Lost-wax casting is the most high-performance method for jewelry. The jewels that are produced with this technique meet extremely high standards and are perfectly compliant with the original model to be replicated.
However, there is another sector that uses this system: fashion. Like jewelry, fashion accessories do not allow for errors or defects. They must have accurate and thorough shapes and perfect surfaces. Since they are made of precious metal, the production must guarantee the highest quality with no waste of material.
In this overview we will discuss the specific needs of the fashion industry and the reason why the lost-wax casting process is the most convenient technique to fulfill them.
More than a method: an art
Lost-wax casting is a real art, known since 4000 B.C. At its beginning, it was a sculptural technique: even the artists from ancient Egypt, from Mesopotamia, from the Benin Kingdom in Africa and from the Han dynasty in China would know how to create complex shapes in gold, bronze and copper.
The technique has been evolving over the centuries. In Greece, during the 6th century the artists first introduced the “core”, which allows the creation of hollow pieces. When we think of the use of the casting process for artistic purposes, we have to mention at least Cellini’s Perseus or the masterpieces by Vasari and Giambologna.
With the evolution of the productive processes, the introduction of industrial automation and the technological advancements in machinery - injectors above all - the lost-wax casting process has become more and more common among Italian and international companies for mass production.
The piece is replicated countless times, quickly and with the utmost precision. Nonetheless, this process guarantees results that have nothing to envy to sculpture itself.
The unique needs of the fashion industry
The production logics of the fashion accessories are globally quite similar to that of jewelry. Like the goldsmith products, accessories must have perfect shapes - although they are extremely complex and elaborate - and surfaces without imperfections even before undergoing the subsequent finishing operations.
Jewel buttons, cufflinks, hair clips, belt buckles or precious details, with the brand’s logo too, on bags and shoes: all the accessories of the most prestigious brands require maximum precision. Regardless of their sizes, defects are not allowed in the fashion industry.
Countless possibilities of shapes and materials
As we have seen, with the lost-wax casting process we can make fashion accessories of all kinds, from the smallest details to medium or large-sized pieces starting from a simple wax model.
In addition to size, material can change too. Besides gold, silver and platinum, the same accessories can be made in aluminum or alloys, such as brass and bronze.
Different materials “behave” differently and have different melting temperatures. Therefore, the same system must be capable of producing accessories in different materials, always with the utmost precision and speed.
Requirements for a perfect product
The production of accessories for the fashion industry requires:
- High precision: even the smallest, most complex and elaborate shapes must always be perfect
- Maximum repeatability: the standard must be guaranteed even in large-scale production
- Minimum processing waste: optimized production does not produce waste, especially when working with precious metals.
Lost-wax casting is the best method for making fashion accessories because it fully complies with all the requirements of this sector.
However, not all casts are equal. For truly unparalleled results, further attention is needed. In Masterix, we have designed machinery and techniques that allow us to achieve the best results in each processing phase.
The first crucial issue for the final results is the quality of the waxes. In our factory, we produce waxes with different levels of viscosity and hardness to ensure defectless pieces in the different types of processing.
Another decisive factor is the vacuum. Our injectors can create vacuum both in the tank where the molten wax is and in the rubber mold where the wax is injected.
In this way, microbubbles cannot form and the production is optimized, because all the produced pieces are saleable.
The last one element that makes our production extremely convenient is the cooling of the molds. Thanks to our coolers, we can quickly lower the temperature of the rubber molds, which can be reused immediately after the opening.
In conclusion, the production of fashion accessories requires the utmost precision, total optimization of time and minimization of waste. Lost-wax casting is the best system for the fashion industry because it is the only one that combines the quality of the results with production speed.
