Jewelry is a thousand-year old art, a craft, an Industry

As with many other markets these days, a company's success can be evaluated according to its reactivity, reliability and capacity to adapt to market changes. In response to the changes affecting the watch-making and jewelry industries, Vision numeric developed an original software solution dedicated to the creation and manufacturing of graphic objects. Its name: Type3.

The capabilities offered by Type3 and its 3D CAD module TypeArt greatly expand the realm of possibilities on both the creation and machining levels. In the jewelry market, our customers have their own objectives and their own unique ways of working with our solutions. The following testimonials are excerpts from interviews with a few of them. Together they form a collection of solid examples of how we have established out technology in the jewelry industry.

From the cutting of letters to the creation of dies

Orphelia is a French company specializing on the manufacturing of signet rings. Founded in 1991 by Mr. Giraud, today Ophelia is one of the three leading companies in this market with annual revenues of 16 million French Francs.
The signet ring is a classic product characterized by the combination of 2 simple (standard) or intertwined (Renaissance style monograms) initials.
Prior to purchasing a Type3 license Version 3.3 (2D) in September 1997, the creation of letterings was done by hand by one full-time person. The increase in sales volume completely changed this situation, making it impossible for a single person to handle all the work, and making the investment in a software able to control the lettering production essential. (There are 676 Possible combinations of alphabet letters).
" Implementing a new tool doesn't happen overnight", says Mr. Giraud, and if the software fulfills its objective today for the lettering, we are discovering new possibilities for other applications everyday. To say that the software is a bit complex in the beginning means that it has huge potential."
For now, Orphelia is planning to create custom-made tools for stamping. This is one of the new developments the use of Type3 can deliver in the short term.
" For our company, this software represents our growth potential, but we do not know today what we will do with it tomorrow", concludes Mr. Giraud.

A totally innovative production organization

ALTESSE is a French company specializing in fashion jewelry. In 1992, ALTESSE equipped its workshops with Type3 version 1.6 (2D). At that time this initial investment made it possible to significantly modify the industrial process for the production of engravings such as identity plates, cutting of names (usually subcontracted).
In 1994, ALTESSE was using Type3 to rough out prototypes and patterns, and finishing was still done by hand. In 1997, with the acquisition of the 3D volumetric version of Type3, "TypeArt", ALTESSE accessed a new technology and therefore a totally innovative production organization.
" In a year's time, ALTESSE has clearly progressed in the creation of electrodes and tooling", specifies Patrice Chareyron, an operator at ALTESSE. The creation of new models is now faster, more accurate, and the quality of the prototype remains perfectly faithful to the original project. From a simple drawing, Type3 models the shape in volume. It is then machined in wax, permitting the Marketing Department to give its approval to issue a metal prototype and launch the production.
Since Type3 has been installed at ALTESSE, the production capacity has significantly increased, positioning ALTESSE as one of the most reactive competitors to the changing trends in the fashion jewelry market.

Creating new models remains the sine qua non condition for success

The company Charles Perroud founded in 1880 is no longer the crafts company it was in the beginning... A specialist in the mass market, the Charles Perroud group now employs 500 people.
Its product range comprised of gold jewels retails between 150 and 1,000 French Francs. As the industry leader, the group has instituted an industrial process able to meet the demands of customers looking for new items inspired by the latest fashion trends at a reasonable price.
From this standpoint, more than 1,000 new products are developed each year in the group's workshops. This capacity to create is one of Charles Perroud's keys to success in a highly competitive market dominated by Asian companies.
Computers now play an important role in the industrialization process. Type3 software allows significant time-savings in productivity, especially in the creation stages. For Mr. Guy Plantier, President of the Group for 30 years, if industrialization cannot be ignored, then the creation of new models remains the sine qua non ingredient for success.
Charles Perroud was one of the pioneers in integrating Type3 software (1993) into the jewelry and watch-making sector.