30s glasses

[dancinggods]

I'm looking to get a pair of wire rim glasses from the 30s or so. I used to have so not-so-round ones I loved, but they got sat on during my early years as a father and totaled. Right now I am wearing 80s military BCG glasses, but stylistically I've outgrown them.

I found a place here in Nashville that has antique glasses for sale and on display. I was looking for similar ones to what I had years ago, but fell in love with some round silver ones. My wife liked the gold ones. I thought I'd show some pictures and see what you all think.

The first two images are the round ones.
The next two are the not so round ones, but they didn't fit super well.
The last two are the gold ones.

 

[Didof]

I like the silver ones more.

 

[WideBrimm]

I tend to like the last two the best. (But then I've got something similar to those.) The shape of the frames are more natural than the round ones, and the gold color blends in well with hair and skin color.

The good thing is that just about any glasses style at all is actually "in style" these days. So get what you like and go with it. And think of all the money you save by going with vintage instead of the "latest style" !

 

[lolly_loisides]

*tilts head sideways* I think the specs in the last 2 photos suit you best.

 

[robrinay]

I've got a couple of pairs somewhere, a gold pair and a horn rimmed pair. Someone once told me that some older gold ones have a real gold content. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

[2jakes]

I've got a couple of pairs somewhere, a gold pair and a horn rimmed pair. Someone once told me that some older gold ones have a real gold content. Does anyone know if this is true?

Many optical companies marked their frames, but not all.

(10KGF), (12KGF) depending on the gold content.

 

[ingineer]

Dancinggods;
The first one really looks good, see how your eyes are centered in the lenses. They are Ful-views maybe AO or shuron whcih are later developments, but perhaps easier to find nose pieces and arms. there usually is the manufacturers mark on the bridge

 

[tropicalbob]

I've got a couple of pairs somewhere, a gold pair and a horn rimmed pair. Someone once told me that some older gold ones have a real gold content. Does anyone know if this is true?

Yes, they did. When I worked on Wall St. back in the Eighties there was something called the "Young Fogie" look. One day at lunchtime, a group of attorneys and I went over to a store on the Lower East Side called Sol Moscott's. I don't know if it's still there, but they had frames going back to the turn of the century. I bought a pair of the clear plastic frames (the ones Andy Warhol sported for a while). I remember that one of the guys spent a lot of money on real gold frames.

 

[ingineer]

Gold itself is too soft; Glasses are usually Gold filled, usually marked as GF on the frames.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold-filled_jewelry
the old frames were with heavy glass lenses not the current lite CR-39 plastic and thus smaller, the problem is to find the comfortable arm sizes and replaceable nose pads.

 

[Shangas]

As Ingineer says, solid gold spectacle frames would likely be too thin (and weak) to be useful. So it'd either be very low gold-content (like 9kt or something), or it'd be gold-filled brass (both of which would be stronger).

Personally think silver spectacles would look nicer. I think a friend of mine has a pair of those.

 

[tropicalbob]

They both look fine on you. I've been wearing the round, rimless, plastic lenses for years now, as they weigh almost nothing.

 

[31 Model A]

I acquired these a couple of years ago, came off Ebay from a fellow that buys old/ new stock parts and then puts them together like they use to be done by the salesman, correct frames and arm lengths. I bought a pair from him giving him all my measurements and he put this set together, this particular pair are from parts from the 30s and they didn't change much in the 40s but there is post-war difference in the nose pads. I took them to my optometrist and had my prescription glass put in. They are marked 18ct gold. (yellow) The case, as you see, is an original period case. I call them my Glenn Miller glasses.

 

[Edward]

Hard to tell in the photos, but here I am wearing a pair of original, 1930s/40s hexagonal Shuron frames, perfect for portraying an escaped Nazi ufologist, posing as a High School science teacher....

Shuron still produce many of the styles they introduced from their founding 1880 onwards, so if you're looking for something to wear on a daily basis they're an excellent choice.