the story behind the glasses.
“poetry, a dash of nostalgia, and a love for old world mastery… all from a man who claims to despise all that is romantic or nostalgic. here is the story of your very special one out of one-hundred frames, the three-years it took to design and manufacture them, and how they came to be.
a decade ago, i was given a pair of unbranded, seemingly unassuming over-sized frames that belonged to my dashing diplomatic grandfather. i saw them as an heirloom piece, but nothing more. putting in prescription lenses, i wore the frames now and then to read menus at my favorite downtown manhattan spots.
the beautiful afternoon sun shining on the weft of the white table cloth, peering through my cocktail glass and onto my cigarettes is still ingrained in my mind. to their right, always sat my frames. in one of those wonderful winter lights, sitting outside, i let my eyes fall into the maze of panels, curves and facets all across the temples and frame. they made me wonder. i got lost driving along those lines that twisted and turned and seemed to never end. who would have made these? who would spend the time to breath such subtle beauty into an inanimate object of function, especially when none of that was noticeably visible in passing? was it a built-in secret between the object and its owner?
i was in awe when i discovered that the frames were individually custom-made, and hand-polished in the 60’s for my grandfather in europe. over half a century, as they deteriorated, and were left in taxis and then lured back by rewards, and where lost and found, again and again, i realized that their time had come to simply be.
after a year of renderings, modifications and prototyping we arrived at a design which satisfied the soul of the original piece with some modification to the temples. we initially considered several ateliers to craft the modified design. being a fan of selima optique for over a decade, and having worn so many of her unique and subtle creations, i decided to float this special production idea with selima. her expertise and detailed sensibility, combined with her background collaborations with neue gallery for the austrian painter egon schiele’s frames, as well as the custom frames for japanese artist, hiroshi sugimoto, confirmed that this was indeed the perfect partnership.
and so the journey began in france. unlike so many french and italian luxury brands who simply use injection molding, our one hundred frames were individually carved and hand-polished using the highest quality cellulose acetate exclusively made by mazzucchelli (est. 1849). this sixth-generation family-run artisanal manufacturer based in castiglione olona, italy, crafts the most durable and flexible materials available.
hand polishing each frame, rather than using the standard machine polish, was a time consuming and labor-intensive task, but it was the only manner to retain the subtle facets of the original frames. we hope the care put into their creation will help you find a companion in these frames and that, they, in turn, will help you discover your inner secrets and accompany you on your journey… until the time when they can be passed on to yet another caretaker.” – ucef hanjani