http://indulgy.com/post/f0dCDmWP72/tiffany-blue-inspired-wedding-cake

Is the design on the bottom tier hand piped or a mold?

it looks like it was made out of fondant pressed out of a die, rather than piped, only because of the depth of the lines.  with a few of the items made by molds.  the decorator has another cake that has that flat ribbon type of design, I don't know what it's called.

MBalaska do you know who the decorator is? And now that you mention it, It does look more like the fondant was extruded instead of piped.

quilling is the word that I was looking for.  I've no idea who the decorator is.

Oh ok! thanks for your input.

Far from a cake expert here, but I am familiar with quilling and it looks like that is what the main portion of this is. You would cut fondant in long thin sections as you would with paper in traditional quilling. You then roll the ends and curve or fold into your desired shape. With paper, you have a needle-like instrument that you use to feed the end of the paper into the "eye", then wrap twist the roll the paper tightly. When you let go, the paper holds the curved shape.

With fondant, I'm not exactly what instrument you'd use, but it's by hand, not a mold.

I think I've seen instructional links through Pinterest if you're interested.

*then wrap/twist the paper to roll it tightly.

Sorry, wish there was an edit button!

I'm going to disagree...Based on the dots on parts of the little swirls, and the roundness of the lines, I'd say that this was piped with royal icing using about a number 2 or 3 round tip, then painted with luster dust when it dried. There are several places where it looks like it was overpiped with a second line, and the roundness of the edges of the little swirls are piping. It's definitely not quilling, that looks more like a flat ribbon stood on its side.[postimage id="4050" thumb="900"]

If I was going to do this I'd pipe it...molding or quilling it would take for-ev-er.

I agree with @costumeczar ‍ that it looks piped/ overpiped.  I think you can definitely tell when you enlarge the image of the tiara on top.

I also thought it was piped but I was shot down on a FB decorating page. They all thought it was a mold!

Thanks everyone for your input and info!