David Friedrichs had been faced with a dilemma for years: either he had glasses that looked good but broke easily, or he had glasses that stood the test of time but didn't look particularly appealing. "I had to combine the two: looking good and lasting a long time. That's why I started designing glasses myself. I was still looking for the right partner to help me produce them from the extremely lightweight and durable material of carbon," explains David Friedrichs, founder of Friedrichs' Spectacles. He found this partner in Björn Piekenbrink of Piekenbrink Composites GmbH in Laupheim, Germany, whose company processes carbon by the tonne every year for aircraft manufacturers, car manufacturers and engineering companies, and who also wanted his own carbon glasses.

It's a perfect synergy: "David takes care of the design and sales, while we manufacture the different models," enthuses Björn Piekenbrink. So began the company's journey into a new product field – a journey that was not without its challenges, as David Friedrichs explains: "You can imagine what could happen when working with a thin material and fibres." This is why nothing could be delaminated during milling, so the fibres have to be cut correctly. Extremely sharp tools are needed here that also have reasonable service lives.

One particular challenge was milling the bridge of the glasses with a 1-millimetre milling cutter. This is a very delicate process, where every cut counts, as the lens is tensioned via this bridge. "CERATIZIT produced the tools in line with our requests and ideas so that we were able to achieve the quality needed for our glasses. I also wanted the Friedrichs' Spectacles glasses to be a success as I wear them myself!" adds Björn Piekenbrink. The MonsterMill FRP with diamond coating contributed significantly to the success of the project. The milling device itself also had to be precisely matched to the requirements, which is why we used our AluLine and were able to incorporate our entire range into this project.

At first everyone said: "You want to make glasses out of carbon? You must be joking!" However, the cooperation between Friedrichs' Spectacles, Piekenbrink Composites and CERATIZIT shows how you can achieve things that are outside the box with persistence and in-depth process expertise, like attractive glasses frames that are durable and look great!