Design study for iPhone 16 Pro Max case

Study for sterling silver iPhone 16 Pro Max case with deep relief engraved western arabesque scrollwork, and traditional stampwork border.

Thoughts, impressions welcome!

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Great looking case for an affluent Texan.

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LOVE the border detail! You could offer options on the motif to use in the circle - heart, star, initials, horse head, Zia sun…

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Great suggestions! Home states and personalized initials as well. The open area of the motif can be repurposed for a number of different personalization applications.:+1:

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@mmrogers Oh, my, that’s a beauty! You’ve encapsulated the essence of Western style on this sterling silver case. As always, impeccable design. Kudos to you :clap:. (I second @Jemez2 suggestion about offering motif options on the case :+1:.)

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Finally someone breaking the silence in the forum. With an amazing topic.
I love it. In case you offer it for Pixels too, I’d consider buying one.

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Mike,

This is very well thought out and tastefully designed. Your scroll work is phenomenal, and the traditional stampwork border adds a lovely touch.

I agree with @Jemez2 on the option to, within reason, customize the open area. If you offered these for Galaxy owners, I would happily purchase one and kindly request that your signature and logo be engraved in the open area. :wink: I’ll even offer to waterjet cut the blanks!

I can visualize and feel it complete, especially once the edges are rolled from handling and some nice patina begins to present itself!

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So it looks like many people love the design a lot.
This might be a business opportunity to create your own designs for many popular phones. Without being a subcontractor of a bigger company.
What about (adding) popular Navajo or Aztec designs?
Will it be too heavy if the cases are fully made from silver? What about something soft at the corners, also for better protection.
You can use an antique finish also which strengthens the contrast.

Sorry … just some creative ideas without thinking much about feasibility yet. Yes, I’m quite Ungerman :slight_smile:

And one more thing that comes to my mind. As many people change their phones every or every second or third year, a sterling silver case would only attract the very rich.

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Thank you Aaron (@Ravenscry). This was originally simply a design study to explore techniques and processes for creating something like this. I also felt I was getting a bit rusty not having done scrollwork in a while, and needed a challenge to get back on track.

Now that I have the drawing finished I‘m considering the possibility of cutting one as a heavy gauge appliqué to permanently bond to the back of a really nice commercially available leather case, although a case in solid sterling would be the absolute bomb.

To create an all sterling version, one would need a precise form for wrapping and fitting the sheet precisely around the outside edges. Thank you for the offer to water jet cut one. I may be able to use a blank and do the button cutouts from a template. Before I take, better yet trade for any of your valuable time I‘ll see if one is already available commercially or I can pick up non-working donor phone to use as a form.

@gt75, thank you for the excellent suggestions, and I completely agree that an antique finish would be the way to go. We typically use a chemical oxidizer or a heavy flat enamel for the recessed areas, and very fine steel wool or something like 800+ grit sand paper to finish the raised surfaces for an antiqued look.

One of the goals in creating the design was to explore techniques for cutting the scrollwork, stampwork, and fine shading in layered fine art fiber laser lithography.

I‘ve been experimenting with the technique for jewelry work and stamp making with fantastic results. It’s every bit as time consuming and painstaking as hand cutting the work at the bench from scratch because all of the fine detail work in creating, detailing, formatting, and laying out the particular work is done digitally in advance. The advantage is every fine detail involved in the creation of the work is captured digitally, and once captured can be recreated with complete fidelity again, and again, which makes it ideal for making more than one piece.

Aaron, if you‘re seriously interested in having one designed and made for you, let’s talk off line.

@Patina.Thank you! I hope you‘re enjoying your scrollwork Vans!

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My 2 cents worth (and more work for you): Phones these days get more use than most items and bonding with an adhesive might let go if that was an option. For all that great engraving, I say go for the entire case if it will have enough flexibility to pop onto the phone. Or solder rivets to the inside of the sterling plate for a more permanent attachment to a phone case.

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Thanks for the suggestion @StevesTrail . If all silver the trick would be burnishing the outer edge to roll over ever so slightly to hold the phone in. From there the buttons and friction should do the rest.

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And there are people who don’t buy iPhones and have android phones :laughing:

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I agree @Ziacat , and I would be hard pressed to spring for a solid silver case with the built in obsolescence of the phones. My moto 5G power was only $250. :money_mouth_face:

Well Mike, you will just have to design one that can be fitted to the next phone size. Now the plate makes more sense maybe with screws instead of rivets. I could go for that.

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I have a two year old Motorola that’s been great. It takes fabulous pictures. I would love a beautiful cell phone case, but it would be really impractical for me. My phone has to be a workhorse being that I play all my skaters’ programs on it at the ice rink, so I’m constantly plugging and unplugging it into the overhead sound system. It takes a beating. I hate spending on technology. My laptop is 10 years old, and I keep thinking it’s going to give out any day.

But I bet there would be a great market for iPhone cases like this one!

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Thank you, @gt75 . Honored you like the topic and the design. Haven’t ever had my hands on a Pixel, but it sounds like a fun and interesting challenge. This would be something completely new for me. OK if I research it a bit and get back to you?

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Hmmm…. Something modular that can be transferred case to case from model to model. Great idea, @StevesTrail!

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The modular on-top approach seems very right. Better than a shape that fits only one phone for a s few years.
I’d be in the US as you know, so getting it should be easy. But I guess the price might be tricky. Maybe you can give a rough indication? I’m a normal engineer and not precisely a rich person.

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I drop my phone just consistently enough that I would dent your beautiful work, that would kill me.

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@RedlandMaggie. That’s a real concern with an all sterling case, but if I let that stop me, it’ll never get done! I think I will go ahead and make one for myself in the coming months. If nothing else, it’ll be a great conversation starter.

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Show us the finished product, please!

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