Production of the Artifacts - Andy Wolf
Andy Wolf discusses - and shows you - the influences and standards that go into their frames.
Throughout our entire process, every part of our frame undergoes rigorous quality control. After the frame is finally assembled we check it again. We check for all irregularities during our process, and every part of a frame is subject to scrutiny. While we love our state-of-the-art computer-driven machines and their mechanical perception, it’s still the five senses of a valued Andy Wolf employee that would notice any flaws. After we’ve inspected every frame as often as possible, they leave our factory and are off to finally be worn by you.
We’re proud to say that we own our entire process from the initial design, to shaping acetate blocks into frames until they land at your local dealer’s store. Once we’ve shaped the middle part and temples, our frames go through several stages of cleaning, grinding and polishing to guarantee maximum comfort when worn. After we’re done polishing with hard ceramic marbles, softer wood and bamboo to get the best shine, a hole is pre-drilled into the temples and a thin wire "shot" into it. You don’t just need steady hands for that, but a lot of experience as well. The temples are shaped under pressure and controlled temperature and must then be placed into their perfect position to form a complete frame. The same precision is needed to attach the hinges, you’d notice shoddy work here quickly, if we ever did shoddy work.
Every one of our models has its own origin, be it as a sketch on a napkin or on graph paper. What unites them is the fact that each drawing or sketch is entered into a digital CAD system, where it is fine-tuned to serve as the base for starting the production process. We love to use fine materials, because you can really sense their quality. High-quality acetate sourced from an Italian factory or first-rate metal are the building blocks for every Andy Wolf frame. Most of them are made from sustainably produced acetate – a material obtained from hardened cotton flocks, that lends itself to a variety of treatments and shapes. We use 6-8 mm thick plates of it that enable us to mill the middle part of a frame out of a single piece. Of course we could use thinner acetate plates to produce a pair of glasses, but in our opinion it just wouldn’t be an Andy Wolf frame then. Only the acetate for our frames is sourced from Italy, simply because they have the finest available. This way our classic and often unconventional frames are not just pretty, but also durable and sustainable.
