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La Maison

Where it comes
from. Why it exists.

Atelier Vingt-Deux® — The Maison
The Maison

My father's vision.
My responsibility.

"My father didn't set out to build a brand. He set out to build the best frame in the world — light enough to forget, strong enough to outlast you, with the lenses your eyes actually deserve."

My father founded Atelier Vingt-Deux® in Antwerp with a single conviction: that exceptional eyewear should be defined by what it is made of, not by whose name is on it. He was an industrialist with the patience of a craftsman — and the refusal of a man who had spent his life around materials that don't lie.

He spent years choosing every input. Aerospace-grade titanium for the frame, because nothing else combined the lightness, the strength, and the longevity he insisted on. Carl Zeiss for the optics, because the eye deserves what the eye deserves. Fukui — Japan's eyewear capital since 1905 — for the hands that would build it. He set the standard before the first frame was ever made.

I am his son. My role isn't to reinvent what he built. It is to make sure the standard he set never moves — and that every frame leaving the atelier remains exactly what he wanted it to be.

— Rafi Goldberg, continuing the maison

Belgian Heritage

Antwerp.
Where value is not a
marketing decision.

Antwerp does not tolerate pretence. A city built on the global trade in diamonds — the most scrutinised material on earth — has a particular relationship with the word "quality." It means something verifiable. Something measurable. Something that stands under examination.

Every decision at Atelier Vingt-Deux® is made with that standard in mind. Not "does this look good" but "is this correct." The difference matters. One is design. The other is discipline. We practice both, but when they conflict, discipline wins.

Japanese Precision

Fukui.
Where craft is not
a story. It's a system.

In Fukui, the knowledge of how to build a titanium frame is not written down. It is transmitted from craftsperson to craftsperson through the act of making. This is not a romanticisation — it is an operational fact. The subtlety of hinge tension, the correct pressure for hand-polishing, the way a frame should feel before it is approved: these things live in hands, not in manuals.

This is why we manufacture in Fukui and nowhere else. The knowledge cannot be replicated by choosing a different location. It is the location. It is the people. It is 120 years of accumulated understanding that we are fortunate to have access to.

The Manifesto

What we
believe.

The Values

What guides
every decision.

I.

Honesty of material

We name the alloy grade. We name the manufacturer. We give the specifications in full — tensile strength, density, UV protection standard. If you want to verify any of it, you can. That is the point.

II.

Permanence over fashion

We do not design seasonal collections. We design frames. The goal is a frame that is correct in proportion and honest in material — and therefore immune to the concept of being out of style.

III.

Independence of judgement

Atelier Vingt-Deux® is family-owned and self-funded. No investors sit above the maison. Every decision — material, price, design, partner — is made on the basis of what is correct, not what is convenient.

IV.

Respect for the person wearing it

The frame you buy should do what it claims. The lenses should protect. The hinges should last. The fit should be right. If any of these things are not true for your frame, we fix it. Without discussion.

The Story

How we got
here.

The Question

What would the best frame in the world be made of?

My father started with a question, not a business plan. He had spent his life around materials, and he refused to accept that premium eyewear had to mean a famous logo on a plastic frame. The research that followed led to one material: aerospace titanium — and one place capable of working it to the standard he wanted: Fukui, Japan.

The Decision

Grade 5 titanium. Carl Zeiss. No compromise.

Every specification that defines an Atelier Vingt-Deux® frame was set before the first frame was made: Ti-6Al-4V, Carl Zeiss UV400, 22-stage manufacturing, Fukui. Price was a consequence of that decision — not a starting point. The frame costs what it costs because this is what it takes to build it correctly.

The Atelier

Jean-Claude Fahri. Fabergé standard.

The collaboration with master goldsmith Jean-Claude Fahri began with a shared conviction: that a frame built to this material standard deserves to be designed with the same rigour applied to fine jewellery. Fahri's eye for proportion and surface quality shaped the design language of the entire range — from the temple geometry to the hinge housing.

The Collection

The Pilot, The Aviator, The Kitty, The Caravelle.

Nine frames across four silhouettes. Each one designed to be worn every day. Each one built to last without degradation. The collection grows only when a new frame is ready — not when the calendar says so. There is no schedule that overrides the standard.

Antwerp · Today

The next chapter. Same standard.

I took over Atelier Vingt-Deux® to continue what my father started — not to reinterpret it. The maison remains independent, family-owned, and self-funded. Every frame still ships with Carl Zeiss optics. Every frame is still built in Fukui. The standard he set has not moved, and it will not move on my watch.

As seen in

Graanmarkt 13 Stijl Ko Store Mellow MOOSE in the City MAYFAIR
The Collection

"The last pair
you'll ever need."

Every claim we make about these frames can be verified. The alloy grade is public. Carl Zeiss is a company with 180 years of history. The 22 stages happen in Fukui, which has been building eyewear since 1905. The frame on your face is the proof of everything above.

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