More and more businesses are starting to discover Sketchfab as a flexible delivery platform for their 3D needs. Today we talk to Samuel Sternweiler from JEWELv – an online jewelry customization platform to discover how the Sketchfab viewer helps them build their business.
This is an article in our API Spotlight series, highlighting projects that customize our viewer through our API.
What is JEWELv?
JEWELv is an online fine jewelry customization platform that allows customers to personalize and create their own unique jewelry all in real-time 3D. Our mission is to change the way that people buy jewelry.
My idea for online customizable jewelry sparked at 17 years old when I started crafting my own fine jewelry. Customers were constantly asking for different gemstones in already created jewelry and therefore I realized that it would be a better business model to allow the customers to create their own combinations, giving them the ability to customize and be creative.
There are currently 10 people on the @JEWELvTeam (our Twitter handle). I’m the founder of the company, but quickly realized I needed more people to help scale the operation. We’ve added 8 of those 10 people to the team in 2016.
How does your jewelry production work?
Our jewelry production process is quite unique as we don’t hold any physical inventory. This gives us an advantage in being able to offer more variety without incurring any of the costs associated with keeping inventory. When someone orders a piece of jewelry from our site, our manufacturer will 3D print the design in wax, then cast the design in precious metal, set the gemstones the customer selects, polish the piece up, and then sends it to us to send to the customer. All of our jewelry is proudly made in the United States of America!
What will an online configurator bring to your business?
The online configurator won’t just bring something to our business, it IS our business. We’ve really revolved the entire jewelry customization process around the technology. Many of our competitors offer 2D customization using product stills, but we wanted to differentiate ourselves and we believe offering the first all 3D fine jewelry catalog was the way to do it.
Based upon my industry experience and fine jewelry purchasers and wearers that I’ve come in contact with, we know that there’s a demand for this kind of customization. Jewelry is meant to be special, personal, and to tell a story, so jewelry that you can create yourself allows for the expression of all these qualities.
https://sketchfab.com/models/535fef6b4cba4eacb690a5e5fdf0ebf6
How did you use and customize the Sketchfab viewer for this project?
We were able to outfit the sketchfab viewer with all sorts of customizations. We were able to add a background image, lighting effects, and create all of our metal and gemstone colors easily using Sketchfab’s platform.
Who developed the custom code for you? Was it a difficult project?
There were many hands involved in the design and development of the website and the configurator, but the most prominent developer was Klaas Nienhuis who has been a giant part of this getting off the ground. Klaas signed on with us in September 2015 and was able to work with us quite well even with the 6 hour time difference.
It was certainly a difficult project for everyone involved as none of us had really created anything quite like this before. The front end designs took quite awhile to get the right feel and the back-end connections were certainly challenging in their own regard. But in the end, my team and I are very happy with the results and excited to hear what our customers have to say.
How is Sketchfab important for your business?
At the beginning of this project it was a big burden to find the right 3D program that had an easy user interface (as I am not a developer by trade), fast load speeds, elaborate functionality, and fine-tuned graphics. We were relieved once we found Sketchfab met all the criteria we were searching for. The 3D configurator we were able to build on their platform was integral to our company!
Our launch date is Friday June 24th. Anyone who signs up for a free account at jewelv.com on or before June 25th, will receive 10% off for LIFE!
About the author
Bart Veldhuizen
Community Lead at Sketchfab. 3D Scanning enthusiast and Blenderhead.
