Rock Hill, S.C.-based 3D Systems (DDD 2.36%) is golden -- and not just because its stock price has doubled over the past year.
On Friday, the manufacturer of three-dimensional "printers" -- machines for creating rapid prototypes of physical objects by applying layers of composite material until the object has been built -- announced that it's partnering with Turkish "jewelry solutions" company Al-mera in Istanbul. Al-mera plans to resell 3D ProJet 3510 CPX and CPXPlus 3D printers to jewelers, who will in turn use them to create jewelry casts with "superior surface quality, extreme fine detail, and exceptional precision."
Financial details of the partnership were not disclosed, nor was the volume of printers 3D expects to sell through Al-mera. Regardless, the picture 3D "printed" of a "rapidly growing jewelry marketplace" in Turkey was enough to drive 3D shares up 3.1% in Friday trading, to close at $31.53.
