Bespoke Spectacles

[All over the world]

Should I?

I went to Maison Lafont and Maison Bonnet in Paris today and enquired about bespoke horn and tortoise shell spectacles. Bonnet was over priced I think though I forgot their prices for horn and it was quite expensive too but Lafont had reasonable prices for bespoke horn frames at about 750 euros.

Now I want to but should I? Does a man really need bespoke horn spectacles?

In my mind I want to mostly because I am thinking that it might just last me a lifetime where acetate won't. I see it as a good long term investment, especially since the horn used is existing stock (There won't be new stock, ever it seems, it is illegal to kill animals for horn or to import horn) and will no longer be available in say 30 years.

Can I afford it? Well barely, I could but this is a lot of money for me since I am recovering from the purchase of a luxury watch, an order for MTM shirts, Silver Cufflinks and £150 swimming trunks (I kid you not, I still don't know what took me).

What do you think? Should I?

After all I am just an eccentric student with a taste for quality who doesn't really 'earn' anything.

[Jordan Marc]

Wealthy or not, a bit of eccentricity is to your advantage. As you grow older, however, it can be a detriment to your character. The last characteristic you want is to be considered "squirrely" or "off your meds" by your contemporaries.

Regarding overpriced glasses, your eyes change as you grow older. Why waste money on frames? The majority of them are made in Asia and then stamped with this designer's logo or that one. Frames
actually cost about $5, but the markup is astronomical. And it's no guarantee that your prescription
will be set properly. There are good eye doctors and not so good ones. The best of them are highly
skilled surgeons. Find the best you can afford, but be cautious of a referral by an optometrist. Have
your eyes checked every two years until the age of 65, then go every year after that.

JMB

[All over the world]

Wealthy or not, a bit of eccentricity is to your advantage. As you grow older, however, it can be a detriment to your character. The last characteristic you want is to be considered "squirrely" or "off your meds" by your contemporaries.

Regarding overpriced glasses, your eyes change as you grow older. Why waste money on frames? The majority of them are made in Asia and then stamped with this designer's logo or that one. Frames
actually cost about $5, but the markup is astronomical. And it's no guarantee that your prescription
will be set properly. There are good eye doctors and not so good ones. The best of them are highly
skilled surgeons. Find the best you can afford, but be cautious of a referral by an optometrist. Have
your eyes checked every two years until the age of 65, then go every year after that.

JMB

Hello Jordan,
Not sure what you mean, these frames are bespoke made, and in house. The sizing, style and every aspect is made for the client. These aren't designer spectacles made in china.

[tteplitzmd]

I would look into German Schnuchel acetate frames. Horn will break if you're not careful. The color palette of Italian acetate is terrific. I would get European made frames made to order, or customized from stock styles.

LaFont and its cohorts are stock frames.

[Costi]

http://www.keeswennekendonk.nl/occhiali/index.html

[All over the world]

What's wrong with Lafont? Are they no good? They said they can make anything I want, not just from stock it's full bespoke.

[Jordan Marc]

What purports to be bespoke frames isn't necessarily so. You may be shown a technician attaching longer or shorter side pieces or dipping them in a container of hot sand so the pitch and hook of the stems can be adjusted for another customer. That's not a guarantee of handmade glasses; it's simply using different-sized stock parts to fit a particular customer. If the lenses are made of plastic rather than glass ground and polished with the precision of, say, Zeiss lenses the glasses are not bespoke. That doesn't mean they're not useful (for a while), but you're being taken for a costly ride. See a specialist and ask for a referral or two. Bypass fad and fashion glasses, and consign yourself to the fact that your eyes will change over time and so will your specs.

JMB

[carl browne]

I think it's the tortoise that's of questionable legality. Horn's not so hard to find, and most bespoke buttons are horn. I looked at Maison Bonnet's website, and also heard about it. The tortoise comes from a huge warehouse in Cuba, where old sea-turtle shells (the "tortoise" for eyeglasses) are kept for export. As I understand it, France, as well as most other countries made tortoise shell illegal. However, Jaques Chirrac had a fondness for tortoise frames and wanted to keep the artisans in business, so French law has a carve-out to accommodate them.

If I had the opportunity, I would certainly have a pair of bespoke tortoise sunglasses!

C

[All over the world]

I think it's the tortoise that's of questionable legality. Horn's not so hard to find, and most bespoke buttons are horn. I looked at Maison Bonnet's website, and also heard about it. The tortoise comes from a huge warehouse in Cuba, where old sea-turtle shells (the "tortoise" for eyeglasses) are kept for export. As I understand it, France, as well as most other countries made tortoise shell illegal. However, Jaques Chirrac had a fondness for tortoise frames and wanted to keep the artisans in business, so French law has a carve-out to accommodate them.

If I had the opportunity, I would certainly have a pair of bespoke tortoise sunglasses!

C

I'd choose horn because it is tougher than tortoise. If you drop tortoise on the floor they will break instantly. But I don't understand what you gentlemen are trying to say? To avoid Bonnet and Lafont?

Both make 100% bespoke frames, they said they can draw me spectacles if I like and create several prototype or I can draw something myself and they'll do it for me. The only thing is that it can't be too thin or it might break easily.

[C.Lee]

All over the world et al,

I am pleased to see this post as discussions on bespoke spectacles have been sparse, yet I hold the subject in the same light as bespoke tailoring and shoemaking, respectively. Indeed, the art of framemaking parallels the other bespoke arts: a dwindling supply of talent as the old move on; a once common trade relegated to a few hands sought after by the discerning few; diminished access to beautiful natural materials; really, any of the themes discussed here on the London Lounge.

Horn from various types of animals are available, much like skins for shoes, the most common being Indian water buffalo which is a by-product of agriculture. While skins go through the tanning process, the hollow horns are boiled in oil afterwhich blanks are planed and aged over several years to develop the required dimensional stability. When it comes time to make a frame, it is roughly cut out from the blank and then shaped by hand by grinding away material (sounds like last-making up to this point), bending with the application of heat and final polishing. Horn frames need to be moisturized with oil, and when done properly can last +20 years.

As to tortoiseshell, stock (i.e. blank) material is most rare, and my framemaker commented that any new tortoiseshell frame would likely be made from a pre-existing vinatge one. However one is obtained, it is more expensive and delicate than horn, and more beautiful too.

To bespeake or not? The craft, materials and process all speak to me - I am ill-placed to say nay. Concerns of changing eyesight are no different than fluctuating weight for tailored clothes. The simple alteration of prescription lenses are all that is needed, leaving the frame free to age with the wearer. Your main concern should be how the frames are made and if the process with the customer is truly bespoke. Know that horn frames may be fashioned out of a single solid piece of horn, or alternatively a laminate of various colored layers with inlays for added effect. I prefer the former, seeing it as a purer approach. Horn frames wear light and their depth of color is as emotional as any patina you would hold dear.

Below is a picture from early on in my bespoke frame journey. To the right are stock frames off which we were creating my sample frame (paper pattern). The frame is such a simple object, and yet each line, each curve and each corner was poured over, slept on and amended. Many sample frame iterations followed and I have been patiently waiting for delivery - a theme common to the bespoke arts!

Let me pose a question: have you considered a bespoke frame wardrobe?

[All over the world]

x

What beautiful spectacles you have!

Thank you for a very interesting post, your description of the process is very interesting indeed!
I am unfortunately too poor to consider a bespoke frame collection but I am not one for change. I like wearing the same watch every day as I do my spectacles. I only alternate a lot with clothes.

I just called Bonnet to ask them to remind me their prices. Starting at 1500 Euros for horn versus 750 at Lafont. Both frames are bespoke, why such difference in price one wonders? Perhaps because few people know that Lafont also makes bespoke frames while Bonnet is the most famous maker of bespoke frames in the world, they did after all make frames for Royalty, Presidents and ...Fashion Designers.

To me Lafont seems like the better option. The staff was very friendly and not just interested in making money as I saw, they were the ones who advised to go for horn frames instead of tortoise shell because it was tougher and I was so young. They also showed me some of their models which actually looked good on me, (other shops never actually suggest anything that looks good on me) and suggested combinations. Even drew me a little sketch of what it could look like and told me that if I didn't want a combination they could draw spectacles from scratch for me. Bonnet seemed a bit cold as if they looked down on me for being so young, the staff was helpful but not as much as I'd have liked and they almost rushed me out of the door because they said that 'their customers usually need an appointment to visit the store'.

I am very keen on getting myself a bespoke pair of horn frames made however I am just wondering whether I can justify the pleasure of owning them and whether it is not a bit early in my life to be already bespeaking frames.

[All over the world]

I did it! I ordered my frames, my face was measured in various places, I selected the horn type, we decided on some slight alterations in style and then passed my order. I am expecting my spectacles within a month or so. Should I post pictures once they arrive?

[Costi]

Should I post pictures once they arrive?

Do you need to ask?
Who is making them?

[All over the world]

LAFONT in Paris. And they are bespoke indeed, some people were saying they might not be. I ordered them in black horn with lots of little modifications, I can't wait!

First bespoke eyepiece for me!

[C.Lee]

Above is the horn frame I had made. The glasses are new; however, they feel like an old friend with boundless stories to tell. Maybe it was the copious notes, dreamy nights, multiple meetings with the framemakers or just the long wait for their arrival that they have come to feel that way. The horn is warm, with a richness and depth best experienced in person. In the end I went with a layered build over a solid horn piece as the former is more dimensionally stable, while the latter was only available in three colors and not guaranteed by the framemaker.