Vintage Eyeglasses

[Stuffsmith]

Wow, nice! Any of those for sale?

 

[Pat_H]

Fantastic!
Most people can't pull off the round glasses - it just looks funny - but you have the face for it.
I've been looking for a pair of those ever since I saw "The Cotton Club."
And you got your own prescription lenses in the frames?

Guess I'm dusting off some really old threads here today.

I wear Bausch & Lomb wire rim glasses everyday, the type that the lens clipped into sort of a half frame and just holds the lens there, with the bottom 2/3s of the very round lens unsupported by anything. In fact, I have three pairs, as I love these frames so much that even my prescription sunglasses are set in them. I've included a photo of them.

This frame was really popular in the 30s through the 50s, and my frames are ones my father had before me. Very lightweight, and the lens isn't too large.

Recently I've had to go a separate prescription for computer use and of course they gave me a frame with enormous lenses. I hate them. I'm going to have to find a pair of old style glasses to replace them.

 

[Spellflower]

I haven't checked in here in a while- I banned myself when it became apparent that my fedora collection was getting out of hand.

Since my last visit I've learned that I need glasses, and also that glasses I like are as hard to find as hats I like. I've made do with a vintage-ish modern design, but I've been hungering for the real thing, and I need a new prescription.

So I stopped in to Fabulous Fanny's here in NYC, and tried on some gold-filled Windsors:

I came home and read all 40 pages of this thread, and many of the links, and it seems that there are 3 options for acquiring something like these, listed here from lowest cost to highest:

1. Wait until a deal turns up on Ebay or a brick and mortar antique store.
   
2. Buy these frames for $125.
   
3. Save up and buy brand new ones made the old fashioned way by Saville Row for $290: http://optometristattic.com/6996_Optometrist_Attic.htm

Does anyone want to chime in with advice of any kind?

 

[Spellflower]

Just found another option that might be the way to go:
http://vintageopticalshop.com/vintage-round-windsor-eyeglass-frames-12684.html

A bit pricier at $148, but the lenses are a rare 42mm, and there's a guarantee. I've emailed to ask if they're gold filled, as the description is vague.

 

[p51]

You should have seen the look on the faces at my optometrist's office yesterday when I dropped off my WW2 issue GI specs to have new lenses installed, as my health insurance allows for a new set of lenses every year and new frames every other year (my prescription hadn't changed appreciably enough to merit replacing my daily lenses)...

 

[Highlander]

Ok, I have for the last 4 or 5 years worn the Saville Row, Gold S-R Oval 43-22 #8165... Now I am told they don't have this frame anymore. They have the Walmer that's close.

Any ideas where I can find the frames I used to have? (I like them because of the gold content and they don't react with my sweat etc)..

Thanks,

 

[The Hatted Hoosier]

Art-craft ClubPro. I purchased the frames brand new in 1987.

 

[Ying Ko]

Hello again, everyone! I wish I visited here more often. But you guys always have me beat with the great vintage finds and knowledge.

I wanted to share some pics of some frames that I picked up not too long ago. These are the "Cameroon" model, from a company called "Article One".

To me, these are like a cross between a Tart Optical Arnel frame and a Shuron Sidewinder. Or maybe a Shuron Sidewinder with an Arnel-ish bridge. They're certainly hefty, with beefy five-barrel hinges.

 

[Ying Ko]

Here are some more pics of the "Cameroon" by Article One.

 

[Ying Ko]

I also picked up some Polo Ralph Lauren P-3 frames. They look to have been made in the late Eighties or early Nineties. They were made in Japan, have some nice filigree detail along the temples, and are plated in white gold.

 

[Michael R.]

Here's another place I've bought these ...

www.angloamericanopticalltd.com model-406 several colors , these are regular tortoise . Made in UK . I guess this is the US distributor . They had gone up since I bought mine , but they sell Shades , and other styles , too . Well Made . I think it bums the optimologist/optometrist out I get the lenses as needed , but don't get the crummy frames they offer being associated with that Vision Care Insurance Group . They only sell the Frames that outfit offers , and they'll allow so much toward frames every 2 years , then you get to pay the rest . Not me .

 

[Wally Taylor]

Hello Everyone. I found out about this friendly place because I collect and wear vintage eyeglasses. I can't figure out how to get any pictires up due to the size restrictions. When I get it figured out I'll post a few. In the meantime, I think it's pretty cool doing the vintage thing. I've always felt like WW1 to Korea folks were an amazing bunch of people. My Grandfather was a Doughboy in the Trenches of WW1, and my Dad was in Normandy, 18 years old riding toward the cliffs in the landing craft. There were five kids riding, talking, and smoking together rolling up on D-Day. They were all going to stay in touch, and my Dad was the only one that made it to the base of the cliffs. Somehow he survived, and I was born in 1957 thanks to his good fortune that day. You are preserving the style of some of our nation's fmest. I like Your style.

 

[Wally Taylor]

I bought a pair of coin silver spectacles made by silversmiths CURTISS & STILES in Woodbury, Conn between 1835 and 1840. The seller thought that they were Victorian, and I got them for $19.95. The lenses are NM, and the prescription works for me. Still trying to get photos to upload.

 

[swinglish]

Just before Christmas, I placed an order for two pairs of frames with lenses from a company in the U.K. called 'retrospectacle'. They specialise in vintage and vintage style frames, and they seem to regularly get their hands on good condition examples of old U.K. National Health Service frames, which was exactly what I was after. At the age of 12, the first pair of glasses I had were the then typical NHS 524 in a faux tortoiseshell, and of course, I detested them. 35 years later, I still have that original pair of frames and now I think they suit me better than anything I've been able to find from current suppliers (go figure!), so whilst the company was offering a decent 'Black Friday' discount, I placed an order for two pairs; one with standard lenses and one with prescription sunglass lenses. The standard lens frames were like these: -

... and for the prescription sunglasses, I chose these with dark green lenses: -

Both pairs arrived the week before Christmas (they would have arrived sooner if I had got my act together to get an up-to-date prescription more quickly), and the results were fantastic. Both frames were in excellent vintage condition, and the quality of the glazing and lens cut was easily up there with the best I've seen in my 30+ years of wearing glasses. Their email based customer service was excellent, with helpful, patient and fast responses to my many (many) questions. I can thoroughly and unreservedly recommend them and the next time I need some new specs, they'll be the first place I'll check out.

 

[Retromoto]

I'm currently looking at the ArtCraft, Art-Bilt, Rimway frame w/ the Oval #2" lens and skull temples, I've wore Rimways before although not with these lens. Anyone have a snapshot of a mug w/ these on or their experiences?
Thanks, G.

 

[Retromoto]

I'm currently looking at the ArtCraft, Art-Bilt, Rimway frame w/ the Oval #2" lens and skull temples, I've wore Rimways before although not with these lens. Anyone have a snapshot of a mug w/ these on or their experiences?
Thanks, G.

No one has experience w/these specs?
G.

 

[ifan martin]

Shuron ronsir

 

[bretron]

Lineup, top to bottom (newest to oldest)

-Ray Ban 3447V (50-20) - rec'd these yesterday
-Oliver Peoples Riley (48-21) - had about 4 yrs
-Art-Craft (50-20) - true vintage worn almost daily for past 6+ yrs

 

[Edward]

Just before Christmas, I placed an order for two pairs of frames with lenses from a company in the U.K. called 'retrospectacle'. They specialise in vintage and vintage style frames, and they seem to regularly get their hands on good condition examples of old U.K. National Health Service frames, which was exactly what I was after. At the age of 12, the first pair of glasses I had were the then typical NHS 524 in a faux tortoiseshell, and of course, I detested them. 35 years later, I still have that original pair of frames and now I think they suit me better than anything I've been able to find from current suppliers (go figure!), so whilst the company was offering a decent 'Black Friday' discount, I placed an order for two pairs; one with standard lenses and one with prescription sunglass lenses. The standard lens frames were like these: -

... and for the prescription sunglasses, I chose these with dark green lenses: -

Both pairs arrived the week before Christmas (they would have arrived sooner if I had got my act together to get an up-to-date prescription more quickly), and the results were fantastic. Both frames were in excellent vintage condition, and the quality of the glazing and lens cut was easily up there with the best I've seen in my 30+ years of wearing glasses. Their email based customer service was excellent, with helpful, patient and fast responses to my many (many) questions. I can thoroughly and unreservedly recommend them and the next time I need some new specs, they'll be the first place I'll check out.

Funily enough, Herself and I were just talking about these yesterday. The top pair are the same ones as I had for my first and second pairs of glasses - colour and everything - from I was ten in 1984, when I got my first glasses. I remember for a long time they were just normal glasses..... no kid wore anything else, then suddenly a few years later it all changed, and they were widely mocked. I remember finding it hilarious when they came back in fashion twenty odd years ago, around the same time the Addidas striped tracksuits (one of which had had me so viciously mocked just a few years previously) were suddenly "cool" again.

Shuron ronsir

Got a few pairs of these and I love them; also now a pair of similar browlines from specsavers own brand range, which are great. Quite a lot of nice vintage style stuff in Specsavers currently, ewhich surprised me - browlines are having something of a revival. I also got my first ever pair of prescription sunglasses this year, on a whim (I typically have a couple of pairs with photochromic lenses instead), similar to these - https://www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/phuket-sun-rx?sku=30518919 . Some nice stuff in their range that's a lot cheaper than most other UK options.

 

[swinglish]

Funily enough, Herself and I were just talking about these yesterday. The top pair are the same ones as I had for my first and second pairs of glasses - colour and everything - from I was ten in 1984, when I got my first glasses. I remember for a long time they were just normal glasses..... no kid wore anything else, then suddenly a few years later it all changed, and they were widely mocked. I remember finding it hilarious when they came back in fashion twenty odd years ago, around the same time the Addidas striped tracksuits (one of which had had me so viciously mocked just a few years previously) were suddenly "cool" again...

I remember it well, the choices were either these or 'John Lennon' glasses. Both are highly desirable now, obviously It's a testament to the quality of NHS frames that they're still around today in perfectly usable condition. The material quality and manufacturing really were extremely good, better than many modern frames which are obviously trying to emulate the original NHS designs.

I've just had my original pair refurbished and reglazed also by this company. I'm extremely pleased with the quality of their work, the refurbishment job they carried out on my original frames (that were somewhat worse for wear) was incredible. Very reasonable prices also: -

http://www.deadmensspex.com/default/

I find the whole subject of NHS specs fascinating. There's some really interesting information about the scheme and the designs available here: -

https://www.college-optometrists.or...irtual-spectacles-gallery/nhs-spectacles.html