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.

Beam, Benz or Bentley: Kirk Originals' best batch yet?

"Beam" of course. Kirk Originals really has stepped up its game with what EWG thinks might be its best batch of bins yet. The colours, the shapes, the innovation, these glasses are good enough to eat.

The Beam collection was raved about back in September 2011, and here are a few brand new shots of some of the latest rays of light to emanate from the Kirk design house.

View more pictures on the Kirk site here...

Or watch Jason Kirk talking about them on the 2012 Designers video...

Beam me up Kirk: colourful acrylic glasses for 2012

Wow! Look at the colour on these fantastic glasses from Kirk Originals. The new Beam and Sunbeam collections for 2012 are being launched at Silmo, the big eyewear show in Paris next week.

These specs look amazing; but technically they're brilliant too. They're made of acrylic. Kirk Originals has been working on these for more than a decade and while the UK designer has been using acrylic for a while now in the temples, this is the first time it's made the front of this material too.

Note the lack of any metal wire in the temple and the fantastic polish on the acrylic. Looking forward to trying a few of these on next week!

RRP: €420