Here's a little video from Oliver Goldsmith showing what goes into making a bespoke pair of sunglasses. These little beauties are handmade in England...
Pictures from Andy Wolf latest collection soon but for now here's a video of The Rosenthal Legacy, a film featuring, as you might expect, plenty of good-quality handmade eyewear from Austria.
Sorry for the lack of posts – have been away and then Christmas kind of took over. Trust everyone's had a cracking time and you've received all the goodies you wanted!
This is the Betsy frame from Australian brand Isson's Moonstruck Menagerie collection and it's refreshingly original. Obvious nods to 50s and 60s but with a very modern twist.
It's a handmade, black acetate limited-edition frame featuring mirrored lenses. The 'Betsy' has also been included in SS2011 collection in colours Black Rock, Pearl Skin and Green Purple Smoke.
Zuerihorn is one of those incredibly good quality European eyewear companies that can do little wrong. With its handmade specs named after the cows from whose horns the frames are made, I'm looking forward to trying a pair of these on next weekend at the big glasses show in Paris. As you can guess from "Zuerihorn", the glasses are made from horn. But also silk - a new one on me!
These specs look great... I will update you soon!
I posted back in April about the re-launch of Oliver Goldsmith retro glasses. And here I turn the lens on myself to show off a pair of Oliver Goldsmith Consul-S, in the Black Float colourway. Great aren't they? Well, clearly I think so.
Currently available in only a few places but distribution deals are being signed so these, and other great original styles will be making their way to your local top-notch optician soon...
And thanks too to Ciliary Blue for the lenses - great service!
Bloody hell - will you take a look at these RVS by V specs!? Limited edition spectacles from RVS by V - only 100 of these will be made. The contours of this frame are simply stunning - I love the way the frame curves in towards the lens; the matt finish, the gloss inside. Gosh! More on RVS soon...
It takes 21 days to create a pair of Anne et Valentin handmade glasses, and judging by these pictures, you can tell.
Anne et Valentin began in Toulouse in 1981 and I'm rather pleased it did. Its collection is one of the broadest and best around. Above are just a few the acetates and if you thought that was all A&V does, think again...
Lotho sunglasses are designed in Paris, handmade in Japan. I'm on a bit of role of being introduced to new names and Lotho is my latest happy find.
A young brand, Lotho has some great takes on classic styles such as (top down) Henry, Allie and Aroun (left).
But with this limited edition Yuwano, Lotho's designer, Coco, demonstrates an ability to create something bold and directional, bringing contrasting elements together to dramatic effect.
To create something truly brilliant, there has to be attention to detail. Glasses are a prime example. New York based Robert Marc Eyewear continues to attend to the detail and the new Harbour Collection is typical of his approach.
I've raved a little about Robert Marc before, particularly about the hinges, but the other stand-out detail about his frames is the material. He uses acetate extremely well - sometimes simple, sometimes complex - and the above demonstrates both extremes.
It was the RM629's finish (top) that caught my eye, but its the RM632 and RM250 in the second picture that steals the show. In the temple, incorporates hand-woven raffia into the crystal finish - hence the limited numbers... great work, all inspired by Harbour Island in the Bahamas.
One of the biggest global names in eyewear, Oliver Goldsmith, will be launching retro models of his original glasses designs from the 1960s and 1970s by the end of April, Eye Wear Glasses can reveal.
Original retro sunglasses from Oliver Goldsmith were launched back in 2005 but, until now, Oliver Goldsmith retro glasses designs have only been available in Japan and the Far East, where the spectacles and brand, described below by A Oliver Goldsmith in a film for the Victoria & Albert Museum, are hugely popular.
These frames pictured are just a fraction of the 2009-10 collection. Exactly which models will be available in the West remains to be seen. All designs are exact copies of original designs, handmade in Japan from top quality acetate. Hover over the pictures above for model names, I've shown the black ones to highlight the great shapes but also shown some of the colours available.
Handmade in Turkey from Mazzucchelli acetate, and limited to around 1,500 frames per year, these are RVS by V sunglasses where the V presume is for Vidal Erkohen, the man behind the company. There are some great colours, a classy matte finish, and even some folding frames - what's there not admire?
Discovered a great little frame factory in Toronto: Rapp Optical stocks a tonne of great frames including its very own range of handmade Rapp frames...
Let's take a closer look at some of Rapp Collection 3.0...
Above is Taunus, below Eliott Salloon, both made of walnut.
Next a little detail showing the curve and the hinge - made of compressed wood and no screws. There's even a little stitch that holds the lenses in place - all extremely clever.
And finally here's Chris holding the Silmo D'Or for technological innovation (frames, not lenses) which Rolf Spectacles won for the Imperator last year - made of bog oak/maple. Company founder Roland Wolf: “We have researched and developed for over two years until we eventually came to the product we now have”.
L.G.R is a new brand for me, and what I've seen so far is mighty impressive. Here LGR collaborates with Antonio Marras for in a 2010 women's collection inspired by Africa and the colours of the desert. The lens-frame contrast reminds me a little of my find in Antarctica a week or two back.
Handmade in Italy and like all LGR sunglasses, the lenses are made of anti-reflective, anti-scratch, tempered mineral glass (always a sign of quality) and the frames use a clever material called cellulose acetate which is a little like memory metals but for plastic (as demonstrated impressively in the clip below).
Luca Gnecchi Ruscone started the company in 2007. It has a great optical collection and are definitely one to watch. Much more including an optical collection on the LGR Sunglasses website
Andy Wolf Eyewear is handmade in the small Styrian town of Hartberg, Austria. These photos were taken at Vienna Fashion Week and show how acetate spectacles should look - beautiful. And here's a little detail of how they're made...
