Oliver Goldsmith for President

Thanks for all the positive comments following our sudden return on Friday. We won't go away; just rest our eyes occasionally. We blog for the joy of specs and here is one of the brands where it all began, Oliver Goldsmith. These are President, reissued from 1964.

Invest in proper sunnies this summer - Y Not?

These are Y Not, a wonderful example of what can be achieved at Oliver Goldsmith. Part of the Rainbow Collection, get some colour on your cheeks this summer. Limited edition though so be quick! Stockists worldwide here.

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.

Oliver Goldsmith gets colourful

A sneak preview of some of the new colours becoming available from Oliver Goldsmith...

50 Shades

If you thought I was going to do a post with 50 sunglasses in it, you're wrong – that'd take forever! Or if you thinking I'm in any way interested that book, you're mistaken.This is a book review, a short one, for 50 Shadesby Lauren Goldstein Crowe.

A super tome it is too; said number of sunglasses on the likes of (top-to-bottom) Jack Nicholson, Audrey Hepburn, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Robert Redford, John Lennon and other massive stars. Each great photograph is accompanied by a quote, sometimes glasses related, from the shades-wearer. It's a book led by its amazing photography, capturing the stars perfectly, but the selection of sunglasses features prominently, even if the frames are mainly unidentified. Those that are attributed to their designers are Ray-Ban, Oliver Goldsmith and Persol. A few others I believe I know include Neostyle on Elvis Presley, Francois Pinton on Jackie Kennedy Onassis, but I can't be entirely sure.

My favourite sunglasses featured in the book are worn by Carole Lombard, not sure who they're by; and perhaps the best quote is, "With my sunglasses on I'm Jack Nicholson. Without them I'm fat and 60."

Hover over images for photo credits, or see below. 50 Shades is available direct from Reel Art Press. More good glasses books here.

Photo credits – Audrey Hepburn: Keystone/Getty Images / Bob Dylan: Jan Persson/Redferns / Diana Ross: Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images / Jack Nicholson: Giribaldi/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images / John Lennon: Robert Whitaker/Getty Images.

Oliver Goldsmith bespoke sunglasses - handmade in England

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...

And above that, the pyramid shades we've raved about here before, which once featured in the late Vidal Sassoon's 1960s ad campaign and currently feature at the top of Eye Wear Glasses' Facebook page. Feel free to like us there!

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...

Oliver Goldsmith white Pyramid shades from the 1960s

These triangular white "Pyramid" sunglasses were made by Oliver Goldsmith for a campaign for a Vidal Sasson campaign in 1966 (although I've also read '68 and '72). They were designed to go with a particular haircut but I've never managed to track down a photo of the two together.

Many of the original shades from that era are still available from Oliver Goldsmith here... You can also see these sunglasses in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Oliver Goldsmith launches OG kids' sunglass range: Mini Icons

It is refreshing to see that, at last, children are being catered for at the better end of the eyewear quality spectrum. Oliver Goldsmith joins last month's Sons + Daughters in providing high-end shades for the little guys.

Oliver Goldsmith's Mini Icons collection comprises exact replicas of some of OG’s most iconic styles, such as the Carl (black/orange above) and Sophia (blue above),  but made smaller for the style-savvy adolescents, 4-14 year olds. Hover over images for frame names and the year the grown-up versions were originally made.

Priced at a very reasonable £95, OG Mini Icons are available in February 2012.

Cult Eyewear: The World’s Enduring Classics - must-have glasses book

Few books are written about glasses so when I heard about Neil Handley’s book’s imminent publication via a number of highly respected eyewear designers, all of whom had been consulted in its creation, I knew it must be good.

Disappoint, it does not.

Cult Eyewear is a coffee table tome worth its place in any home.

Eyewear enthusiast or not, anyone with an eye for design or fashion will struggle not to enjoy every carefully illustrated page.

Any book that tries to describe a cult in any manner, be it film, music, or in this case eyewear, will have its work cut out. 'Cult' can be tricky to define. As time passes, one person’s cult can become another’s mainstream.

A few brands, in my opinion, are conspicuous by their absence; and others, on first glance, by their presence. But in his defence, Handley acknowledges that it is an “inevitably somewhat personal selection from the myriad of designer fashion brands...”

He justifies every brand’s inclusion and, as curator of the British Optical Association Museum, the depth of knowledge being shared is always apparent.

Amusingly, he begins by pointing out that this book “not so long ago, would have annoyed many opticians”. He immediately differentiates Cult Eyewear from any book on the history of vision correction, and makes it clear that this book is a celebration of the aesthetic.

The introduction gives an enlightening history of eyewear style, all the way back to the “Nuremberg Masterpiece” from 1663, by Melchior Schelke, “designed less for wear than to demonstrate his prowess”, through numerous brands such as Metzler, Tura in the 1960s and 1970s, to frames by Swatch in1993, Alyson Magee in 2007, right up to Silhouette’s virtual mirror app on an iPhone.

These first 10 pages end perhaps a little too fast but what follows is the book's core, with 31 chapters each focusing on an eyewear brand– or family of brands – with cult status. And the selection is magnificent. It includes names I was unaware of, but will now actively seek out. And while it included a few stories I am familiar with – at CW Dixey & Son, Oliver Goldsmith andmore recently Mykita – frequently Handley has unearthed additional intriguing detail.

These chapters are occasionally interspersed with features on famous glasses wearers (Elton John, John Lennon, Elvis Presley), films and books that include eyewear (American Psycho, Blues Brothers, Easy Rider) and opticians who have pioneered the “cosmetic effect of eyewear”.

Handley has clearly researched his material well and most people will learn a great deal (I particularly liked the glossary!).

Anecdotal gems are scattered throughout. There’s Udo Proksch, a designer for Viennaline, Serge Kirchhofer, Optyl and ChristianDior, who attempted an insurance fraud worth 31 million Swiss francs.

There’s the fact the designers behind Dame Edna Everage’s bespoke handmade frames ,would inscribe the inside temple with the line “A hand job by Anglo American”.

There’s the tale of the founders of ic! berlin, before they’d established the company, being caught “illegally” selling on a staircase at Mido, the major trade fair in Milan, and fleeing to the exhibition stand of Robert La Roche. Many more such yarns are dotted among the pages.

The breadth of information is terrific and each time I dip into another chapter, I find out something else. But it is the pictures that steal the show. There's a tonne of great images, a mere handful of which I've been kindly allowed to feature here (hover over pictures for captions).

Cult Eyewear is spectacular in every sense, and it will no doubt help me improve Eye Wear Glasses over the coming years. So when I meet you Mr Handley, I think I must owe you a pint!

Cult Eyewear: The World's Enduring Classics by Neil Handley
Published by Merrell. UK £29:95, US $49:95, 192pp.
English ISBN: 9781858945095

Also available in French:
Lunettes cultes : Les classiques intemporels
EUR49.00 ISBN: 9782884531696

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

The following is a list of the brands to be profiled in detail. But many other names are featured too alongside these: CW Dixey & Son, American Optical, Anglo American, Cartier, Kirk Brothers, Kirk Originals, Persol, Oliver Goldsmith, Algha, Mary Quant, Savile Row, Ray-Ban, Pierre Marly, Carrera, Porsche Design, Michael Birch, Viennaline, Serge Kirchhofer, Vuarnet, Neostyle, Silhouette, Christian Dior, Cutler and Gross, Lafont, Robert La Roche, Cazal, Alain Mikli, l.a. Eyeworks, Police, Theo, JF Rey, ic! Berlin, Mykita, TD Tom Davies and RVS by V.

All pictures are credited - hover over images to see credits.

2012 Eyewear: 12 designers, 12 frames (VIDEO)

Eye Wear Glasses returns from Silmo, the huge eyewear show in Paris, having caught up with 12 designers . They talk about 12 frames for 2012. Featuring contributions from Graz, Kirk Originals, Ron Arad at PQ Eyewear, Lena Hoschek, Oliver Goldsmith, Kilsgaard, ProDesign Denmark, Claire Goldsmith, Ørgreen, Lunettes Kollektion, TD Tom Davies and Blue Magic Eye.

MUSIC: Frigidaire by Delko

Re-released Manhattan sunglasses mark 50th anniversary of Breakfast at Tiffany's

As revealed here in January, Oliver Goldsmith's Manhattan sunglasses were to be re-released to mark the 50th anniversary of Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly wears the shades in the 1961 film and Oliver Goldsmith has now launched an exact replica of the frame.

What's more OG has made it available in five colourways: the classic dark tortoiseshell with green lens (below), as worn in the film above, as well as black/caramel split (next down), dark wood, grape and ink.

And why not. Or rather Y-Not (bottom) another OG sunglass made available this summer - as worn by Lady Gaga.  Manhattan and Y-Not are available from the OG boutique in London or in the best opticians around the world (see stockists here).

Oliver Goldsmith glasses: additions to the retro collection for 2011

As someone who's worn an Oliver Goldsmith frame for the past year, pictures of new additions to the original collection from the 1960s are pretty exciting.

The new images coincide with a new website for Oliver Goldsmith's international retro glasses collection.

Handmade in Japan with amazingly rich acetate, these new models fit perfectly in the original collection. I love the Pelota (above and right) - it's great to see the angular shapes of the 1950s and 60s being used on men as well as women.

And the new Consul MB, with the metal bridge (top), is expertly executed, combining acetate and a titanium bridge. 1960s style with 2011 quality standards.

Hats off to Oliver Goldsmith!! We look forward to further additions in 2012!

Oliver Goldsmith to remake Audrey Hepburn's sunglasses to mark 50th anniversary of Breakfast at Tiffany's

Fans of Breakfast at Tiffany's will be pleased at the announcement by Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses is launching the Manhattan, an exact replica of the frame worn here by Holly Golightly, played by Audrey Hepburn. Brilliant use of light green lens colour in contrast to the brown, tortoiseshell frame.

If you haven't seen the film for while, it's worth a play of this trailer. The sunglasses feature quite prominently early on...

Glasses Eye Wear: Oliver Goldsmith Consul-S original 1960s remakes

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!