Think of a distinctly British eyewear brand and chances are it will be Cutler and Gross glasses. Founded in 1969 by Graham Cutler and Tony Gross, who met in optometry school in Northampton College, this idiosyncratic eyewear brand has been at the forefront of the optical world for the past 40 years and rightly deserves the distinction of iconic brand.
With wit, innovation and flair Cutler and Gross eyewear started designing and making beautiful handmade Cutler and Gross glasses for the cognoscenti from their eponymous Cutler and Gross Knightsbridge shop (a part of London’s hitherto frequented by debutantes and their mothers). In so doing Cutler and Gross eyewear were among the first companies to transform glasses from medical necessity into coveted fashion accessory.
From the offset Cutler and Gross glasses and Cutler and Gross sunglasses had a distinct handprint as the two founders were influenced by anything and everything ranging from music to art to literature. They would find inspiration in a shape, a piece of furniture, a rare slice of film noir or just some imaginary concept that they would then translate into an inspiring pair of bespoke Cutler and Gross glasses or Cutler and Gross sunglasses for a client in their Cutler and Gross Knightsbridge atelier.
Underpinning this creativity was the way in which a Cutler and Gross frame was made: everything from the milling of the lens groove to the fitting of the hinges was done by hand above the Knightsbridge store and this continued until 1982 when manufacturing was moved to the traditional glasses manufacturing region of Cadore in Italy. Here Cutler and Gross glasses and Cutler and Gross sunglasses are made in much the same way as they were in the Knightsbridge workshop: the shape of the glasses is sketched onto plastic and then manually, with a jigsaw, cut into basic frame and temple shapes, the fitting of the hinges, the tumbling of the frames in wooden barrels to provide a less manufactured look and the polishing of the frames to provide a deep, shiny finish - all still done by hand.
Since the very beginning of Cutler and Gross eyewear, originality, creativity and integrity have been the hallmarks of Cutler and Gross glasses and Cutler and Gross sunglasses. Key to the look of Cutler and Gross eyewear is their use of pinned hinges rather than heat-sunk hinges, which they secure to Cutler and Gross frames with exposed pins. This use of pinned hinges adds to the character and ‘rawness’ of Cutler and Gross glasses, to the overall handcrafted feel of their frames and it is this incredible attention to detail that is so integral to Cutler and Gross eyewear.
The Cutler and Gross eyewear customer is an individual, someone who craves the handcrafted feel of a pair of bespoke glasses, the little idiosyncrasies and kinks that makes each pair of Cutler and Gross glasses and Cutler and Gross sunglasses unique. At Cutler and Gross eyewear designing and making a pair of spectacles truly is a labour of love.
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