham, UK), a technology and market leader for design-driven, integrated e-manufacturing solutions for additive manufacturing (AM) applications, and Cookson Precious Metals (CPM; Birmingham, UK), a worldwide-established supplier for the precious metal industry, signed a strategic development partnership in which both companies will introduce and further develop precious metal-based applications to the jewelry and watch industry.

The product and services offering will range from the production of precious metal parts to consulting for a direct metal laser-sintering-driven design process, the development and production of special precious metal alloys, and the installation of a bespoke solution chain for high-volume jewelry production. To start with, CPM offers AM capacities enabling production of designs made of 18 carat yellow gold (3N color).

An AM process allows the fast and flexible production of high-end parts at a repeatable industry level of quality. This disruptive technology paves the way for a paradigm shift in product design and manufacturing. Direct metal laser sintering fuses metal powder into a solid part by melting it locally using a focused laser beam. Parts are built layer by layer, allowing for high complexity parts and mould inserts to be created directly from CAD data with excellent accuracy, resolution, and mechanical properties of the finished parts.

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This process accelerates product development, offers freedom of design, optimizes part structures – also enabling lattice structures – and functional integration and, as such, creates significant competitive advantages for its customers. As a leading supplier of fabricated precious metals – primarily gold, silver and platinum – Cookson Precious Metals has a reputation for high-quality products and services, as well as for developing a close working relationship with customers.

CPM is able to supply fair-trade gold, and their own Ecogold guarantees to customers that the gold has come from a recycled source. This utilizes aboveground stocks of recycled gold instead of new metal from the mines. Moreover, CPM is the UK’s largest one-stop shop for the jewelry maker with over 12,000 products, including a substantial stock of silver, gold, palladium and platinum bullion cut to customer requirements (sheet, wire, tube, solder, grain, settings) as well as wide ranges of findings, loose and finished chain, gemstones, ring blanks, jewelry making tools, silver clay and beading materials.