Seeoo Big and the Seeoo Classic

While we remain to be convinced about any big come-back for the monocle, the pince-nez (from the French for pinch-nose) has, in our opinion, more of a future. Particularly in the format below, Classic, from Austria's Seeoo. Perfect as an occasional ready-reader, these exquisite gadgets fit in a credit-card-sized case. For the more regular glasses wearer, Big, above, pinches its styling from the pince-nez below in rather a dramatic way.

Hoet creates 3D-printed titanium glasses: Made in Belgium

3D printed glasses have hitherto been made from nylon or a similar polymer, but Bruges-based Hoet, after four years' research an development, has now made a rather stunning pair of 3D-printed titanium spectacles: Made in Belgium  - that's the name and the provenance. View more below...

Roger that...

Loving these two new frames from Roger Eye Design... Anywhere stocking these beauties would surely be in contention for our coolest opticians project!

Blue Magic Eye 2013: "Euforia"

These are from independent Italian framemakers Blue Magic Eye. Great combination of acetate with a metal behind. And great colours too! Featured here are Euforia 6200 and 6300, available from all good opticians. "Life's too short to wear boring glasses," as BME says. EWG agrees.

The Brechin sunglasses from The Leisure Society

Sunglasses don't come better than these: Brechin from The Leisure Society. The build quality of all Leisure Society eyewear is second to none. Handmade in Japan, these exquisite shades are available in brown with 18k gold (above),  black with 12k silver, or Sahara with 12k silver. They will cost you $795 but believe us, they're worth it.

Limited-edition Beth frames from Mykita, by Beth Ditto

Mykita has teamed up with Beth Ditto to produce this exquisite limited-edition frame, "Beth". It comes in purple and white versions with violet gradient lenses. There are 100 frames in purple, and the white one, ditto.

Medwinds x Henrik Vibskov On The Beach sunglasses

Continuing the trend for clips, increasingly with contrasting shapes, comes Medwinds' collaboration with Henrik Vibskov with these sunglasses from the On The Beach collection. Price: £180 online here.

Liam Gallagher's sunglasses: Slip inside the mind of Pretty Green Eyewear

Pretty Green Eyewear, as worn by Liam Gallagher. Top is PG383, above PG2576 and below PG2653. Thanks to Brillor.

Louis Vuitton FW 2012 sunglasses go down to the wire

Here's an early glimpse at Louis Vuitton's latest invention for its men's winter collection: the Wire Frame. Come to think of it you could do some cross-stitch on these too!

Thom Browne by Dita 2012 eyewear: safety first

Popped into the brilliant Eye Company on Wardour Street last week where I was introduced to these little beauties from luxury menswear designer Thom Browne, produced by Dita Eyewear. Loving the clips, the mesh safety sides and, having tried them on, the comfortable wire temples. Well worth the price tag!

Götti get you into my life: horn glasses from Switzerland

Götti is renowned for its high-quality metals and acetate frames, but now it has launched some buffalo horn specs, right and above...

Oliver Goldsmith round glasses remade for 2012 – as worn by John Lennon

New York-based  actress Emily Bennett wears Oliver Oval/Pro from Oliver Goldsmith – a titanium remake of the original Windsor-bridge spectacles worn by John Lennon.

Suitable for ladies or chaps...

pq Eyewear in the flesh: Ron Arad launches glasses

Ron Arad's pq Eyewear gets its first outing proper this weekend at the Mido exhibition in Milan.

They kind of launched with lots of CGI graphics last year and I had a brief chat with Ron Arad about them in Paris in September.

But here are real pairs of spectacles!

Above is Corbs, right is the A frame, and below is a terrific video of the frames in production in France...



pq Eyewear made in France from pq Eyewear on Vimeo.

Get around, round, round: Mykita eyewear 2012

Mykita continues to make round glasses as inviting as they ever could be. Above you can see Teiti, Thorvald and Cecile. And at the top, two pictures from another wonderful Mykita lookbook, shot by Mark Borthwick. See the full Mykita 2012 lookbook here...

A bridge too far? Theo by James

Here are some specs you're unlikely to forget. Theo has collaborated with James Van Vossel to create this unique design, a single-wire rimless frame with a memorable looping bridge. A bridge too far? No - Theo has always created some frames that stand out and long may it continue.

We rarely feature rimless so it's a pleasure to find a pair which include such statement. Referring back to yesterday's Cazal post, are these maximal minimalism?

Theo by James is available in six colours. Square-lensed models are James 3 while round ones are James 4.

Cazal 9036: tomorrow's classics today?

Cazal is brilliant. Regardless of almost every influence, Cazal has blazed a trail doing exactly what it likes. Its frames may have caught the imagination of the hip-hop scene in the 1980s and vintage models can exchange hands for hundreds of £/$/€ but it has never stopped creating breathtaking designs, something it calls "Pure Maximalism".

This is new model for 2012: Cazal 9036. Also in black/gold and brown/gold.

Erna glasses in Havana brown and gold dust by Fleye

'Erna' in Havana brown and gold dust landed Danish eyewear designer Fleye an  iOFT Eyewear of the Year 2012 award in the ladies glasses category. We particularly like the detail where the nosepad wire is threaded through the bridge. 

Jono Hennessey glasses: fabric frames and belt buckle metals

Jono Hennessey is an Australian brand with a rich heritage going back to 1925 and it was one of my highlights from Paris. Above are some laminated fabric frames from the Art collection, which are simply excellent quality. A manufacturing method developed with Mazzucchelli in the 1980s ensures there are no threads emerging at the edges, which cannot be said for a few other fabric laminates I've seen of late.
And below is Rancho Deluxe. Inspired by Wild West belt buckles, the moulds took two weeks to hand carve. Limited edition runs and truly amazing to the touch.

Beck wears Theo Fool specs

Beck, aka Mrs Eye Wear Glasses, is pictured enjoying a smoothie in her Theo Fool glasses, as purchased from the brilliant Spex in the City in Covent Garden, a great little opticians that packs loads of choice into a pretty small space.

I love the shape of this frame – really unusual design around the bridge where the lenses are free from the frame. I raved about some similar Theo frames last year. The Belgian frame maker's slogan is "Theo Loves You" – we love you too Theo! Take a peep at Theo's site for millions of truly original designs. Available in the best opticians worldwide.

Beck's glasses feature a great glazing job too by the superb Ciliary Blue, a web service with some great prices for reglazing. I recently got Ciliary Blue to put a prescription into my Ray-Ban's and they did it perfectly, matching the tint to a T. We highly recommend! Prices start at £15 for a reglaze.

Finest Seven sunglasses: luxury collection launches in London

Finest Seven launches next month in London with a rather stunning collection of v. high- end sunglasses (Harvey Nichols to begin with) and a rather impressive pedigree in good eyewear design.

New Zealand-born Jesse Stevens has designed for EWG favourites Cutler & Gross, Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses and Prada.

"Finest Seven" refers to the the key aspects of eyewear production: components, lenses, materials, finish, design, comfort and manufacture. The first range consists of six styles featuring precious metals such as platinum and yellow gold, as well as top-quality acetate in exclusive colours such as chestnut and plum.

Prices start at £495.