Opticians really spoiled for choice at bespoke luxury launch

Over 50 UK opticians descended on Belgravia and the Austrian ambassador’s residence for the UK launch of the exclusive Atelier collection by Silhouette.

Frames in the new bespoke range are made from precious metals including 18-carat solid yellow, white and rose gold that can be polished or brushed for a lustrous finish.

As well as solid gold, hand selected, precious stones such as diamonds, rubies and blue and pink cabochon-cut sapphires are used as decorative elements on the temples and nose bridges.

The company flew in head gemsetter and goldsmith Robert Avram from Linz for the occasion. Avram demonstrated the painstaking process of adding diamonds to frames’ lugs and temples. ‘People do not appreciate what a difficult metal gold is to work with,’ said Avram, a former jewellery goldsmith who joined Silhouette last year to work on the Atelier project. He added it can take up to three days to set the stones in some frames.