eyeglasses in gold

Frame no 426, October 2010

Frame opus no: 426
Material: 9 karat gold Design type: half-rim, with fascia and subframe

Sometimes along comes a custom job that makes me sit up and get extra accurate.
This customer request was for a replica of a discontinued factory-made titanium half-rim frame,
and I realised this was to be a frame made to exacting dimensions.

I wanted the customer to understand I was legally prevented to make a replica,
but that I'd make a frame using my standard technology that looked like the original
and that fitted just as well.

Note that I hadn't met the customer, nor am I likely to during the making of the frame.

I chose 9 karat gold for its colour, strength and relative light-weight compared to other
gold alloys, and after several weeks of trial runs, metal gauge tests, and choosing a suitable
method and procedure, I produced a sterling silver frame no 425, and this gold frame, number 426.

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Fabricating the gold eyewire subframe in 9k.
It's hard to get the left side the same as
the right, so I popped a gold rivet in each.
Then gold-soldered the joints.
The curly bit will get chopped off later.

The fascia is sawn from gold.
I pasted on a printout from my
CAD application ProCAD+ and
carefully sawed the pieces out.
Note that I've twisted the saw blade
sideways a little in order to saw out the long shape

The fascia is joined to the eyewire subframe.
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At some point the lower half of the eyewire
is sawn off. This is where the monofilament
nylon goes, which holds the lens at the bottom.
The lenses will have a groove cut into the edge
all the way around.

Standard optical parts are made from nickel alloy,
so for custom gold frames I prefer not to use them, but
make my own using the same alloy as the frame.

Padarms. The completed padarms before dividing them up
and gold-soldering each to the frame.
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Threading the nylon which will hold the lenses.

The finished frame.

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'Schubert' in silver 'Schubert' in gold 'Tonto' 'Slingshots' replica 402 415 'Looking Glasses' no 418 replica 419 'Looking Glasses' no 420 silver 422

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B r i a n    A d a m    j e w e l l e r y    A u c k l a n d    N E W    Z E A L A N D    brian@adam.co.nz    23rd January, 2011