Ming Just Solved the Bracelet Problem Nobody Could Figure Out - Yanko Design

"Ming just eliminated that choice entirely. The independent watchmaker developed what appears to be the world's first fully 3D-printed titanium bracelet, a single piece of grade 5 titanium comprising 1,693 individual links that flows like chain mail but wears like your favorite broken-in leather strap. No pins connect these links. No screws hold anything together. The entire structure, including the articulating buckle, prints as one piece."

"One Piece, Zero Assembly Required The manufacturing process sounds impossible until you watch Ming demonstrate the actual bracelet. A powder bed machine fuses microscopic grade 5 titanium particles layer by layer using precise laser sintering. 'Unlike conventional mesh where each individual link is made separately and then joined together, all of our links are basically sintered together as one piece,' he explains while flexing the bracelet between his fingers. 'Every link is printed without any post assembly.'"

"Ming collaborates with Sisma S.p.A in Italy and ProMotion SA in Switzerland for this manufacturing breakthrough. Grade 5 titanium already ranks among the hardest metals to machine conventionally. Printing from powdered titanium adds explosive danger to the complexity. The material must be processed in an inert gas environment because powdered titanium combusts violently when exposed to air. The buckle presents an even stranger challenge. Traditional bracelets attach separately fabricated buckles using pins or screws. The Polymesh prints the entire buckle structure, including what Ming calls the 'tuck system' clasp, the flexible artic"

A single-piece grade 5 titanium bracelet comprising 1,693 articulating links prints as one assembled structure, including the buckle, with no pins or screws. The links are formed by laser powder-bed fusion that sinters microscopic titanium particles layer by layer so each articulation exists without post-assembly. The resulting Polymesh flows like chain mail and conforms like a broken-in leather strap while retaining metal durability. Manufacturing requires inert-gas processing because powdered titanium can combust in air, and production involves specialized partners in Italy and Switzerland to manage material, safety, and the complex printed tuck-system clasp.

Read at Yanko Design - Modern Industrial Design News