Honorable mention

Designer: Jak Figler

Judges quote:

"A well thought out, complete and attractive design, one that would be tricky and even intimidating to finish cleanly in NURBS surfaces but ideal for TS. Good renderings."

Cardinal Ring

Before starting my own jewelry design firm I had spent several years developing protective eye-wear for the United States Military. We used Rhino 3D along with T-Splines to explore shapes, concepts, and mechanisms with ease. One of the highlights of this software is that it gives the user the ability model in a totally organic process and hone those items down to the tightest of manufacturing tolerances.

Just over a year ago I left that job to pursue a career in jewelry design. I've been using Gemvision Matrix along with the T-Splines plugin to design custom jewelry for clients. This software has allowed me to explore several ideas for a client without investing too much time on a single concept. I usually tell people it's a virtual combination of sketching and modeling clay.

The piece that I have submitted was one of the concepts that I had shown a client for an engagement ring. His “soon to be” fiance loves Cardinals. Not the baseball team, the bird. We worked some concepts involving feathers and rubies to portray the soft form and rich deep red color of the bird. Each and ever piece of the setting less the stone seats were designed using T-Splines.

I started with a base feather shape and then copied the object several times and put them in place. I then bent and molded the feathers to fit along the profile of the ring. I then built the band around the feathers. Although he did not choose this design I have spent a little extra time tweaking it to make a nice portfolio piece.

Thanks for developing this software, it really has opened many doors creatively and professionally for me.

Jak Figler
www.JakFigler.com