A note from the bench
A craft that has not changed its method in over a century.
The Duplex presses run on original Birmingham tooling. The borosilicate glass formula has not changed. The brass alloy has not been reformulated. What has changed is only the address on the invoice.
A catalog built over decades
Made in Melbourne & India. Collected for decades. Now in North America.
What began as a collector's obsession became a manufacturing operation. When the components that made antique oil lamps worth restoring disappeared from the market, the only answer was to make them again — on the original tooling, with the original materials.
Original 100-year-old Duplex presses were sourced from Birmingham and put back into production in Melbourne. Shades, fonts, chimneys, and glassware are manufactured in India using moulds owned outright — over two decades of uninterrupted production. For years these pieces supplied collectors in Australia. Now, for the first time, the same catalog is available in North America.
Pressed on original dies
Our Duplex burners run off the original Birmingham tooling — over a century old and still in production.
Owned moulds, not licensed
Every mould and tool used in India is owned outright. Nothing is contracted out to a third-party die shop.
Borosilicate, not substitute glass
Shades, chimneys, and fonts are produced in borosilicate glass to the original period specification.
A working timeline
One hundred and fifty years, one method.
- 1800s
The golden age of oil lamp craft
Victorian craftsmen across Britain and Europe perfect the Duplex burner, borosilicate glass shade, and the precision brass fittings that define the golden era of oil lamp design. The specifications set in this era will not be improved upon.
- Birmingham
Original tooling forged
The presses, dies, and lathes used to produce Duplex burners are precision-engineered in Birmingham. The alloy specifications and glass formulas are locked in. They will not change.
- 1990s
Collecting becomes an obsession
A passion for antique oil lamps grows into something more: the recognition that critical components have simply disappeared from the market. If no one is making them properly, perhaps someone should.
- c. 2000
Original Birmingham tooling acquired
The original 100-year-old presses, dies, and tooling for the Duplex burner — from the Birmingham workshops where they were first made — are purchased and shipped to Melbourne, Australia. Nothing is recut. Everything runs as-is.
- Melbourne
The Duplex Burner is made again
Running on the original Birmingham tooling in Melbourne, production of the Duplex Burner resumes exactly as it was manufactured over a century earlier. Even the Duplex wicking — produced here in Melbourne — carries the OLC mark.
- India
Shades, fonts & glassware
Shades, fonts, chimneys, borosilicate glassware, and brassware — including Miller Flame Spreaders — are manufactured in India using moulds and tooling owned outright. Over twenty years of production. Every piece carries the OLC brand.
- 2026
North American launch
Acme Vintage Supply brings the full catalog to North America for the first time. Original tooling. Owned moulds. Borosilicate glass. The same craft that has supplied Australian collectors for two decades — now available here.
Begin where the light is