PERRET OPTICIANS METAL - SPECTACLES SPECTACLES JULIEN (1)

In 1921, Henry Jullien, a spectacle salesman, set up his own factory in Morez, in France's Haut Jura region near the Swiss border. By 1935 the young yet prosperous company moved to Lons-le-Saunier where it still has its headquarters.Henry Jullien's extensive knowledge of the trade, until his death in 1940, helped spread the reputation of the brand far and wide. His son, Pierre, perpetuated the tradition of the high-quality laminated gold-filled spectacle frame until he passed the reins of the company over to his nephew, Pierre Fauveau, in 1978. By 1980, the company was faced with a crisis, spiraling gold prices. The price of gold ingots jumped fourfold. The competition quickly struck laminated gold-filled frames from their catalogs, but Pierre Fauveau courageously decided to stay with tradition despite the difficulties. By 1983, Henry Jullien capitalized on a major asset, creativity, to support its marketing efforts. Their rejection of the "one pair fits all" strategy and their accurate targeting of market segments have given it an image that has become deeply ingrained.
Since its creation, this family-run company has stayed faithful to a concept, a philosophy based on an uncompromising commitment to quality and refinement. By defending an unconditional luxury line of products, Pierre Fauveau has invested to provide the company with cutting edge technology that is unrivaled in the eyewear field.
While Henry Jullien spectacle frames ignore the vagaries of passing fashions and remain sober and refined, they are still the result of a rich and inventive drive. These frames are not noticed, they are recognized. This restrained audacity has captured a faithful customer base, always conscious of elegance.

Any visitor to the new Henry Jullien factory in Lons-le-Saunier will instantly realize that creativity is still closely involved in every stage of production.
TAILOR MADE TOOLING
The laminated gold-filled technique involves extreme care and accuracy and requires ultra-polished tools made to order right in the factory.
Each tool is developed and made on the premises and each is adapted to the specific characteristics of the components for each model in Henry Jullien collections.
CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY
Computers are now a major asset in the eyewear industry.
Due to the incredible complexity involved in creating a new model of spectacle frames, Henry Jullien became one of the first spectacle makers to use Computer-Aided Design (CAD). The use of cutting-edge technology has pushed back the limits in terms of design, machining and productivity.
The possibilities provided by the new factory and the use of even more advanced technologies such as Computer-Aided Design, Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD-CAM) are hinting at future expansion.

UNIQUELY GIFTED HANDS AND EYES
While the accuracy of custom-made machines approaches perfection, only the hands and eyes of Henry Jullien technicians can make each product a veritable jewel. Henry JULLIEN, the spectacle maker, is above all a style, a personality. All the space age technology would be useless if it did not serve the rich and innovative efforts of the designer. Each detail and each set of frames bears the Henry Jullien signature. This is a style composed of refinement, sobriety and elegance with a touch of creativity and restrained audacity. It gives the brand all its authenticity and its renown. As a sign of recognition and savoir-faire, a set of Henry Jullien spectacle frames is the affirmation of true personality.

The technique was invented in the early 19^th century. Production of laminated gold filled products uses the following sequence: The starting point is very carefully alloyed gold. It is laminated and then cut into disk form. Its size and weight are carefully measured since they will determine the gold content of the final material obtained. The disk of gold alloy is stamped and then drawn into a seamless tube of a given length, with a diameter of 4 to 5 cm. After several cleaning operations, a solid cylinder of alloy is inserted in the tube to provide the base metal. It may be bronze, German silver, Monel, titanium or another specialty metal. The two components are fused along the entire surface of contact by pressure and heat in a special kiln.
The layer of gold is now permanently sealed onto the base metal. Because of the pressure and temperature, the surfaces of the gold alloy and base metal start melting at their interface and the surfaces melt together. The gold and base metal are welded together and cannot be separated by any mechanical process. The gold layer is composed of an alloy rather than pure gold. This is because addition of other components such as copper, silver or palladium can provide a wide range of hues (pink, yellow or white) and improve hardness and resistance to wear.

The bonded tube of alloy and cylinder of metal, now tightly welded, is laminated and drawn to make fine round wire only several millimeters across or special shapes (such as grooved forms).
These phases of the production process require extreme care and accuracy, particularly in using ultra-polished tools. Otherwise, the outer layer of gold could be scarred or the bright finish damaged and material properties degraded.

The layer of gold provides high resistance to oxidation and corrosion - the alloys used for the gold surface layer are anywhere from 10 to 18 karats, 10 karats is 40% pure, 18 karats is 75% pure and 24 karats is 100% pure. In Europe, the quality of gold filled (a layer of gold over a metal substrate) is defined by the overall purity, i.e. the weight of gold, in grams, contained in one kilogram of gold filled. One kilo of laminated 40/000 gold filled contains 40 grams of pure gold, or 68.56 g of 14 karat gold:
40g X 24 karats/14 karats = 68.56 grams

The thickness of the gold layer varies in direct proportion to the purity of the gold (in karats) and the diameter of the wire. The following are the values of gold thickness for 14 karat gold:

Whatever the purity of the laminated gold filled, it will always have a golden finish, with all the shine, sparkle, and beauty of gold. The mechanical properties are determined by the base metal. The different components of spectacle frames do not all respond in the same way. They must each have an appropriate blend of elasticity, stiffness and hardness to perform their intended function. This is why each set of frames uses several laminated gold filled wires that differ not in their gold surface layer but in their base metal. Bronze is generally used as the base metal for temples. After forming, it provides an excellent compromise between elasticity and stiffness. Monel is preferred for rims to provide a front that is very stiff yet very thin. Thus, all of the components in a set of laminated gold filled frames are made from the materials that provide the best answers to their special constraints.
It is a guarantee of longevity since the gold cannot be stripped from the base metal. and it is distributed uniformly over the entire pair of spectacle frames. It is a guarantee against oxidation caused by perspiration or other products, such as salt or smoke, because the layer of gold is not porous — whatever its thickness. It is a guarantee of everlasting quality since gold alloy retains all the characteristics of pure gold, particularly the shine. A pair of gold filled frames can be polished after several years and recover its original radiance. It is also a guarantee in case of damage. A pair of gold filled frames can be welded without damaging the layer of gold.
Gold filled wire is selected specifically for the frames, the series of production operations is performed with extreme care, and with special techniques and special tools designed to preserve the properties of the gold layer.
It is no accident that we have become the specialists in laminated gold filled. It is because we have spent almost 80 years making high-quality laminated gold filled spectacle frames for discerning customers.

METAL - SPECTACLES

SPECTACLES JULIEN (1)

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