ELSIES rings are made of three different types of material: 22 carat yellow gold plated stainless steel, premium plastic or 925 sterling silver.
Gold plated stainless steel
To build our steel ELSIES rings, special 3D printers deposit small drops of glue onto layers of stainless steel powder. One layer at a time, until the print is complete. The models are carefully removed from the printer. They are now very fragile, similar to wet sand. The models then go through an infusion process that replaces the glue with bronze, creating a full metal product. The metal is then covered with a 22 carat gold plating.
Many people ask if the gold plating will fade over time. And although the plating won’t be affected by sweat or water, it will wear off at the edges due to scratches and bumps. This will enhance the rough and robust look and feel of ELSIES rings and is part of the design.
925 Sterling silver
The 925 sterling silver models are fabricated using lost wax casting. First, the ELSIES ring is printed in wax using a specialized high-resolution 3D printer. It is then put in a container where liquid plaster is poured around it. Once the plaster sets, the wax is melted out in a furnace, and the remaining plaster becomes the mold. Molten silver is poured into this mold and set to harden. Finally, the plaster is broken away, revealing the ELSIES ring.
Premium plastic
To 3D print the plastic ELSIES rings, the process starts with a bed of Nylon powder and then the powder gets selectively sintered with a laser. This is repeated layer by layer, solidifying the powder as it goes. Because of this layer by layer process, some products may see a staircase effect. The process is called Selective Laser Sintering.