Meljac is a French maker of bespoke solid brass switch plates, built to order at a factory outside Paris and sold through quotation rather than a price list. Studio Timeless is an American maker of one-piece solid brass switches priced and shipped online. Both are solid brass. Almost nothing else about the two is the same.
In short
- Meljac plates are solid brass, hand-finished outside Paris, and plated in bronze, copper, nickel or gunmetal. The company holds the Origine France Garantie certification and the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label.
- Meljac sizes plates in millimetres, from 82 x 82 up to 82 x 269 mm, and a published example plate is 3 mm thick, which is 0.118 inch against our 0.080 inch. On thickness and on bespoke sizing, they are ahead.
- Meljac publishes no prices, no lead times and no minimum order on its pages. You order through a showroom, a dealer or a quote request. We publish every price and ship direct.
- Engraving is the one ground where the two ranges are genuinely comparable: Meljac allows two lines of eight characters per button, we allow nine characters across twenty positions.
- Meljac is the right answer for a specified project with a control system and a custom plate size. We are the right answer for a standard American wall box, a known price and a product you can buy today.
All Meljac facts below were read on the company pages on 9 October 2026 and are dated for that reason. A competitor page is a snapshot, not a contract, and we publish no price we did not read ourselves.
Who Meljac is, in facts
Meljac is a French manufacturer of high-end electrical hardware that makes its products in-house across more than fifteen steps, from design through machining to polishing. Its own know-how page, read on 9 October 2026, states that production is Made in France
, that finishing is manual, and that the materials used are solid brass, tempered glass, Limoges porcelain and semi-precious stones.
The same page states two certifications: Origine France Garantie, which attests French origin, and Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant, a French state label for heritage manufacturers. The company runs two showrooms, in Paris and Lyon, lists around sixty approved resellers worldwide, and operates a North American subsidiary with an office in Los Angeles and its own site.
What Meljac actually sells you
A Meljac installation is a system: a plate, a mechanism fitted into it, and a back box behind it. The North American product navigation lists keypad controls, outlet plates, reading lamps, bespoke solutions, back boxes and a custom elements configurator, alongside system integration and installation guides.
That is the structural difference with our range. Our brass toggle switches and rotary dimmers are integrated one-piece units, where the brass face and the mechanism are a single product that drops into an existing American wall box. There is no plate to specify separately and no proprietary back box to order. This catches British and French brands out in American houses, and it is the point our Corston comparison spent the most words on.
The two systems, side by side
The table below puts what we read on their pages next to what our own catalog says, read the same day. Where a cell says not published, that is what the page shows, and we leave it there rather than guessing.
| Point of comparison | Meljac, read 9 October 2026 | Studio Timeless, 9 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Country of manufacture | France, factory outside Paris | Made to order for the United States market |
| Base metal | Solid brass, plated in bronze, copper, nickel, gunmetal | Solid brass, hand-finished, no plating |
| Product architecture | Plate plus mechanism plus back box | One-piece integrated unit, or a plate on its own |
| Plate sizing | Metric: 82 x 82, 82 x 117, 82 x 144, 82 x 207, 82 x 269, 38 x 133, 38 x 175 mm, plus a 98 mm round | Standard North American gang sizes, 1 through 5 |
| Published plate thickness | 3 mm, 0.118 in, in the configurator example 38 x 133 x 3 mm | 0.080 in on every plate |
| Other materials | Tempered glass, Limoges porcelain, semi-precious stones | Brass only |
| Finish count | 30 on the French know-how page; the North American plate finish filter lists 41 names in four tiers | 8 on knurled switches, 7 on plates, 10 on outlets |
| Screw options | Hidden, visible slot, visible Torx | Visible slotted brass, two per gang |
| Plate edge | Beveled or straight | Single profile |
| Control integration | Keypads, backlit engraving, LED indicators in 12 or 24 VDC, programmed through a third-party system | None. Mechanical switches and dimmers only |
| Published price | Not published; quote, dealer or showroom | Every price published, direct purchase |
| Published lead time | Not published | Not promised, and we do not promise one either |
| Minimum order | Not published, except a note that minimums may apply on Unlacquered Polished Brass | None |
Plate sizing is the real decision, not the finish
Meljac sizes plates in millimetres because it is designing the opening as well as the plate. That is an enormous advantage on a project where the wall is still being built and a bespoke back box can be set wherever the drawing says. It is a liability in a 1928 house with an existing four-gang ganged box, because nothing in a metric plate family lines up with that box without new rough-in.
Our plates are dimensioned the other way round. A 1-gang toggle wall plate is 2.80 by 4.70 by 0.080 inch and fits any standard North American 1-gang box. Dimensional conventions for American wiring devices come from ANSI/NEMA WD 6, the dimensional specification for wiring devices, and cover plates are governed by UL 514D, Cover Plates for Flush-Mounted Wiring Devices, whose scope covers metallic and nonmetallic plates alike. Our plate sizing article walks the gang and cutout logic in full.
Thickness: where Meljac is ahead, and by how much
The Meljac North American configurator gives a worked example of a slim plate as 38 x 133 x 3 mm, or 1.5 by 5.2 by 0.11 inch. Three millimetres is 0.118 inch. Our plates are 0.080 inch. On that one measure Meljac has roughly half again more material in the face, and you can feel it.
What 0.080 inch buys is a plate that still has real weight and will not flex when a screw is drawn down on an uneven plaster wall, at a price that is published. What 3 mm buys is a heavier object with a deeper beveled edge. Both are honest engineering choices; only one of them is priced on a web page.
Finishes: thirty, thirty-nine or forty-one
Meljac states 30 finishes on its French know-how page, grouped into cool tones, warm tones, special tones and gilding. The North American configurator we read the same day lists 41 plate finish names in its filter and 39 in its first dropdown, organised into Tiers 1 through 4. We report all three numbers rather than picking the flattering one, because the difference is almost certainly the gap between a catalog and a configurator.
Some of those finishes carry reference codes: RAL 9001 for Cream White, RAL 9002 for Gray White and RAL 9003 for Signal White, and an internal LA Finish set for Tier 4 names such as Light Nickel, Dark Nickel, Light Pewter, Dark Pewter and Natural Brass. Several brass and copper finishes are described as unlacquered with a wax varnish, and the pages state plainly that an unlacquered finish will evolve and develop a patina with handling and environment, and that this cannot be guaranteed or predicted.
We say the same thing about our own unlacquered plates, and we add the commercial consequence: Unlacquered Antique Brass is made to order, carries a longer lead time and is not returnable. Our living finish article covers the chemistry and the month-by-month timeline, and the Finish Sample Set at 50 dollars is how you check a color before committing. Our samples guide explains what the set does and does not contain.
Glass, porcelain and stone: a range we do not have
Meljac lists tempered glass, Limoges porcelain and semi-precious stones among its materials, and its bespoke page states that engravings can be made on brass, porcelain and glass. We make nothing in glass, nothing in porcelain and nothing in stone. If the drawing calls for a porcelain plate, this comparison is over and the answer is Meljac.
What we do have is depth inside one material. Eight finish values on the knurled switch range, including a Hammered Brass that exists nowhere else in the catalog, documented in our hammered brass article, and ten on the outlets including three accent combinations. Our finish comparison sets them side by side.
Engraving, the one genuinely comparable ground
This is the comparison the search queries are actually asking for, and it is close. Both companies engrave brass to order, both offer a choice of fonts, and both cap the characters.
| Engraving | Meljac, read 9 October 2026 | Studio Timeless |
|---|---|---|
| Standard fonts | Arial and Helvetica | Single house font |
| Specialty fonts | Berthold Akzidenz Grotesk, Century Gothic, Futura, Neutraface Text Book, custom on request | Not offered |
| Character limit | Two lines per push button or toggle, maximum 8 characters per line | 9 characters per position |
| Positions | Per button or toggle on the plate | Twenty positions across the plate |
| Text heights | 2.5, 3, 3.5 and 4 mm, 3 mm recommended, custom available | Single engraving size |
| Techniques | Laser, mechanical, resin-fill in any RAL color | Engraved, unfilled |
| Substrates | Brass, porcelain, glass | Brass |
Read it honestly: Meljac wins on typography and on fill, we win on positions and on buying it without a quotation. Sixteen characters over two lines beats nine on one line for a label like KITCHEN ISLAND. Our configurator article explains exactly how our twenty positions work, and the Custom Configurator prices it on the page.
LED feedback and control systems: what we do not do
Meljac offers backlit engraving, illuminated buttons and LED indicators at 3 mm and 8 mm, in several colors, in 12 or 24 VDC versions, requiring a remote power supply, and states that the feedback must be programmed through a third-party system. That is a lighting-control product, not a wall switch.
We do not make one, and we will not pretend otherwise. Our electronics are mechanical switches, TRIAC rotary dimmers, and two low-voltage controllers: the 0-10V LED dimmer at 150 dollars and the 12-24V PWM knob at 120 dollars. Two hard rules apply to those, and they are in our low-voltage article: a 0-10V controller never interrupts the 120V line and therefore requires a separate switch, and it is not compatible with TRIAC. Separately, only one TRIAC dimmer belongs on a circuit, and the second position in a two-gang must be a three-way toggle. A fan motor never goes on a lighting dimmer; that is what the fan speed control is for.
Ports and devices: what sits in the plate
Meljac lists numerous receptacle and port options that can be combined on one plate: 15A power in black or white, 20A power in black, HDMI, RJ45 data, USB-A charging and USB-C charging. The combination logic is the selling point.
Our equivalent is narrower and American. The duplex outlet runs 60 to 70 dollars, the GFCI outlet 60 to 65, the dual USB-C outlet 70, and the USB-A plus USB-C outlet 60 to 70, each in 15A or 20A. We have no data or HDMI product at all. Our outlet comparison covers the four modules, and combination plates handle a switch and an outlet behind one face.
Screws and edges: the small decisions that read on the wall
Meljac offers hidden screws, visible slot screws and visible Torx screws, and notes that visible screws give a more industrial look while hidden screws give a clean one. It also offers a beveled or straight plate edge.
We have one answer: visible slotted solid brass screws, two per gang, 1.97 inch long with a 0.28 inch head, finished to match the plate. Count them by gang and not by plate, so a 1-gang takes two and a 5-gang decorator plate takes ten. When a box sits deep in old plaster, longer brass screws and extensions exist so nobody substitutes a steel screw.
How you buy each one
Meljac routes a buyer through a general inquiry, a samples request, a quote and purchase page, dealer and trade accounts, or a partner portal. There is no cart and no published price. For a specified project with a designer and a schedule, that is a normal and perfectly workable channel. For a homeowner replacing six switches next weekend, it is a wall.
We publish everything. Read from our own catalog on 9 October 2026: knurled toggles at 84, 126, 173 and 237 dollars for 1 through 4 gangs; Retro Toggles at 92, 142, 197 and 269; rotary dimmers at 150, 230, 349, 459 and 579 for 1 through 5 gangs; plates from 50 to 170. Our trade program exists for specifiers who want the same thing Meljac dealers get, and the application page is open.
Repair, ten years out
A one-piece unit raises an obvious objection: if the mechanism fails, is the brass wasted? Our answer is four replacement modules, from 39 to 54.90 dollars, which is why the replacement module article exists. The toggle module is 39 dollars against 84 for the whole 1-gang unit.
Meljac publishes no spare-parts range on the pages we read. That is not a criticism; a bespoke manufacturer with sixty resellers handles service through the reseller. It does mean the service path runs through a person rather than a product page, which is a real difference on a house that changes hands.
Certification: what the pages say, and what they do not
The Meljac pages we read on 9 October 2026 mention Origine France Garantie and Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant. Neither is an electrical safety certification, and we found no mention of a UL, ETL or CE marking on the pages we read. We record that as an absence in what we read, not as a claim that no certification exists. Ask them directly; they will know.
We hold ourselves to the same rule, which means saying something inconvenient: our Retro Toggle range carries a CE marking and not a UL or ETL listing, and we publish that rather than letting a customer assume. Our article on dupes goes through what a certification marking is actually worth and the six things a cheap copy takes away; we will not repeat it here. And we confirm no wiring compatibility with any third-party mechanism without written confirmation from the manufacturer. For anything to do with wiring, the installation and compatibility guide is the page to read, and the National Electrical Code, NFPA 70 plus your local inspector decide what is permitted. Whether the job needs a licensed electrician and a permit is covered in our article on both.
Materials, honestly: both of us are selling brass
Neither company is doing anything exotic with metallurgy. Brass is a copper-zinc family, and the Copper Development Association describes at least sixteen different brasses, with zinc content ranging from 5% to 39%. The difference between a Meljac plate and ours is not the alloy. It is what happens to the surface afterwards: they plate and patinate over solid brass, we hand-brush it and lacquer it or leave it bare. Our guide to metal switch covers explains why the base metal and the section matter more than the color name.
Twelve projects, and which answer is right
This is the section we would want if we were the buyer.
| Project | The better answer | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New-build with a lighting control system and keypads | Meljac | Backlit engraving and LED feedback; we make none |
| Plate in a non-standard size the drawing fixes | Meljac | Metric bespoke sizes and orientations |
| Porcelain, glass or stone plate specified | Meljac | Materials we do not offer |
| Engraved label longer than nine characters | Meljac | Two lines of eight characters per button |
| Finish matched to an existing bespoke hardware suite | Meljac | Custom finish matching to sample |
| Hidden fixings required | Meljac | We fix with two visible brass screws per gang |
| Replacing switches in an existing American wall box | Studio Timeless | One-piece unit, no new rough-in, no back box |
| Budget has to be fixed before anyone is engaged | Studio Timeless | Every price published |
| Buying this week without a designer | Studio Timeless | Direct purchase, no quotation |
| GFCI or USB-C outlet in a US kitchen or bath | Studio Timeless | American device modules in brass |
| Owner wants a serviceable mechanism in ten years | Studio Timeless | Four published replacement modules from 39 dollars |
| Whole house on one coordinated metal, one supplier | Studio Timeless | Switches, plates, outlets, cabinet and door hardware in one range |
One thing worth knowing about our Retro Toggle
If the Meljac look you are after is a small round toggle on a flat plate, the range to compare is our Retro Toggle rather than the knurled one. It needs a 12 mm round opening, which the American rectangular cutout the knurled range uses will not accept, so the two are not interchangeable behind a single plate. The Double Retro Toggle also shares a common feed, so it cannot control two circuits on different phases. Our range comparison covers both, and the history of the push button switch explains where the format came from.
Frequently asked questions
What is Meljac?
A French manufacturer of bespoke solid brass electrical hardware, made in-house at a factory outside Paris, with showrooms in Paris and Lyon, around sixty approved resellers worldwide and a North American office in Los Angeles.
How much do Meljac switches cost?
Meljac does not publish prices on its pages. Pricing comes from a quote, a dealer or a showroom. We will not invent a figure for a competitor, and you should treat any number you find on a third-party page as unverified.
Where can I buy Meljac in the United States?
Through the North American subsidiary and its dealer and trade channel. The pages list general inquiries, samples requests, a quote and purchase route, dealer and trade accounts, and a partner portal.
Are Meljac plates solid brass?
Yes. Their pages describe solid brass plates, plated in materials including bronze, copper, nickel and gunmetal, with hand-brushing, sandblasting and patinating as surface treatments.
How many finishes does Meljac offer?
The French know-how page states 30. The North American configurator we read on 9 October 2026 lists 41 plate finish names in four tiers, with 39 in the first dropdown. All three figures are what the pages show.
Is Meljac better than Studio Timeless?
On bespoke plate sizing, materials beyond brass, engraving typography and control-system integration, Meljac does things we do not. On fitting a standard American wall box, published prices, direct purchase and published replacement parts, we do things they do not. The right answer depends on the project.
How thick is a Meljac plate compared with yours?
Their configurator example gives 3 mm, which is 0.118 inch. Ours are 0.080 inch. They have more material in the face.
Can Studio Timeless engrave a switch plate like Meljac?
We engrave to order through the Custom Configurator, nine characters across up to twenty positions, in one house font, unfilled. Meljac allows two lines of eight characters per button in several fonts with resin fill.
Does Meljac work in an American wall box?
Their plate sizes are metric and the system includes its own back boxes, so this is a question for them and your electrician on a specific box. We do not make claims about another manufacturer compatibility, and we confirm no third-party wiring compatibility without written confirmation.
Is Meljac UL listed?
We found no UL, ETL or CE marking mentioned on the Meljac pages we read on 9 October 2026. That is an absence in what we read, not a statement about their products. Ask them directly.
What is a good Meljac alternative in the United States?
It depends which Meljac you mean. For a bespoke metric plate in porcelain or glass with keypad control, there is no close American equivalent. For solid brass switches with engraving that fit standard boxes and ship with published prices, that is what we make.
Who else should I be comparing?
Our honest comparisons of Forbes and Lomax, Corston and Buster and Punch cover the rest of this market, and the trends article explains where the whole category is going.
The short version
Meljac is a bespoke manufacturer that designs the opening along with the plate, and that is a genuinely different trade from ours. If your project has a drawing, a control system and a designer, specify Meljac and do not look for a substitute. If your project has a wall box that already exists, a budget that has to be known in advance and a switch you want to buy today, that is what Studio Timeless builds. Start from switches and outlets, or from wall plates and outlet covers if the mechanism is staying put.
Last updated: 9 October 2026
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