Article published on the Novedge blog in April 2007, during the era of Rhino 4.0. Re-reading it today, Giuseppe Massoni’s insights on balancing traditional craftsmanship with digital tools are more relevant than ever. While technologies have evolved from early CAD software to today’s generative AI, the core philosophy remains unchanged: technology is merely an extension of human vision and artistic intent.
Giuseppe Massoni is a jewelry designer and Rhino 3D guru. He is a Tech Support Specialist and a Rhino Training Specialist for Robert McNeel & Associates (McNeel Europe), and is in charge of the Italian Rhino Newsgroup. Giuseppe is a well-known and highly respected member of the Rhino community, helping everyday users to learn and use Rhino 3D. He is the author of “Modeling and Mold Making for Jewelry Designers,” a popular training CD for jewelry designers published and sold by Robert McNeel & Associates.
The recent release of Rhino 4.0 by Robert McNeel is consolidating Rhino’s success in the jewelry design industry. Giuseppe Massoni is the right person to help us understand the reason behind the success of Rhino 3D and the evolution of jewelry design from its ancient traditions.
The interview with Giuseppe Massoni
Franco Folini: Hi Giuseppe! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your professional activities?
Giuseppe Massoni: 47-year-old Industrial Designer with Jewelry in my DNA. Jewelry has been a family business since 1790, so I guess there must be something genetic by now. I have been behind Design & Production since 1982. By the end of the eighties, I began investigating whether CG could be integrated into the jewelry design and production workflow. It was the Amiga time. A few years later, the scenario was more inviting with more productive software, and finally, I got involved with Rhinoceros. That was the turning point.
Jewelry is a family business since 1790.
Giuseppe Massoni
Franco Folini: Many of us still have this image of a jewelry designer as a traditional, old-fashioned job, even though the reality is quite different. Coming from a family with a long history in the jewelry business, you have been part of this transformation. Can you share your experience with us?
Giuseppe Massoni: Aside from my activity within the McNeel family, jewelry design takes a large part of my work, but I also freelance in Industrial Design in other areas. Packaging and display material mostly.
Yes, transformation is the right term. But in reality, it’s been much less aggressive than one would expect. CG and rapid prototyping are just tools, and they only come into play at specific stages of jewelry design/production. Basically, the new tools will help us to create a prototype. From this point on is all traditional work.
In a way, modern casting and laser welding have impacted the workflow more radically but with less glamor. As for all innovations, you need to prove that they are a real, tangible advantage, and honestly, when you are experimenting with them, they are not. I asked my Company to invest in research and to let me try integrating technologies not traditionally associated with jewelry. I am happy they let me try. I think everybody is happy about it now. By 1995, we had a fully integrated CAD/CAM workflow for our production. Of course, not everything needs to be computer-designed. I try to use the right tool for a given task.
Franco Folini: You are well-known as one of the most advanced Rhino users. What are the professional benefits for users interested in further training in Rhino?
Giuseppe Massoni: As an Industrial Designer, the benefit of being a skilled user of Rhino is that you have better chances to communicate with your partners. Rhino is sometimes used as a data interchange platform; that is, if you can model professionally in Rhino, almost everyone will be able to see and use your work. In jewelry design, Rhino is becoming a standard. This is a fact.
Franco Folini: The Rhino community is thriving and is probably the best marketing tool for all of the Robert McNeel & Associates products. As an active and prominent member of this community, what has your experience been? Do you believe the same model can be applied successfully to other types of businesses?
Giuseppe Massoni: This is very interesting. I am not sure whether the community is a marketing tool, but it’s beyond question that customer satisfaction comes first. The community is rather a consequence of this. In this sense, doing Tech Support is a fantastic experience. Being at the front end of a Company known for its support is truly rewarding. A unique opportunity to learn from people doing the most incredible things with the software.
We have a very successful Newsgroup. The Italian one is the second most important after the English one. I am very proud of this because my goal, when we started splitting Newsgroups into language-specific ones, was to keep the same enthusiasm and overall attitude among users that the original Newsgroup had. I have seen several cases where help was needed, and supposed competitors helped each other. I don’t think it’s a question of types of business; I would say it’s a way of how you see the idea of business.
Franco Folini: Rhino is seldom used as the only software product in a design and manufacturing process. What are the most common combinations seen, and what are the benefits of combining Rhino with other software tools for the end-user?
Giuseppe Massoni: The biggest advantage of having software combinations or plug-ins is that you can take the best from each part. There has been a great interest in the Rendering area, and now Rhino can work in combination with the most advanced rendering engines. CAM is another big sector. It is really amazing, even looking at this from the “inside”, to see the number of new plug-ins coming out in such different areas.
Franco Folini: How do you combine the artistic talent of a jewelry designer with the technical talent of a Rhino trainer and expert?
Giuseppe Massoni: Happily having fun. I start with hand sketches, which usually come after preparatory work (books, research, study, …), then more hand sketches… and finally, I start modeling. When I teach Rhino, I always say that the program cannot do what the user cannot see. In other words, if you can not sketch it on a piece of paper, chances are you won’t be able to model it. Artistic talent is what makes someone handle the curvature of a curve gracefully, for example. Using technological tools on the monitor just makes this easier. A talented designer can do this on the sand with a stick just as well. One of the best advantages of Rhino is that it requires minimal technical skill, allowing you to focus on the artistic side. There is one circumstance in which I use the software without preliminary sketching. It’s like “Rhino Design Aerobics”. After all, this is a fantastic tool for investigating 3D space, so I sort of wander into it, experimenting with modeling strategies with no final object fixed in my mind. I find it very relaxing, and sometimes the result would be very hard to imagine before. It’s like a workout… but more fun.
If you can’t sketch it on a piece of paper, you won’t be able to model it.
Giuseppe Massoni
Franco Folini: Jewelry design is a well-established tradition in some European countries, like Italy and Spain. How is the European jewelry tradition different from the American one?
Giuseppe Massoni: Jewelry is a big tradition in Italy. Design is pretty much in the same direction. I think the majority of the production focuses on a certain degree of design innovation. In the States, there is a well-established range of “classic” jewelry, or, on the other end, some very design-oriented pieces. The “in between” is what you would most likely find in Italian production.
I would like to thank Giuseppe Massoni for this interesting interview about Rhino 3D and jewelry design and for taking the time to speak with me today.
2026: From Rhino 4.0 to the Era of Generative Design
Look back at 2007, and it’s astonishing to see how much of Giuseppe Massoni’s vision has materialized. Back then, we were discussing Rhino 4.0 and the transition from traditional wax carving to digital meshes. Today, as we navigate Rhino 8, the integration of Grasshopper for parametric design, high-resolution direct-to-metal 3D printing (DMLS), and Generative AI has completely redefined the jewelry industry.
Yet Giuseppe Massoni’s core message arguably remains the most critical lesson for today’s designers. In an era when AI can generate hundreds of jewelry concepts in seconds from a text prompt, his words echo with profound clarity: “If you cannot sketch it on a piece of paper, you will probably not be able to model it.”
What’s changed since then?
Key shifts in the industry since this interview:
- Beyond Geometry: Jewelry design is no longer just about drawing lines; it’s about algorithmic and generative patterns that would be impossible to sculpt by hand.
- The Democratization of Prototyping: The complex workflow of early CAD/CAM service bureaus has been replaced by ultra-precise, in-studio resin and metal 3D printers.
- The Human Premium: As automated tools commoditize rapid design generation, the unique “artistic eye,” historical knowledge, and human touch that Giuseppe emphasized are now the ultimate differentiators in high-end jewelry.
Technology has evolved from the Amiga to neural networks, but the intersection of human creativity and technical mastery remains the true engine of innovation.
