The Jewellers Journal - From Artificial Intelligence to Real Jewellery – AI Has Entered the Workshop!
Unless you've been living under a rock for the past couple of years, you'll have heard plenty about Artificial Intelligence, or AI as we all know it.
Apparently, it's going to take everyone's jobs, change the world, and before long we'll probably have robots making our morning coffee and telling us what to wear.
But here in the workshop at The Jewellers Guild, AI has brought about something I find genuinely exciting. And perhaps a little amusing at times!
Our customers are becoming jewellery designers themselves.
And I absolutely love it.
"I've Designed This Myself!"
Over the past year or so, we've noticed a growing number of customers coming into our Morpeth and Whitley Bay shops with something a little different.
Instead of a photograph of a ring they've spotted online, or a few pictures they've saved from Pinterest, they're arriving with their very own jewellery designs, created using AI.
And they're understandably rather proud of them!
They've spent an evening chatting away to ChatGPT, explaining the ring they've always imagined, experimenting with different gemstones, changing the gold from yellow to white, adding a few diamonds here and there, and suddenly they've got something that looks like it belongs in the window of a Bond Street jeweller.
All without leaving the sofa!
It's brilliant, really.
For years, one of the biggest challenges with bespoke jewellery has been helping customers explain exactly what they're imagining.
We'll often hear things like:
"I want something quite chunky, but really delicate."
"Something modern, but traditional."
"Quite simple, but with lots of detail."
And my personal favourite, "I'll know what I want when I see it!"
Believe me, after 27 years in the jewellery trade, I've heard just about every possible combination!
But AI is starting to change all that. It's giving customers a way to bring their imagination to life before they've even stepped into our workshop.
And for me, that's a fantastic starting point.
There's Just One Small Problem...
AI doesn't always understand how jewellery actually works.
Now, this is where things can get rather interesting!
AI can create some absolutely stunning jewellery images. Beautiful diamonds, intricate settings, impossibly delicate designs. The sort of pieces that make even me look twice.
Unfortunately, every now and again, it'll design something that would require a minor miracle to actually manufacture.
Diamonds floating in mid-air.
Enormous gemstones balanced on impossibly thin bands.
Settings with no visible means of holding the stones in place.
Occasionally, I look at a design and think, "That's absolutely beautiful. I've just got absolutely no idea what's holding it together!"
You see, AI is very good at understanding what looks beautiful. But it doesn't necessarily understand the practicalities of making something that needs to be worn, enjoyed and hopefully passed down through generations.
Gold needs sufficient thickness and strength. Gemstones need to be securely set. Claws and settings need to do their jobs, even if we'd sometimes prefer them to be invisible.
And unfortunately, gravity still applies in the workshop, regardless of what ChatGPT might suggest!
That's Where We Come In
The lovely thing about all this is that you don't need to understand any of those technical details. That's our job.
If you've created a ring using AI, and you've fallen in love with it, bring it in and show us.
Don't worry if the design looks complicated, unusual or even a little impossible.
We'll sit down with you, look at what you've created and explore how we might turn it into a real piece of jewellery.
Sometimes the design will be perfectly achievable with very little adjustment.
Other times we might need to slightly alter the proportions, strengthen a setting or rethink how a particular gemstone is held in place.
But we'll always try to preserve the character of your original idea.
After all, the whole point of bespoke jewellery is to create something that's personal to you, not simply something that's easiest for us to make.
From AI to CAD – And Finally to the Workshop
Those of you who've followed my previous workshop blogs will know how much our design and manufacturing processes have changed over recent years.
A huge part of my working week is now spent using CAD (Computer-Aided Design), which allows me to create highly detailed, three-dimensional models of the jewellery we make.
And this is where things get really exciting.
We can take the inspiration from your AI image and begin building a proper, technically considered jewellery design.
Unlike an AI-generated picture, our CAD models are created with the actual manufacturing process in mind.
We can work out the dimensions of the settings, accommodate the gemstones, calculate the metal required and produce realistic images showing how the finished jewellery should look.
We can even show you different angles, change the metal colour and experiment with gemstones before committing to making anything.
Once you're happy with the design, we can move into the manufacturing process, where all those years of traditional goldsmithing knowledge come back into play.
Because however clever the computer might be, somebody still needs to turn that design into a beautiful, wearable piece of jewellery.
And as much as I enjoy working on the computer, I still haven't found a button that will set 30 tiny diamonds for me while I pop off for a cup of tea!
So, Is AI Going to Replace Jewellery Designers?
Personally, I don't think so.
I think it's going to make bespoke jewellery more exciting and more accessible to people who might never have considered designing something themselves.
And that's something we should embrace.
I love the idea of a customer sitting at home, imagining their perfect engagement ring, redesigning a treasured family heirloom or dreaming up a pendant that means something special to them.
With AI, they can experiment as much as they like, without having to worry about whether they can draw or know the first thing about jewellery design.
Then they can bring that idea to us, and together we can explore making it a reality.
Of course, AI isn't essential. A photograph, a pencil sketch or even a few slightly questionable doodles on the back of an envelope are still very welcome!
The important thing is the idea behind the piece.
Your Imagination, Our Craftsmanship
One of the things I've always loved most about being a goldsmith is that no two bespoke commissions are ever quite the same.
Every customer brings a different idea, a different story or a different reason for wanting something made.
AI is simply giving people another way to express those ideas.
So if you've been experimenting with AI jewellery designs at home, please don't be shy about showing them to us.
Whether it's a completely new piece, an engagement ring you've always dreamed of, or a modern redesign of jewellery you've inherited, we'd love to see what you've come up with.
And if your design happens to feature a three-carat diamond floating above a ring with absolutely nothing holding it in place, don't worry.
We'll work on that bit!
After all, AI might help you dream it, but it's our job to help you wear it.
See you in the workshop!
Mark
Designer Goldsmith & Director
The Jewellers Guild
