French-style gold tooling

What I call “French tooling” is a process in which the leather is tooled several times, rather than once as it would with standard gold tooling or foil tooling.

First, the leather is tooled with hot tools through a paper template. The leather is then dampened, and it is tooled again with warm tools, which sets the impression permanently. A shellac-based glaire is painstakingly painted into each impression, and then after drying for 24 hours, gold leaf (typically 23 or 22k) is picked up on warm tools and added to each impression.

This process obviously takes much longer, but the results are stunning. The impressions are much deeper and crisper, which give the book an eye catching and luxurious visual quality. Well worth the time and money in my opinion!