3D Printing Gets The Celebrity Treatment

A strange thing happened this week with Oprah Winfrey that relates to 3D printing.

As many readers will recall, Ms. Winfrey sat down for a lengthy interview with the ex-active-Royal couple, Harry and Meghan. The interview was widely watched and resulted in spectacular ratings.

The interview was also responsible for other effects. For example — and this is a bit hard to believe — the chairs used during the interview have sold out! Architectural Digest explains:

“In a delightful twist, the chairs the trio sat on came from Christopher Knight Home, the namesake furniture brand of the actor formerly known as Peter Brady. In less delightful news, however, that patio set—the acacia wood and wicker Burchett Outdoor Club Chairs—sold out within 48 hours of the interview’s airing.”

Such is the power of celebrity and modern mass media.

But what does this have to do with 3D printing?

Let’s look at the image at top, of Oprah. Did you know that her stylish glasses were 3D printed?

They were made by Götti, a Swiss company that produces high-end eyewear. It appears that Oprah is wearing Götti’s OR02 model, available in twelve colors.

The colors for Götti’s eyewear are made during post processing of their SLS 3D prints, and they use equipment from DyeMansion, a well-known provider of precision post-processing options for SLS 3D prints. Here’s their tweet revealing this information:

😍 @Oprah wearing glasses from @gottiframes in her interview with Meghan & Harry. Happy that our #print2product workflow enables such amazing products.#meghanmarkle #princeharry #oprah #oprahwinfrey #oprahmeghanharry #gottiperspective #eyewear #3Dprinting #additivemanufacturing pic.twitter.com/9w5N6K4vWY

— DyeMansion (@WeAreDyeMansion) March 10, 2021

But will these spectacles sell out, just as the chairs did? This is apparently unlikely, as they are a custom designed version. According to a report on The National News:

“But the ‘OR02’ frames worn by Winfrey were designed by Mr. Gotti himself especially for the US television personality after meeting her via his favourite opticians in Washington.

‘I designed two different pairs for her,’ Mr Gotti said.

‘But when she saw them, she loved them so much that she didn’t know which ones to choose – and took them both.’”

Normally Götti produces only limited quantities of eyewear styles, possibly due to the constraints of 3D printing. Nevertheless, it’s likely the company is receiving quite a few orders for their models, and perhaps they should consider adding some 3D printing equipment.

Via Twitter, Architectural Digest, The National News and DyeMansion