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.

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.

Lindberg reinterprets 1950s men's classic with sleek 9802 frame

Lindberg always brings a little class to glasses, as illustrated by its take on the popular 1950s look du jour, above: the 9802 from the Lindberg Strip collection (note the clever hinge!).  Above that in the main photo is the minimalist 2171, from the Spirit range.

Eyewear: A Visual History - another optical opus reviewed

You wait all year for an eyewear book and then two come along at once. New York eyewear designer Moss Lipow's Eyewear: A Visual History, at 360 pages, is a bigger book than Cult Eyewear, reviewed here last month. It's a very different hardback, but equally compelling.

Eyewear is for flicking through. Each page is marvellously illustrated with carefully photographed life-size frames, most of which come from Lipow's own collection. As well as this array of stills, he has sourced amazing pictures such as this one above (1956) from old magazines, catalogues, advertising and films.

Lipow begins in the first chapter - pre-1900 - at the very beginnings of glasses, charting the history of the early optical devices. There are lorgnettes, optical fans, scissor spectacles, pince-nez and monocles, but it's the second chapter on 1900-1945 in which you really begin to appreciate the extent of his glasses collection.

I was intrigued by the story linking sunglasses and billiard balls, and the detail provided around some early cat's eye designs and driving glasses is enlightening. Eyewear is providing Eye Wear Glasses with some much need early eyewear education! Brands to be found in this chapter include Shuron, American Optical, Bachman Bros and Montgomery Ward and some Bausch & Lomb aviators from the 1940s. There's even a pair of 1920s protective glasses from the Soviet Union.

The middle section covers the post-war sunglass boom, between 1945 and 1960. Find out here how the demise of ornamental hair combs is linked to eyewear manufacture. And it's from here on in that the book becomes an absolute joy with page after glorious page of amazing eyewear designs. The chapter on the 1960s is superb, with a focus on op-art, featuring contributions from Silhouette, Pierre Cardin, Spec-Trim, Renauld, Ray-Ban, Paulette Guinet, Oliver Goldsmith, Pierre Marly, Oleg Cassini (below) and American Optical (next down).

Continues below...

Above: Shutter sunglasses by Alain Mikli. Above those: are Italian metal sunglasses from Maga Design. And the big blue ones above those are Futura sunglasses from Silhouette. These final three feature in the final chapter, The Age of the Licensed Brand which features yet more amazing styles from Christian Dior, Bollé, Cazal, Moschino by Persol, and some astonishing Jean-Paul Gualtier sunglasses by Murai of Japan.

I particularly like the inclusion of Taiwan or Korea-made sunglasses alongside the Western brands, and Lipow describes the ramifications of Asian-made eyewear on the West's eyewear industries; he even features a Taiwanese "knockoff" of Alain Mikli's famous 'Picasso' 030 frame, directly opposite the genuine spectacle.

Moss Lipow's book is a eyewear design treasure trove, providing exactly the visual history its title promises. It's eyewear eye-candy, at times you don't know where to look! His writing is entertaining and informative and includes numerous little-known gems. But this book is first and foremost about the images, approximately 1,200 of them and every one is presented at a scale such that you can spot wonderful detail. Well worth investing in!

Hover over images for photo credits.

Eyewear: A Visual History by Moss Lipow.
Published by Taschen. UK £34.99, US $59.99, €39.99. 360pp. English/German/French.
ISBN 978-3-8365-2565-7

Also available in Italian/Portuguese/Spanish.
€39.99. ISBN 978-3-8365-2780-4

Buy your copy here:
UK | USA | Deutschland 
España | France | Italia

CW Dixey launches Chartwell glasses collection including frames worn by Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill with Franklin D Roosevelt, Casablanca, 1943. Photo courtesy of the Franklin D Roosevelt Library and Museum; version date 2009

CW Dixey & Son is the oldest independent eyewear company in the world. Its history straddles four centuries and its frames have been worn by an A-list unlike any other.

The current owners of CW Dixey have spent the past couple of years creating the above collection, the centrepiece of which is Chartwell 01, replicas of the round glasses worn by Churchill. These are directly above, and at the top on the red background, alongside Chartwell 02, which is a remake of Churchill's reading glasses. Both frames are handmade in France from original dimensions, using the best Mazzuchelli acetates in light and dark tortoiseshell and black. There are then seven other limited edition frames (Chartwell 03 and 07 are featured above) in the collection which bring together sophisticated designs of the 50s and 60s to the modern day. So hats off to CW Dixey & Son - it's created a great new collection. But if there wasn't the back-story, the distinguished patrons, the coat of arms, the amazing history, this collection would still stand out as being extremely well made. I've had all nine styles in my hands and they're tip top quality. Worth every penny of the £380+ price tag. Oh, one more thing: the spectacle cases are pretty fine too!

HISTORY & PATRONS Forget Lady Gaga, Rihanna and the rest of the paparazzi's targets of today; how about Sir Winston Churchill for a little endorsement? Impressed? Then read on, because CW Dixey has the most astonishing list of customers I've ever come across.  As well as Churchill, there are no fewer than 10 other British prime ministers, including: Harold Macmillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, Ramsay MacDonald and the Duke of Wellington. Who else? How about Queen Victoria? Yes, alongside Prince Albert , George VI, V, IV and III. I could go on. Okay, a few more: Ian Fleming, Peter Sellers, Tennessee Williams, Boris Karloff .... the list is endless. Did I mention Napoleon Bonaparte? He had a telescope rather than spectacles but that's what Dixey did too. It was "Optician and Mathematical Instrument Maker". CW Dixey had premises at 3 Bond Street, London, below, which was sadly bombed in World War II.

London Retro launches with exclusive web collection

Invitations to new eyewear brand launches in London are few and far between so I went along to the Zigfrid Von Underbelly bar this week with a skip in my step.

London Retro is quite an accurate description as brand names go: nine classic styles with names like Fitzrovia (top), Shoreditch (second down), Queens (third), and Portobello (above on him, with Shoreditch on her). Finally Sam and Jodie, at the launch party, wear Queens (far left) and Carnaby (left)

What is decidedly modern, however, is that London Retro is exclusively available online. The spectacle collection comes from Glasses Direct, the UK online retailer, and every London Retro frame is £99, including single-vision lenses. The collection looks good: lots of colour choice and it comes with a suitably retro case.

TD Tom Davies launches six limited edition 1950s glasses for women

British bespoke eyewear designer TD Tom Davies has launched six 1950s-style special edition glasses, limited to 50 pieces each. Made from high-quality acetate, they feature Swarovski crystals in the browline or temples.

Tom Davies himself explains:  "“I have been doing private couture commissions incorporating precious stones and the recent demand for these has inspired me to do this first limited edition with Swarovski crystals. For customers wanting a truly exquisite finish, we can fit the frame with real certified diamonds. The results are literally dazzling."

Are these the best glasses of 2011? Mykita Holly and Elsa

Want specs that nod at the 1950s and 60s (which is of course v good), but don't make you look like old snaps of your grandma? Then get your peepers round Holly and Elsa from EWG favourite Mykita.

Amazingly, Mykita has been going for less than seven years' but it has already established itself as one of most innovative manufacturers - and one of the coolest designers - in the world.

Above is Holly in gold and light blue, an addition to the No.1 collection, while below is Elsa, from Mykita No. 2. If you like the look, go and find a pair and fold those hinges. For a rave on Mykita hinges looky here...

Available from any optician with taste.

Ogi's Seraphin collection - new takes on old classics

The Seraphin collection from Ogi will feature these three new styles next year: (top-bot) Jersey, France and Kipling.

Super releases 14 shades and frames for a cold, sunny winter

Retro Super Future has launched 14 new styles for Winter 2011 including these three, from the top: Lucia in caramel, People in crystal and Andrea Francis. As you can see, Super, is also starting to sell optical frames as well as sunglasses.

Leisure Society luxury eyewear - the best keeps getting better

When I ventured over to Paris, one of the most interesting collections I came across was a new one: Leisure Society by Shane Baum.

Shane is the man behind many an amazing pair of glasses. Not only has he developed a cutting-edge eye fashion business, working making eyewear for brands such as Paul Frank and Modern Amusement, but he's also worked in conjunction with some of the biggest names in fashion, including Louis Vuitton.

It was particularly impressed to find that Shane had worked on the "Bling Bindi" shades that featured here back when we started.

Shane knows good stuff when he sees it so when I heard the Leisure Society was a top-notch luxury collection  I knew I would not be disappointed.

Believe me, these frames are incredible.

They're some of the coolest, most up-to-the-second designs around, and they are beautifully made. Titanium frame plated with 12-18 and 24-carat gold with detail that you need a magnifying glass to truly appreciate, the Leisure Society is only available in some of the best opticians in the world...

Isson SS2011 sunglasses: Betsy

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.

Lunettes Kollektion - simple glasses with a simple name

Clearly it takes a brand with some quality product to have the nerve to call itself a Franco-German translation of "Glasses Collection" and still get taken seriously.

These frames look terrific, but don't just take my word for it (although my word does usually suffice).

The big, annual eyewear exhibition in Japan (IOFT) has just given Lunettes Kollektion the men's frame of the year award.

Lunettes started four years ago in Berlin and has two stores that have specialised in decent vintage stock.

The Lunettes Kollektion however is its own range of vintage-inspired eyewear.




All frames - including "Artsy-Fartsy" which won the award - are produced by small Austrian and Italian manufacturers and although I have not yet held a pair my hands (the only true test of good eyewear), these look top-notch.

Winning an award in Japan is only going to help Lunettes Kollektion's reputation.

I look forward to seeing a pair...

Raised eyebrows all: Sabre Nuevo sunglasses from Down Under

These shades from Australian brand Sabre have that raised eyebrow feel to them; I love the black and white, the classic 50s / 60s look and the gold detail.

Claire Goldsmith Legacy glasses collection

It brings me great pleasure when I can rave about some British designers and they don't come much greater than Oliver Goldsmith.

Claire Goldsmith relaunched Oliver Goldsmith sunglasses four years ago, recreating many of the vintage designs of the past 70

years.

Claire Goldsmith says, “The collection has been designed by the team I have put together since re-launching the Oliver Goldsmith brand.

"The OG re-launch has been incredibly well received and the classic designs taken from the archive once again can be seen to be worn on some of the coolest faces out there.

"But vintage is just one trick and we can do so much more. Legacy represents the future.”

I agree. Great shapes and I love the mixture of

1950s vintage details with more 1970s and 1980s finishes.

Hold on to that design

team Claire!

Stockists include Artsee in NY and Gogosha Optique in LA. Available February.