Goldson wooden sunglasses for Autumn

A clear advantage of not feeling particularly specsy of late is that it's easier to discover, some original, inspiring eyewear, as proved here by Goldson, a specialist in handmade wooden sunglasses from industrial designer Arnaud Eubelen. Here we feature the neatly shaped Model 3, and the elegant Model 4, both carefully crafted in Liège in Belgium.

Feb31st Isaac 48000 wooden sunglasses

These are Isaac 48000 sunglasses  from Italian wood experts Feb31st - I love the slightly frowning profile on the bridge!

Standing warm against the cold: Skylark wood-stone glasses from Rolf

I really do get excited about these glasses. I tried on a pair of Rolf's wooden specs with a stone finish in Paris last year and they really are incredibly comfortable: the wood makes them so light and then the stone has this dramatic cooling effect on your face. An incomparable piece of eyewear.

This is Skylark 41, winner of the Red Dot design award for 2012. Congrats to Rolf Spectacles...

Wooden frames get colourful, but only on FEB31st

FEB31st is a new brand from Italy which is providing a new take on wooden frames by creating a collection in natural wooden finishes but in bright colours inside and/or outside.

Designer Valerio Cometti presented the new collection earlier this month in Paris. FEB21st says its frames weigh only 21 grams, they have a reinforced nosepads and a clever method for getting the lenses in.

From the top: Crux (x3), Ara and Auriga. The FEB31st collection includes nine models: four for men, three for women and two unisex; four of these frames are available also for sunglasses. Below, three more Crux and Cygnus Sun.

Everybody walk the dinosaur - Rolf Spectacles (VIDEO)

A month on from my post on Rolf Spectacles' stone and wood glasses – Dino – I can now present a video...

I tried these glasses on in Paris and they are wonderfully comfortable. The stone gives a cooling sensation on the skin and they are extremely light also.

Stone the crow's eyes: Rolf Spectacles in an another eyewear first

Having deservedly won numerous awards for its great wooden frames, Austrian glasses specialist Rolf Spectacles has created another first in the run-up to Silmo, the year's big optical show in Paris in three weeks... Glasses made from stone!

"The material stone with its strong structure brings a new surface into the optical industry. With the combination of the light material wood the frame provides a high wearing comfort," says Rolf in a pre-Silmo statement.

Definitely a highlight of the year - I look forward to trying a pair out!

In a nod perhaps to the Flintstones, the frame is called Dino.

Waiting for the sun: Saison #2

Waiting for the sun, or W/SÜN for short, is a good name for a sunglass maker. It sums up what we've been up to all winter. Especially in a place like London where crisp, sunny freezing days are a rarity.

W/SÜN are as welcome as the arrival of spring. As well as being rather cool, they're made from bamboo or teawood, so weigh almost as little as the little ray of sunshine you've been waiting for. Above is Une, below is 27.2g and 19.6g. Have a good look at Waiting for the sun's website, where you can buy or just look at some more lovely wooden shades.

Thanks to Bap at Kapok in Hong Kong for suggesting these.

Pass the eyedrops - Rolf Spectacles goes Continental

 

Aitchoo! Antihistamine me up if you expect me to partake in any such horseplay.

Somewhere under there is a pair of these little beauties: Continental 21 glasses from multi-award-winning framemakers Rolf Spectacles. Lightweight, the frame has buffalo horn temple tips. This style is also available in zebrawood (below), maple, walnut, bog oak and combinations thereof.

Vintage Frames Shop by Caviar exotic wood collection

TheVintage Frames Company and Caviar have come together to create these rose-tinted limited edition wooden sunglasses, available exclusively from the Vintage Frames Shop.

Drift glasses: Feel good and look good in wood

Wooden glasses are really taking off. They began mainly in the luxury end of the spectacles market but prices are increasingly reasonable.

These latest timber offerings are from Drift Eyewear.

If you think these wooden temples – the fronts are acetate – are simply jigsawed out of some large plank and sanded down, think again. They are actually steel-reinforced, layered with hardwood on the outside another wood like maple on the inside. They're waterproof and UV-proof. Woods used include wenge, maple, bamboo and, like the one below, walnut... More interesting design info here.

All wood is sourced from FSC-certified suppliers and Drift, as well ensuring that its manufacturing is ecologically sound, is also a member of 1% for the Planet, where said percentage of sales helps environmental groups around the world.

So as well as feeling good in your face, they wooden spectacles will give you a warm glow inside.

Rolf wood glasses are up for an award again...

I mentioned the Silmo d'Or last week in my post on Kirk Originals. The Silmo d'Or recognises the best in eyewear at this week's Silmo exhibition, which starts on Thursday in Paris.

I'm making my way there on the first train from London to Paris on Saturday morning, but the coverage is already well underway. Today, I feature Rolf wooden eyewear - the top model is Super Seven, which is made of bamboo, the darker one is Giulia.

Giulia is made of Macassar ebony and features horn temples. It is nominated for a Silmo d'Or, an award Rolf won last year.

Amy Sacks Masa Tangerine glasses

Great combination of colour from the wooden temples and the tangerine fronts of these Amy Sacks glasses...

Maybach Eyewear: horn, wood, leather and gold luxury eyewear... titanium too!

Next month's Silmo show in Paris means there are plenty of new glasses acoming. And new names too. Here luxury car brand Maybach releases a few pictures from its first collection of luxury Maybach Eyewear, to be previewed next month and available to consumers at the end of October.

A ready-to-wear collection comprises eight sunglasses and 10 spectacle frames. Then, the Individual products can be bespoke using wood, horn, 18-carat gold...

 No price list as yet, but suffice to say, Maybach cars sell for £500,000+ - these will not be the kind of sunglasses you lose.

Rolf wood glasses - beautiful spectacles complete with wooden hinge!!!

Wooden glasses have once, last year, carved their way on to Eye Wear Glasses before in the shape of Shoulda. And clever hinges get me as excited as a kid swinging on a gate, so imagine my delight upon discovering Rolf Spectacles.

Great, aren't they? Handmade, extremly lightweight.

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”.

Shoulda made your glasses from wood...

... so that's exactly what they did.

I've only come across a few wooden spectacles in my time (luxury Parisian eyewear maker Gold & Wood par example) (oh, and top British frame designer Brian McGinn introduced himself to me wearing his quirky wooden glasses) so I'm always pleased to see some more.

Each pair of Shoulda glasses are hand-made by Aaron Holtz - carefully crafted from a variety of woods and metals. Thirty woods to choose from, these are not bashed out from some factory in China.

Custom-built quality...