- date
19 May 2022
- tag
Why wood
When Austrian businessmen Roland Wolf and Marija Iljazovic decided in 2009 to set up their own small company, they had a clear goal in mind: to produce something unique and special. They have realised this ambition. ROLF Spectacles designs spectacle frames from wood, refined creations with their own personality. And with their own demands, as Roland’s younger brother Christian explains. “Wood is a material that you have to take seriously. It lives and moves, and it’s unpredictable. You never have it fully under control. But that is also its charm.” By using extremely hard pressed wood the company ensures that its products are sturdy and reliable and meet the high quality standards set by the customer.
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They also have no intention of lowering their own high standards. ROLF Spectacles does not need to become a large company, Christian says. What counts are the values that they hold dear, such as innovation and sustainability. “For us sustainability is much more than a trend word,” he emphasises. “It’s a way of living. Where we source our wood, how we process it, how we treat our staff, the packaging that we use - it’s all part of it.” Equally remarkable is that ROLF Spectacles is based in a small village in the heart of the Tirolean Alps. The company started up in the basement of Wolf’s home, and they do not want to surrender this attachment to the locality. “We do our own thing without watching the competition,” Christian says. “We attach great significance to our roots, and we aim to show that as well. The Tirol is a region that appeals to the imagination all round the world. Nature, the mountains, the snow - they are all in our DNA.”
Christian Wolf - ROLF Spectacles