Renowned Jewelry Craftsman Relies on Roland 3D Milling Solutions

Copenhagen, Denmark - Across the road from the royal gardens and in the heart of the old silversmith quarter in Copenhagen, world renowned craftsman Allan Scharff is making magic out of fine silver. Inside his modest workshop, sculptures and jewelry are artfully taking shape, a process based on traditional craftsmanship and the newest Roland technology. Every day, Scharff uses these tools and techniques to create the finest in timeless design.

Renowned Jewelry Craftsman Relies on Roland 3D Milling Solutions

Renowned Jewelry Craftsman Relies on Roland 3D Milling Solutions

During his career, Scharff has worked as both a visiting professor at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London and at the Danish Institute of Precious Metals in Copenhagen where he continues to teach today. For the past 23 years, he has been an independent businessman as well. Today, he enjoys a reputation as one of the foremost silversmiths and designers in Denmark and abroad with exhibits in prestigious venues including the Albert & Victoria Museum in London.

His workshop is packed with tools. Hundreds of hammers line a wall, and files in all shapes and sizes cover a table. Another wall showcases his work, reflecting a lifetime of design and ideas from this prolific artist.

Despite appearances, many of Scharff’s jewelry and sculptures are not the products of his old fashioned tools. Much of his work today is produced using a Roland Picza PIX-3D scanner and CAMM-3 milling machine, tools he says are essential to a master designer like himself.

Managing Directors Can’t Imagine Your Design. They Need To See It.

Allan Scharff in his studio with his Roland CAMM-3 milling machine.

“Design is about ideas,” he says. “You must believe in what you do, but you must also be able to communicate your ideas to the world. When I first started to work with the Roland milling solutions back in the 1990s, it took me some time to master the technology. But I was determined as I knew the technology would expand my opportunities. So I learned how to use the milling machine, and today I look forward to working with it. It is affordable and easy to use, and it gives me tremendous creative freedom.”

Allan Scharff is convinced that new Roland technology is the key to preserving his craft.

“Throughout the ages, designers have always struggled with how to best present their work,” he says. “Before we had Roland, we spent weeks drawing and producing a model. With the new RHINOceros program and Roland milling solutions, the same modeling process can be completed in a matter of hours. And this finished model is so important. A design idea may be crystal clear in my mind, but not clear at all to the managing director – or anyone else I encounter when I am working to sell a design.”

Though Scharff typically uses hammers and files for his larger silver sculptures, he relies entirely on his Roland equipment to produce silver jewelry. “A long time ago I designed this little silver swan,” he says. “Today I only have one left, which I had kept for myself. The other day a woman called me and said she had lost her swan. She asked me if I could make her another one.”

With the Roland Picza PIX 30 scanner Scharff quickly scanned the remaining swan. Using RHINOceros and the Roland CAMM-3, he produced a new mold for the swan and made a completely identical replacement.

The Roland CAMM-3 has offered many benefits to Scharff over the years. With this milling solution, he has been able to create his own jewelry molds instead of outsourcing, saving both time and money.

Teaching New Generations
Allan Scharff says he still enjoys his work and has no plans of retiring from his successful career. He looks forward to learning new techniques and technologies in the future as well. “I want to keep designing for the rest of my life,” he says. “I want to continue to learn, and to keep on integrating new technology and old craftsmanship into my artform.”

Silver ring produced with Roland equipment.

And he has one more goal. As an instructor at the Danish Institute of Precious Metals, he wants to ensure that age-old craftsmanship is not forgotten – and also that his students master all the technologies they need to carry on the long, silver-lined tradition of fine Danish design.