Paloceras has opened a MicroFactory in Helsinki, bringing design, additive manufacturing, and manual finishing under one roof. The goal is a significantly shorter development and production chain: instead of around twelve months, the company aims to go from the first concept to the finished series in about two weeks. For the eyewear industry, this is especially interesting where small batch sizes, rapid iteration, and consistent manufacturing quality are required.
At its core, the workflow is based on end-to-end digital data. Frames are first created as CAD models and then produced using “next-generation” 3D printing systems. Paloceras positions printing not as a replacement for traditional bench work, but as a precise intermediate step: after printing, the blanks are sculpted, smoothed, and finally finished by hand. The company expects this to deliver reproducible geometries and surface control without giving up the tactile look and feel of traditional eyewear manufacturing.
“Bringing precision-made production, Finnish manufacturing and full in-house control together feels genuinely new,” says Erwin Laiho, Industrial Designer and head of the Paloceras MicroFactory. “It allows continuous refinement, where experimentation and consistency develop in parallel.”
Another aspect is the local process chain. By concentrating modeling, printing, and finishing in Helsinki, Paloceras wants to manage material use, quality inspection, and energy consumption itself—deliberately focusing on predictable, smaller production volumes.
We have explored 3D printing for years, but the quality was never at the level we demanded,” says Mika Matikainen, Co-founder and Creative Director of Paloceras. “The technology has now matured. The release of our first 3D-printed product, Hydroceras, proved it, with opticians around the world placing orders after seeing it in Paris.”
As a reference, Paloceras cites its first 3D-printed product, Hydroceras. “We have explored 3D printing for years, but the quality was never at the level we demanded,” says co-founder and Creative Director Mika Matikainen. Hydroceras returns in December 2025 as a “Made in Helsinki” edition with refined details and two new color variants; from 2026, new shapes, bespoke work, and artistic collaborations are set to follow from the MicroFactory.
Subscribe to our Newsletter
3DPresso is a weekly newsletter that links to the most exciting global stories from the 3D printing and additive manufacturing industry.
