Julbo

Founded 1888 · Longchaumois, Jura, France · Jules Baud

Julbo is the oldest house on this list and the only one born in the mountains: in 1888, in the French Jura, to protect the eyes of the crystal hunters of Mont Blanc. Its Vermont, with leather side shields, are the classic glacier glasses and are still made.

History

Jules Baud, an optician from the Jura, founded the house in 1888 in Longchaumois. Its first serious product came out of one specific commission: the crystal hunters gathering quartz on the Mont Blanc glaciers were going blind from the glare off the snow, and Baud made them glasses with leather side shields that closed off the light from the side. That model, now called the Vermont Classic, is still in the catalogue more than a century later. The house stayed in the family for four generations and is today one of the few independent European firms in the trade; its speciality remains the mountains and endurance sport, with photochromic lenses of very wide range.

Iconic models

Vermont Classic
The glacier glasses with leather shields, from the original commission by the Mont Blanc crystal hunters.
Reactiv lens (photochromic)
It changes category with the light. In high mountains the difference between shade and snow is brutal.
Sherpa
The modern mountain model, a direct heir of the Vermont.

Worth knowing

The Vermont exists because the quartz hunters of Mont Blanc were going blind from the glare off the snow. The leather side shields are not alpine style: they are the solution to the problem.