---
title: "XJet’s new economic logic for jewelry innovation"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/xjets-new-economic-logic-for-jewelry-innovation/
date: 2026-04-21
modified: 2026-04-21
lang: en
author: "Tess Boissonneault"
description: "For many years now, jewelry designers all over the globe have embraced additive manufacturing, as it has enabled them to both simplify and enhance jewelry design and prototyping processes. That..."
categories:
  - "Ceramics"
  - "Metal Additive Manufacturing"
  - "Sponsored"
tags:
  - "Featured"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XJet-ebook-April-2026-01-640x400.jpg
word_count: 1361
---

# XJet’s new economic logic for jewelry innovation

For many years now, jewelry designers all over the globe have embraced additive manufacturing, as it has enabled them to both simplify and enhance jewelry design and prototyping processes. That is, by 3D printing jewelry models using castable resin or wax, jewelry makers have not only arrived at final designs faster, they have also benefited from greater design freedom and customization. 

Still, this indirect production method involves many steps and can be limited in terms of possible geometries (such as prohibiting the integration of hollow features or lattices). That’s where direct metal additive manufacturing technologies, like [XJet](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/xjet/)’s [NanoParticle Jetting (NPJ)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/xjet-nanoparticle-jetting-technology/), have been gaining ground in the luxury consumer markets.

![XJet’s new economic logic for jewelry innovation](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XJet-ebook-April-2026-06-340x340.jpg)

[Thanks to NPJ’s ability to directly 3D print high-precision jewelry pieces](https://www.voxelmatters.com/beyond-the-print-xjets-approach-to-production-ready-metal-parts/) from non-precious and precious metals, the technology enables a shift from digital design to true digital, near-net-shape manufacturing, opening up a wealth of opportunities for jewelry and luxury accessory designers. Not only in terms of unprecedented design freedom, but also in terms of streamlining supply chains, maximizing material usage, and transforming the economic logic of jewelry production.

## Direct material jetting for jewelry

XJet’s NPJ technology occupies a unique position in the broader AM segment. The direct material jetting process—backed by over 80 patents and patent applications—boasts high-resolution and precision while doing away with powders as a raw material. Instead, the technology relies on nanoparticle ink cartridges, which are easier and safer to handle.

In the NPJ process, Nanoparticle inks, which can be filled with technical metals, precious metals, or ceramics, are selectively jetted from an array of inkjet nozzles onto a heated build platform. At the same time, a soluble support material is also jetted, filling the rest of the space. As these material droplets are deposited, the heated build tray causes the liquid matrix of the ink to evaporate, resulting in a bonded green part. 

When the printing is complete, the entire build tray is removed and placed in a cleaning vat where a water-based solvent dissolves the support material. From there, green parts undergo sintering, which transforms them into high-quality, fully dense components. As XJet emphasizes, the fact that it relies on highly filled nanoparticle inks means that the shrinkage in the sintering process is kept to a minimum and, crucially, the shrinkage is predictable and isotropic in nature. 

Post sintering, minimal finishing is required: a modest amount of polishing is all it takes to turn precious metal pieces into ready-to-wear treasures (plus stone setting if that is involved). For non-precious materials like steel, luxury coatings can be applied using physical vapor deposition (PVD).

## XJet strikes gold

For years the ability to 3D print precious metals was limited by material costs and processing challenges associated with the materials’ high reflectivity and thermal conductivity. With innovations like XJet’s NPJ approach, however, printing precious metals, such as gold/gold alloys and silver alloys is now a reality. 

The rare capability is made possible thanks to the [Carmel Pro, a multi-material NPJ printer with a four-channel printhead configuration](https://www.voxelmatters.com/xjet-unveils-carmel-pro-metal-and-ceramic-3d-printer/). The solution, which has been engineered for small-batch premium production, is the only system currently compatible with all of XJet’s materials, including precious metals. With a compact build environment and high precision jetting (accuracy of ± 50 micron and minimum feature size of 200 microns), the system is ideally suited for printing intricate components, such as rings, pendants, watchbands, customized eyewear accessories, and more.

[![XJet’s new economic logic for jewelry innovation](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XJet-ebook-April-2026-02-640x400.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XJet-ebook-April-2026-02.jpg)

[![XJet’s new economic logic for jewelry innovation](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XJet-ebook-April-2026-04-640x400.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XJet-ebook-April-2026-04.jpg)

[![XJet’s new economic logic for jewelry innovation](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XJet-ebook-April-2026-03-640x400.jpg)](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XJet-ebook-April-2026-03.jpg)

The system not only offers new design possibilities for precious metal pieces, it actually overhauls the entire economic logic of working with these valuable raw materials. As XJet emphasizes, other printing processes such as binder jetting and power-bed fusion require layers of powder material to be deposited, which necessarily incurs high material costs and a degree of material waste. With nanoparticle inks, however, only the necessary material is consumed, resulting in reduced inventory of costly materials like gold.  

The platform presents clean, powder-free, bottled material format in a closed system, combined with patented soluble support structures. It enables printing of precious metals parts in net shape, and more importantly, spares the need for precious metals materials on the support structures—a source of major material usage. All material consumption is digitally monitored with minimal hassle of labor and effort of material recycling, ultimately delivering upwards of 97% end-to-end material efficiency. This significantly outperforms LPBF with its 77% material utilization efficiency and casting process (75%), let alone CNC machining (33% material efficiency).

Material efficiency can be further maximized through the integration of design elements like hollow cavities or internal lattice structures. Ultimately, the ability to design more complex internal geometries means that manufacturers can fine tune product weight and minimize the amount of precious metal used for a given design without compromising on its function.

From a design perspective, the precision of the Carmel Pro makes possible complex details and textures, including articulated pieces like watchbands 3D printed in a single piece, intricate filigrees, and unique surface patterns. For custom pieces like rings, band size is also easy to tailor by simply adjusting the 3D model before printing—a feature of AM that is key to achieving mass customization. Also important to point out is that the Carmel Pro enables multi-material jetting with its four-channel printhead. Overall, this makes the Carmel Pro a more than viable solution for not only jewelry design and prototyping, but also premium production.

## Steeling the show

Precious metals are just one side of XJet’s offering for the jewelry and high-end fashion markets. [The company also promotes its steel 3D printing capability](https://www.voxelmatters.com/xjet-introduces-new-17-4ph-stainless-steel-solution/) for the creation of high-quality products like eyewear accessories, belt buckles, handbag ornaments, and more. This approach to production offers a more flexible and automated solution compared to conventional cast or machined brass parts. 

![XJet’s new economic logic for jewelry innovation](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/XJet-ebook-April-2026-05-340x340.jpg)

XJet highlights the Carmel 5000X, its flagship platform for serial production, for the fashion market. The system, which integrates a large build volume and enhanced eight-printhead configuration, is ideal for short-run premium production of stainless steel products. Notably, the ability to directly print high-quality steel products that require minimal post-processing (i.e. minor polishing, plating) dramatically streamlines the production process, minimizing lead times and labor requirements.

For the luxury fashion market in particular—ever-driven by changing trends—the ability to quickly roll out a new design without needing to source costly tooling is a huge advantage. Moreover, metal AM enables the production of limited quantities or even custom designs without incurring higher lead times or costs. 

Let’s take a closer look at the comparison between traditional brass products and those made from NPJ stainless steel. In the case of the former, the production workflow (casting, CNC machining or metal forming) entails a high quantity commitment and limited design freedom. A commonly employed post-processing technique, electroplating, comes with additional challenges like the use of toxic chemicals, water pollution, and a high level of manual labor. On top of that, materials like brass are prone to tarnishing, oxidation, and scratches.

Stainless steel, by contrast, offers greater durability and resistance to corrosion and oxidation. When used in combination with XJet’s NPJ technology, other benefits are also unlocked, like greater material efficiency, faster lead times, more design freedom, flexible volumes, toolless production, and parts with a polish-ready surface. Additional post-processing, like PVD, is also safer than electroplating, requiring no wet chemicals and generating no toxic waste. Overall, the entire workflow is far more automated than conventional approaches, requiring only minimal manual polishing.

In the end, jewelry manufacturers, as well as premium brands, boutique design houses, or newly-emerging online businesses looking to explore cutting-edge designs and benefit from greater agility, automation, and material efficiency should turn to XJet’s NPJ 3D printing technology. 

As XJet sums it up: “Leveraging advanced eco-efficient technology, we deliver premium collection jewelry and accessory parts on-demand with minimum order quantities as low as one unit. Our solution maintains exceptional quality and competitive lead times while enabling complex geometries with faster delivery times—reducing production from weeks to days. This opens the door to boundless new business and product opportunities, personalization and design innovation, and eventually, supply chain efficiency from file to part.”

***This article was originally published in VoxelMatters’ VM Focus Consumer AM eBook. Read or download the full eBook for free [at this link](https://www.voxelmatters.com/voxelmatters-consumer-am-focus-2026-ebook/).***