International Gemological Institute offers CAD program for jewelry design

Representatives from the International Gemological Institute (IGI) and the Bahrain Ministry of Industry and Commerce are hoping to revoluntionize custom jewelry design with the introduction of the IGI Professional Jewellery Designer Computer-Aided Design (CAD) program.

“Bahrain’s vibrant jewelry industry needs highly skilled professionals who are also up to date with the latest technologies," Roland Lorie, the co-chief executive officer of IGI Worldwide, said. "Our CAD program will enable jewelry designers to show their clients in advance what their designs will look like. They can email their rendering to the client; and if the client wants different options, the design can easily be changed without having to re-draw the entire image."

The IGI will offer a Professional Jewelry Designer course on how to use the new program beginning on May 17 at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Bahrain. It has been accredited by Tamkeen, part of Bahrain's economic development initiative focused on supporting the country's private sector and positioning it as the key driver of economic development.

The 14-day inaugural course will cover design basics using the CAD program as well as details of drawing and editing curves. Participants will learn how to create surfaces of basic jewels, and how to shade and render their designs.

Other topics covered during the class will include the calculation and estimate of gold weights; conversions from 2D freehand jewelry design to 3D formats and conversions of CAD drawings to prototypes.