Glacier Optics: Sunglasses "fabriquées chez Jean"
Arnaud and Benoît are two passionate mountain people - one a skier, the other a snowboarder. For many years, they produced content for their respective sponsors. After numerous expeditions, films and radio projects, a new need arose: to return to something simple and tangible - a physical object with a function so obvious that it is sometimes forgotten: to protect the eyes.
Against the current
That was five years ago. With the idea of starting their own sunglasses brand, the two founders of Glacier Optics began looking for suitable producers. Like most in the industry, they initially turned their attention to Asia. During a stay in China to judge a Freeski World Cup, Arnaud took the opportunity to visit several factories in Danyang - the "eyewear city" - two hours from Shanghai. An instructive trip, at the end of which a crucial question arose: Does the world of optics really need yet another brand offering standardized eyewear manufactured thousands of kilometers away from the actual point of sale? The unanimous answer: no.
At Jean - craftsmanship with a new perspective
They then set themselves a new challenge: to manufacture sunglasses near the Alps - in high quality and at an affordable price. Even though the Italian Dolomites are considered a central region for eyewear manufacturing, the French Jura is in no way inferior. This search led them to Jean Calamand, a third-generation eyewear maker and owner of Lucal, a family business specializing in metal frames (stainless steel, titanium, etc.) and 3D printing - just an hour away from Glacier Optics' headquarters.
"Putting people back at the center - and at the same time turning away from the classic industrial model."
At Jeans Atelier in Oyonnax, know-how is passed on between apprentices, designers and experienced craftspeople. This sharing is at the heart of the collaboration: the exchange is lively, the production is flexible - together they take an alternative path between industrial mass production and artisanal manufacturing.
They rely on stainless steel and titanium - Lucal's specialty. The partnership with Jean enables them to produce in small quantities, with a high degree of customization - be it in terms of colors or sizes. When it comes to lenses, Glacier Optics has worked closely with Zeiss since the beginning and offers their category 3 and 4 sunglasses.
Faces behind every frame
Local production not only helps to optimize the manufacturing process - the circular idea also inspires them. Brand founder Arnaud explains: "When a customer in Switzerland buys a pair of glasses from an optician, over 90 % of the purchase price stays in the region - thus strengthening the local economy."
Producing where the product is used makes sense to them. Arnaud adds: "It gives me great satisfaction to know the people who make our glasses. I know that Tim is behind this design - and Marianne is behind this weld."
His business partner Benoît sees it the same way: "In a world that is increasingly digital and in which most marketing budgets flow to the GAFAM groups, we want to put people back at the center - with real relationships instead of faceless B2B forms. We want to show real faces that look like us - not synthetic figures generated by artificial intelligence."
The collaboration with Jean - in the heart of one of the most traditional eyewear regions in Europe - strengthens their vision: to promote a living Alpine heritage through sustainable, human and future-oriented production. For Arnaud and Benoît, this is the true meaning of "Made in the Alps".
Source: www.glacieroptics.com
