5051

Characteristics

ManufacturerNetoptic S.A
Made inLot (BE)
Period1980s
BrandOpaline
TechnicalAcetate

DISCOVERY

LocationSaintes (Belgium)
Year2014
Digging TypeOn site, still running company

Acetate — cellulose acetate, zylonite or C2H4O2 for the chemists out there — is a fiber based on cotton or wood pulp cellulose. In recent decades, it has often been replaced by cheaper petro-based fibers to cut cost (e.g. injected nylon and polyester, so petroleum-based plastics), which has impacted quality.

This Opaline 5051 (originally prescription glasses like most of our sunnies) definitely attests to the superiority of acetate over other lookalike materials, maybe even over the tortoise shell it was first supposed to imitate. Not bad...

Archive: View of the factory

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