Glasses

[1930]

I had to finally get glasses and I have been using these "gold filled " frames which I very much enjoy, can anyone explain to me what the term gold filled implies and also give me an approx date they may have been made, I am assuming there really is no way to accurately date them.

Also I have the silver pair I found as well and am assuming they are old quality dolls glasses as the lens are clear and the frames are very small, I only paid 8 dollars for them whilst looking for a second set of frames for myself and if anyone know of anyone that would like to have them ( maybe collects/reburbushes dolls than let me know. They are very well made so they must be old.

[Branson]

What you need to know about gold filled vs, gold plated can be found at:
http://www.ehow.com/about_6459959_definition-plated-vs_-gold-filled.html

Essentially, gold filled is much thicker than gold plated.  It is used in better jewelry and used to be, at least, common in eye glass frames.  The last time  I bought gold filled frames was 1969.  Still have them, and after years of wear (1969 til last January) the gold is still not worn through anywhere.  My skin is very acidic, and gold plated frames won't last two years for me.

I don't believe the style of hinge is still made.  Not in the last 10 years, anyway.  If we can date the change in hinges, it will give some indication of age.
Modern frames are expensive out of hand.  My new frames cost something close to $300 -- for stainless steel.  The pair I bought in 2001 were anodized aluminum and after a year, left racoon marks under my eyes.  Those cost $69.

The pair on the left -- without the pads -- are an older style, one that can be used by reenactors.  They might have been made with that in mind, as I have a set of frames precisely made for such, which are identical.  The other pair is most likely newer.  The lens shape  is still possible -- that's the shape I got in January.

[scottg]

 Did you guys see that 60 minutes episode last month?
 
 Eyeglass frames are pretty much down to one Swedish guy now.
One guy has quietly absorbed the manufacture of nearly all of them.
He sells frames for 29 dollars and sells them 29 hundred dollars.
  They are all made in the same plants, in the same way, on the same day, from nearly the same materials, and the major difference is just sucker bait.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7424700n
   yours Scott

[1930]

Just my opionion based on what I see but I dont think the pair on the left is any younger than 100 years old and the pair on the right are near that more than likely.

[rusty]

There are really only 4 processes for sticking gold to something, and only 3 of them are really old.

 The forth, electroplating, came relatively recently, as plating gold is much harder than plating most other metals.
Of the other three, there is simply gluing gold leaf on (guilding in the artist sense), amalgamating (dissolving the gold in mercury and painting the metal, then cooking off the mercury, obviously not done much anymore) and rolling.

Rolling involves sandwiching a sheet of , say brass, between 2 layers of gold foil, and squeezing  in rollers to bond them together, the result is filled gold plate.

filled gold wire is a bit more complicated to make, but essentially the same result.

Other than being thicker than electro plate, filled gold is also not porus, so persperation can't get to the base metal as easily...

Because of the time, labor, and expense, very little filled gold is made these days, probably not for the last few decades...

It will probably be another lost art in a few more.

[1930]

If anyone has an extra case laying around I would be willing to pay a few bucks plus postage, thanks