The Making: LACE Carbon Fiber Collection

November 05, 2021By Yu Shih

The Carbon Fiber Collection- Discover the world's lightest jewelry

LACE by Jenny Wu is collaborating with Impossible Objects to unveil Carbon, a new 3D printed carbon fiber jewelry collection. Impossible Objects, a 3D printing and materials company, is pioneering advancements in composite-based additive manufacturing technology (CBAM). Unlike traditional applications of carbon fiber, this innovative process enables the material to be printed into complex, three-dimensional designs. The collection is produced by combining carbon fiber fabrics with PEEK, a high-performance thermoplastic matrix material. The LACE Carbon Collection will be the first jewelry collection that has ever been produced with this new technology. This new composite material is lightweight, strong and biocompatible—perfectly suited for wearable pieces

“I’ve always wanted to design a collection using alternative high performance materials like carbon fiber,” founder, Jenny Wu, explains. “Previously, carbon fiber was only suitable in applications with simple, flat surfaces. But now we are able to produce unique geometries that have never been produced before.”

- Jenny Wu, founder of LACE

Step 1: 3D Printing Carbon Fiber Fabrics with PEEK

Carbon Fiber / PEEK is composed of long-fiber materials and thermoplastic matrix materials to achieve high performance composite parts. It is much stronger, lighter, and tougher than traditional carbon fiber material and can withstand high temperatures applications. On the right, the printer is printing a layer of PEEK onto the carbon fiber fabric and all of the layers are being collected into one pile at the end of the process.

On the left, it is an animation representing all the 396 layers of fabric sheets to be printed in sequence to complete the geometry of our carbon fiber pieces.

Step 2: Layers of Carbon Fiber are Compressed and Fused

On the left, the earrings and rings are made from 209 sheets of carbon fiber. Once the layers of carbon fiber have been printed with PEEK, the sheets of fabric are then compiled, compressed, and fused in a furnace. With this new composite-based additive material, layers of carbon fiber are completely fused to give each jewelry piece exceptional strength and wear resistance and yet biocompatible.

Step 3: Polishing the Pieces with Media Blasting

After merging the layers into a single solid piece, it is transferred into a media blasting chamber that removes the uncoated fibers and reveals its final finished form. On the right, it is an example of the Allegro bracelet showing half-polished surface on the left side and the pre-polished raw surface on the right side.

Empowered by the CBAM technology with carbon fiber fabric, we are thrilled to produce our intricate three-dimensional designs with this innovated composite material. This is the first jewelry collection using this technology in the world!

"I’m so excited about the possibilities that CBAM offers, it enables me to produce beautifully detailed pieces like my Aura earrings. It’s so lightweight that you won’t even notice you have earrings on!."

- Jenny Wu, founder of LACE

Collection Feature

The LACE Carbon Collection includes four of the most popular pieces from LACE: the Allegro cuff, Aura earrings, and the Amos and Amor Rings. These designs were chosen to highlight the capability of CBAM technology to produce sharply defined pieces with sinuous curves in intricate detail.

“I’m so excited about the possibilities that CBAM offers, it enables me to produce beautifully detailed pieces like my Aura earrings. It’s so lightweight that you won’t even notice you have earrings on!” Jenny continues. “Normally, I would be concerned about its durability, but the infusion of carbon fiber in these pieces have made them exponentially stronger.”