Gold Leaf from the Gold Beating Factory Eytzinger - Made in Germany

The factory was established in 1867 as Gold Beating Factory in the Noris by Johann Gottlieb Eytzinger, and is today producing the extremely thin gold leaf in the nearby city Schwabach. With a staff of fifty committed and experienced exployees, gold leaf, gold flakes, silver leaf, palladium, platinum metals, gold leaf on rolls, and powder gold are being produced in our own factory in Schwabach.

The Usage of Gold Leaf and other Beaten Precious Metals

The usage of beaten precious metals is manifold. We make continuous investments in the gold beating in order to develop and optimize our gold leaf products.

The company Eytzinger is the first licensed producer of gold leaf and silver leaf for food and cosmetics use in Europe. The production is being audited on a yearly basis. The gold beating factory has a Cosmetics GMP (certificate about Good Manufacturing Practice) and Kosher certificates.

Gold Leaf Production Today

Since Gold Leaf Production has been a traditionally loud and dusty craft for more than 500 years, environmental protection is of top priority at Eytzinger. We are proud of our extremely low noise and dust exposure at the working places in our gold leaf production. A good product can only be manufactured in a pleasant working environment.

A book of loose leaf is assembled by placing each piece of leaf between pieces of thin rouged paper. The Gilder can then remove one leaf at a time without distributing the remaining leaves. It is removed from the book with a gilder's tip, a flat natural-hair brush. Each booklet contains 25 leaves and comes in packs of 20 books for a total of 500 leaves. Leaves are available in different measurements and thicknesses. Loose leaf can be applied with water or oil gilding techniques and is ideal for restoration and detailed surfaces.

Patent gold leaf, also referred to as transfer leaf, is gold mounted to special tissue paper by a pressure process. A book of patent gold leaf is assembled by placing each unit of gold leaf and tissue between pieces of thin rouged paper. The gilder can then remove one leaf at a time without distributing the remaining leaves. Patent gold leaf is removed from the book without the aid of a gilder's tip. The leaf will stay on the tissue until it is pressed onto the prepared surface and the tissue backing is removed. This form of gold leaf is necessary for outdoor work or where conditions would make loose leaf unmanageable. Patent gold leaf is not suitable for water gilding and is best suited for flat surfaces.

Patent gold leaf is sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity and needs to be stored properly. Store patent leaf in a damp environment of about 80% humidity wrapped in plastic wrap. This helps to prevent the moisture content of the tissue paper from fluctuating. Patent leaf may become loose on the tissue paper if stored in a dry warm environment. To correct this problem, the book of patent leaf needs to be stored in a humid environment under pressure to "remount" the leaf to the paper. If the leaf were stored in a very hot and humid environment, the leaf may adhere too tightly to the paper. To correct this problem, store the patent leaf in a refrigerator or a dry cool place.

Standard Eytzinger master rolls are approximately 67 feet in length and cover approximately 22 square feet without waste or overlap. Any width rolls up to 100 mm can be cut from master rolls on special order. Paraffin wax is used in the process of manufacturing Eytzinger rolls. The applied leaf must be cleaned prior to coating with a water-based acrylic to remove any residue. Most oil-based or solvent-based sealers do not require special surface preparation.