Optician finds changes afoot in the luxury eyewear market, with moves away from purely classical styling. Here practitioners and providers reveal a few gems
There are many definitions of luxury and a quick web check throws up 'something that is an indulgence rather than a necessity', or 'goods at the highest end of the market in terms of quality and price'.
While all sorts of branded eyewear could be considered to be 'luxury', for argument's sake optician has placed product from jewellers like Cartier, and Fred at the top end, clearly swayed by the £75,000 price tag for Cartier's high jewellery, but will not sniff when some Swarovski crystal is married to precious metals.
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Luxury, Lindberg style |
Perhaps the trend for understated rimless eyewear of recent years has taken some of the sheen away from the gold, jewellery-bedecked frames of the luxury market, but for many practices, luxury remains a small, but vital part of the business.
As dispensing optician Roger Pope of Roger Pope and Partners of New Cavendish Street explains, a good choice of luxury eyewear is essential as some visitors to the central London practice expect it. The practice stocks brands like Cartier, Fred and Chopard that people buy into, along with eyewear like Gold & Wood and Henry Jullien he describes as 'a quality product without a recognised branding - you're paying for the quality of the frame rather than a designer name'.
His practice also supplies Lindberg frames in gold and German-manufactured buffalo horn designs, which he says are beautifully finished, a specialised market for people who maybe don't want to wear plastic and appreciate the quality and feel of a natural material.
His top-priced piece is £7,000 and not surprisingly is diamond encrusted, with other options of black diamonds through to Swarovski crystal.
'It's a limited market, for the person who wants the very best in everything else and expects to have that sort of product and choice,' he says, adding that demand differs from practice to practice. 'Our practice in Dulwich stocks Cartier, but it's a slightly younger market. Here in New Cavendish Street we have a fairly unique market and when you have a reputation for quality you have to have these items.'
While some people go for the more fashionable Oliver Peoples and Beausoleil, there is a market for luxury for people who like and recognise the more classical styles.
The trend for luxury eyewear can be quite seasonal, with more foreign visitors in the summer, although queries do come in from overseas thanks to an emphasis on luxury on the practice website.
'People wear gold jewellery, so why should they take something that is inferior in their eyewear, although weight can be an issue and people don't always appreciate that,' he says, adding it is also important that manufacturers match the frames with really good quality and go the extra mile to succeed in the luxury market.
As an optical group with stores in Harrods and Selfridges, it is small surprise that luxury eyewear is a vital, and one imagines, profitable, part of the David Clulow offering. Managing director of Optika Clulow Richard Peck explains that with lots of visitors from Africa and the Middle East, some 80 per cent of eyewear selling through at Harrods is in the luxury category.
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Gold & Wood |
The company stocks Cartier, Fred, Boucheron, Dupont and Gold & Wood. 'We regularly have people coming in and spending thousands of pounds on their eyewear in central London,' he says, adding that while Clulow has borrowed some of the high-end Cartier jewel pieces as attention grabbers, it is the sub-£5,000 jewelled and solid gold pieces that are dispensed in the main. 'Now that Cartier has developed and made the frames more wearable, it appeals to a wider market,' he says, giving as an example a limited edition aviator sunglass with good detail and a quality lens that 'sold really quickly' in Clulow's London stores.
'We do all sorts of interesting eyewear that I would describe as luxury. The Tom Davies bespoke line could be described as the ultimate luxury as he makes them from scratch,' says Peck, who also describes the luxury market as seasonal. 'Generally the summer brings a greater increase in tourists to the capital, who like to visit prestigious locations. This usually results in an increase in our luxury brand sales, especially in our Harrods and Selfridges locations.
'The need for high-end luxury brands has never been greater and with an array of brands targeting different age groups we tend to have a varied age profile of customers who shop at our stores. The younger customer tends to veer towards Christian Roth, while the more discerning customer tends to prefer the luxury and sophistication of a brand such as Cartier.'
DO Marc Karbaron, of Optix at Broadgate, again mentions Cartier as one of the mainstays of his luxury offering, along with 'genuine buffalo horn from Germany and some solid gold frames'.
He points out the difficulty in defining luxury as companies have a tendency to take on luxury brands, 'but they doll up a standard frame and the product is not necessarily luxury'.
'We do some solid gold frames, but it's not an everyday purchase, but items like the horn at £400-£700 are.
'Cartier, although expensive has realised it needs to update and now they are definitely more modern and appeal to a younger age group. They still focus on gold and platinum, but the shapes have come on.'
An example is a Cartier rimless titanium with a diamond that retails at £844. 'It's not into the thousands yet will appeal to someone wanting luxury,' he says.
He believes that with gold and silver colours becoming more popular in fashion frames, that the appeal of luxury eyewear in general could also be set to broaden.
Peter Wood, managing director of Caseco, says that Gold & Wood looks at luxury in a slightly different way, by bringing more modern design to what has previously been a classic market. As a result, the eyewear also appeals to a younger wearer, both male and female.
'Gold & Wood is reinventing the luxury market by creating a brand name that is known around the world on the quality of its design. We have a re-definition of luxury away from the purely classical.'
He adds that in the past two years Gold & Wood has won frame of the year awards for its stylish designs both at Silmo, for sunglasses, and the Tokyo show, for a modern, elegant ophthalmic frame.
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Cartier |
Rather than just a classic gold luxury frame, Gold & Wood will use sides in horn or precious wood, in a variety of shapes and colours. There are also rimless mounts or fronts with a range of modern finishes, including classic gold and silver, subtle sheens or brightly coloured, according to the wearer's style, at affordable prices.
Alternatively there is the Temptation Collection crafted in 18-carat gold with options of white and black diamonds, rubies or sapphires.
Depending on your taste, and the size of your wallet, Temptation retails at up to £5,000, with one model 'a very unique frame' with the price tag of around £40,000, featuring 'diamond on diamond'. 'People with money want something different,' he says, adding that luxury sunglasses are a big feature and definitely a growing market.
Sunglasses are also big news at Cartier, which recently released a limited edition Santos-Dumont aviator sunglass for this season, with 2,000 made in gold and 2,000 in platinum. The style, celebrating the anniversary of the Santos-Dumont watch, features screw decoration on the sides and black or brown leather-riveted bridges sporting a central screw
Mark Attoe, sales manager at Cartier Parfum Lunettes, explains that there is now an increased focus on the frames as an entry point to the jewellery brand. 'We are now in a position to take the brand forward with more commercial product and more modern presentation, in keeping with Cartier accessories generally, from scarves to pens.'
Sunglasses retail from the best-selling design, a £180 wrap sports model, to gold-finished rimless frames at £355, solid gold frames at £1,520, up to the previously-mentioned high jewellery at £75,000.
Alux from Starck Eyes: Twice as light as titanium and three times lighter than steel, aluminium is the emerging material for 21st century eyewear. Rather than using it to make lightweight minimalist frames, Philippe Starck and Alain Mikli, unsurprisingly, have opted for something 
altogether chunkier more akin to acetate.
If this frame was made from stainless steel it would probably crush your nose, but in aluminium it feels exceptionally lighter than expected. While luxury is usually associated with precious metals and gems, it is technological expertise that provides the carats in Alux.
With more than 300 production processes, the Alux front is a solid single piece with no welding. It is fixed to the temple via the famous multidirectional Starck hinge. Expected to retail at £1,000 this eyewear, when it is launched in the autumn, will only be available to a handful of opticians.
Orange Eyewear has introduced a range of jewellery-inspired frames by Holemans, a prestigious European jeweller. The collection marries the craftsmanship of the Belgium jewellery workshop with Japanese frame expertise, according to Orange. There are seven collections, named Antilope, Cleopatra, Serpent, Eveil, Eveil Diamant, Nacre and Fusion, in up to five colours.
The frames are designed to reflect skin tones and come in rimless, supra and full rim, with modern eye shapes for men and women, all of which can accommodate a progressive lens. They feature five micron gold plating, with subtle Holemans' detailing on the temple and end tip. 
Swarovski crystals 'illuminate' the Eveil Diamant range, with Fusion made from titanium and Nacre using iridescent mother of pearl. All can be adapted to carry any real jewel, such as diamond, sapphire, ruby or emerald, and customers can select the clarity and quality of diamond used. A hand-polished presentation box houses an embossed case and cloth.
Orange Eyewear managing director Hanna Nussbaum described the frames as jewellery for the face and flattering, adding that she was anticipating a lot of interest from independents.
Another luxury collection from Orange is Tsuki, an 18-carat gold line from Japan. Technology enables the temple to be 0.7mm thick all the way across, while maintaining strength. The frames come with a blue embossed case and a guarantee card authenticating the weight of gold.
The Montblanc Eyewear collection produced by Marcolin gives technological and high-performance frames that are described as embodying the values and personality of the brand.
The designs have clean, classic lines, with distinguishing detail and a clear allusion to the writing tools. The three rings, the symbol of the historic Meisterstuck line of writing instruments, characterise the temples of the titanium, nylor and glasant models, both in the version with black lacquer temples and those with a carbon fibre cover.
Light silver metal grooves are inspired by the Starwalker line, in black, burgundy and blue lacquer or in the more feminine mother-of-pearl.
Another model combines vintage lines of the front, styled from a single strand of metal, contrasting with the use of titanium.
Daniel Swarovski Paris Crystal Eyewear: The new Mélange collection combines everyday luxury with a classical twist. The collection combines different colours, shapes and materials and while there are two similar crystal shapes, each is cut differently. The cabochon crystal is round, smoothly polished and unfaceted, so that its smooth sheen 
contrasts with the sparkle of the faceted and chaton-cut Xilion, the ‘new star in the crystal universe of Swarovski’.
‘The mixture of both the round and faceted cuts highlights the individuality of design which is brought to life by the 23-carat gold-plated decorative bands,’ according to the company. There are two coloured acetate frames and three in metal, each featuring a slim-line, sprung hinge joint. The multi-colour, structured look of the collection is attained by a three-dimensional mosaic of different-coloured acetate blocks, which gives greater intensity and colour to the crystals, says the company.
Boucheron: The new, exclusive Boucheron collection of sunglasses and optical frames is centred on the jewel theme inspired by the gemstone collection of the famous French maison.
The design is highlighted by a temple feature of two rings of sparkling diamanté set around a Swarovski stone and linked by a matching narrow diamanté-encrusted bar. 
In the prescription frames the jewel motif is represented by the famous Boucheron cabochon. Crystal-coloured glittering diamanté embrace Swarovski stones in classic Boucheron colours of light blue, emerald, ruby red and crystal.
The metal used to create the square frames of the collection is plated in gold and silver for an ‘even more stylish look’.
The Boucheron collection of sunglasses and frames is manufactured by the Safilo group.
Bvlgari prescription frames from Luxottica are described by the company as ‘for those who interpret luxury as a daily ornament’, their motifs enriched by luminous highlights of Swarovski crystals.
The new Quadrato frames are distinguished by original baguette-cut crystals, while Astrale features ‘glittering icicles’ recalling the jewellery collection and Tondo Sole are described as bright.
The Bvlgari-Bvlgari double logo engraving is found on the most classic versions, while the Quadrato and Astrale models have classic nuances of black, burgundy, mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell, alongside the Tondo Sole frames that come in ‘lively contemporary hues’ of lilac, orange and light blue.
The new models for men are slender and thin shaped, the coloured metal versions in a range from anthracite to gold, from metallic blue to bronze.