Blake Kuwahara's frame within a frame

Blake Kuwahara has been designing top-notch specs for the likes of Kata, Carolina Herrera and Coach but last year he launched a glasses collection under his own name, and EWG likes what it sees.

I've previously talked about the contrast between the shape of the outer frame and and the inner frame and it can create dramatic effects on the look of a pair of glasses. What Blake has done is added another dimension by producing frames which appear to have another frame inside, what he calls frame within a frame.

Great results as you can see here with Eames (top) and Corbu (above).

Handmade in Japan and oozing quality, Blake Kuwahara glasses will cost you around the $600 mark.

L.G.R. Reunion: decent black sunnies for 2015

Continuing our #DecentSunnies series, here is L.G.R, an eyewear brand renowned for its perfect acetates and knock-out lens-frame colour combinations. Here, however, I've picked out three black beauties, from the top – Reunion, Tripoli and Lola. Handmade in Italy, Zeiss lenses, say no more. Stocked all over the world.

Behind the scenes of pq Eyewear 2015 shoot

Getting up to date with Ron Arad's pq... courtesy of a feature on HungerTV. Including a great view of the hingeless design....

How much should you spend on a decent pair of glasses?

When people ask me how much you should spend on glasses I usually say that if it seems like a really good price – for example "buy-one-get-one-free", "free lenses", "frames just $29.99" – then in all likelihood, it probably isn't. You get what you pay for

Just like with a decent watch, dishwasher or car, a more expensive pair of specs will most likely last longer and fit better.

So when my Dad told me about his pal Ash's new Andy Wolf Havana Gold frames, I gave a big thumbs up. They look great and I'm certain they'll last.

Black Eyewear: Robert Roope's Jazz-inspired frames

As someone who for a long time wore a pair of chunky, 1950s/60s-style, black and crystal acetates by Oliver Goldsmith (Consul-S), I was always going to be an instant fan of another British brand, Black Eyewear, by Robert Roope.

“I wanted to rescue the bold, simple, iconic eyewear styles of the 1950s,” says Robert about his Jazz-inspired frames, named after greats like Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington.
The top frame here is dedicated to Lester Young, the bottom one after Buster Bailey.

Robert's designs currently feature in the Bright Old Things boutique inside Selfridges, but he also has his own shop at 38 Goodge Street, London. Well worth a visit.

Available online too at Black Eyewear at some very reasonable prices - expect to pay around £225, single vision lenses included.

Kuboraum's frame within a frame...

...Or should that be mask within a mask?

We first covered Kuboraum in 2012, a new Berlin based designer with chunky Italian acetate sunglasses or, as it prefers, masks. So it was good to rediscover the brand at 100% Optical in London earlier this month.

Top of this post is the Kuboraum T1 sunglass in question, the brilliantly conceived mask within a mask. They type of design that if someone described it you'd think it could not work, but as is shown here, it does! A great looking, highly original frame.

Below that is A2 and finally A1. Made in Italy, Kuboraum is available at its Berlin showroom at 96 Köpenicker Straße, and at top-end shops and opticians around the world.

Up with the Larke: crystal clear acetates for 2015

As an English glasses blogger, it's always a pleasure to meet a new English glasses designer. There aren't many.

So here's Laura Nicholson in her Larke frame, one of a stunning collection of stylish acetate specs, all available online and all made in England.

Featured here, top to bottom, are Gill in cobalt blue, the exceptional Locke in crystal and Veda in Horn.

Prices are around £275 with delivery available worldwide. A few stockists too in London, Copenhagen and Tokyo,

Bellinger glasses in cotton candy colours

It's a bold eyewear house that breaks the mould by baking its own acetate, but the designers at Bellinger do just that.

Bellinger acetate creates a beautiful play of colors with unique patterns. A dough of cotton, acetone and alcohol is mixed, filtered, kneaded, heated and finally pushed into large blocks. And that's when the creative work begins resulting in some amazing effects. It's a bit like old-fashioned candy say the Danish company as demonstrated by these great images which I picked up at the recent 100% Optical show in London.

Factory 900 Retro Future: chunky frames

There's nothing like a chunky, quality Japanese acetate to awaken a sleepy glasses blog. EWG loves these from Factory900. Available as shades or specs.

Kirk & Kirk launches debut Vivarium collection

Forget glasses with plain pins in the top corners of the frame. Forget the ubiquitous lozenge shape rivet that dominates the mass market. And opt instead for an intricate fly or a horse inspired by Victorian natural history collectors .

Do so and you'll be getting your hands on the hotly anticipated debut collection from eyewear's new luxury eyewear name, Kirk & Kirk.

As a lifelong fan of Kirk Originals, my brow furrowed last summer when I discovered that the brand's founders, Jason and Karen Kirk, had left the company. Kirk Originals continues, and EWG wishes it well, but it was the launch of the Kirks' new brand, Kirk & Kirk, that was always going to excite us, hence the first post in a long while.

As with brilliant Beam collection a couple of years ago, Vivarium is made of acrylic, which makes it lighter than acetate. The frames are handmade in France while the animal jewellery pins have been crafted in England and are made of sterling silver or 9 carat gold.

Frames top to bottom: Carson, Curie and Fleming, featuring gold horse pins.

CW Dixey & Son Chartwell 02 spectacles

We've featured CW Dixey & Son glasses here previously – good to see them still going strong. These are the classy Chartwell 02, perfect if you want a pair to peer over with a slightly disapproving look!

And it was just announced that CW Dixey will be featured in the Linley Exhibition in London, celebrating British design, craftmanship, engineering and innovation. CW Dixey will feature alongside Rolls-Royce, McLaren, Lobb and Bremont watches, among many other distinguished names. More here...

Cubitts glasses online: Brunswick, Herbrand and Wicklow

After having taken a bit of breather, EWG returns to find some interesting trends in the world of glasses. There suddenly appear to be quite a few websites, sometimes with a physical shop like Playn Eyewear, offering very good value, quality specs for around the £100 mark.

Cubitts has caught my eye: good Italian acetate, pin drilling, barrel hinges, decent lenses... the list goes on! And as is fairly typical for online sellers now, you get to choose up to four pairs in a home trial, before you choose the frame you really fancy. Above is Brunswick, left is Herbrand and below is Wicklow.

Playn Eyewear at Shoreditch Boxpark

If you've never bought a pair of glasses from a shipping container, now might be your chance. Boxpark in Shoreditch is a collection of pop-up shops assembled like Lego near the Overground station. There, until 24 November, is Playn Eyewear, a lovely collection of good-quality acetate frames. It's not an opticians though, so have your prescription at the ready and get a decent pair of specs, fully glazed, all good quality for £125. Oh and if you can't get along to Shoredicth in the next three weeks, you can do it all online: Playn Eyewear. Playn simple!

Christian Roth 2014 sunglasses captured by Formento & Formento

Here's the latest from Éric Domège and Christian Roth, as captured by photographic duo Richeille and BJ Formento in Miami’s MiMo district for the designers' 2014 campaign.

Top to bottom: Belles of Embellishment, Christian's Own, and Piece and Love. The range of colours is vast. Below is Christian's Own (named after his favourite aviator shape), in the colourway Design 78,  a "Fluo Orange with Fluo Green & Caribic Blue detail". Prices circa $460.

RVS yes yes by V: The female Point of View

Yesterday we looked at RVS by V's male Point of View, and today we take a look at some more feminine views. Top Mulholland Drive, then Alien and, above, the deliciously named Moulin Rouge Strawberry Shortcake.

Ballyhoo!! Cat's eyes or bat's ears from Oliver Goldsmith?

At some point cat's eyes become so accentuated that they appear more like bats' ears or devil's horns, so perhaps I should have posted this later in the month. Above is the brilliantly named Ballyhoo from Oliver Goldsmith, while below are Annabel in black and Vice-Consul in a smokey grey crystal.

Factory 900 melting sunglasses

They're not really melting. But you can see that the FA-1111 from Japan's Factory 900 certainly creates a distinctive look as the exquisite acetate frame curves away from the face above and below the lens. This video, in Japanese, gives you a better idea...

The sunglasses have just won a Silmo d'Or, one of the most coveted prizes in eyewear. Also available as glasses.

Read our previous posts on Factory 900 here...

One to watch: Suzy Glam glasses

Welcome to Suzy Glam, an extremely exciting new eyewear brand from the Netherlands. The detail on these shapes is superb, combining interesting bevels and curves into a great looking acetate frame.

Currently available in some great stores in Holland, Belgium and Germany and Switzerland, with more stockists coming soon we're sure.

Amazing photos by Aisha Zeijpveld / Judith Veenendaal

Oliver Goldsmith gets colourful

A sneak preview of some of the new colours becoming available from Oliver Goldsmith...

Lunettes Kollektion 2013: a little je ne sais quoi

Here's a little of Lunettes Kollektion's 2013 offering: the Bon Vivant sunglasses below, and above on the gent, Je Ne Sais Quoi  at the top and La Flaneur, above.