# Optical Forums > General Optics and Eyecare Discussion Forum >  Period glasses

## ziggy

A paitent who is a reinactor stoped in today looking for glasses from the late 1700's any ideas?

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## Fezz

Try:

Re-Enactment Eyewear
Don Griffen
1-570-322-9849


and


Jas. Townsend and Sons, Inc
1-574-594-5852
www.Jastown.com



Good Luck!

Fezz
:cheers:

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## ziggy

Thanks Fezz!

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## optimanj

www.retrospecs.com

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## RGC_man

Ebay?

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## Joann Raytar

Try:
Ed Welsh Antique Eyewear

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## rinselberg

*Sellers of antique or antique-style eyewear:*


_Shallow Panto 3 piece Rimless (Standard Bridge) - Colours: Gold, Rhodium/Platinum - from the Savile Row Rimless collection. Our glasses frames have been made in London since 1932 and are designed and manufactured by skilled craftsmen - highly experienced in the production of 14 carat rolled gold frames. It takes over 130 hand production processes to produce just one Savile Row spectacle frame and every completed glasses frame receives up to 25 separate inspections. Each operation is monitored by an individual who takes pride in the excellence of their work. Quality is a way of life._
http://www.algha.com/pages_savile_ro...le-frames.html


_Nickel frame; cable temples. Size: 49mm; 170mm temples. Style# ANT-004. Also available in yellow gold plate. Allyn Scura, a designer and collector of vintage frames, was antique shopping in North Carolina when she came upon her first pair of vintage spectacles. She wore them as sunglasses in New York City and was met with many inquiries from people on the street, fascinated with her vintage frames. Realizing there was an untapped market for vintage eyewear, she began to search out older frames to sell and hit the jackpot. She found and sold more than 5,000 unused pairs. A business success story was born: Scura has amassed a collection of more than 60,000 antique spectacles._
http://www.allynscura.com/index.htm and http://www.antiquespectacles.com/new...e_Business.htm
http://www.besttimelesstreasures.com/

_... vintage eyewear and custom-made frames - in London_
http://www.arckiv.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/arckiv

http://www.eyebeenframed.com/index.html


_The first eyeglasses with temple arms invented by Edward Scarlett, a London optician, in 1727. Examples in good condition with their original case are hard to find. The frames are steel. Silver and gold frames are extremely rare but do come to market from time to time. Contact me for a list of my current inventory. I do have several examples without cases. Ed Walsh Antique Eyewear. Courtesy of Jo (above)._
http://www.eyeglasseswarehouse.com/retroframes.html

_For over 17 years they've provided Broadway, local theaters, and a number of films with vintage and antique eyewear from an extraordinary inventory of over 40,000 frames._
http://www.fabulousfannys.com/ and http://www.2020mag.com/index.asp?page=3_411.htm

http://www.fouryoureyes.com/

online auction page
http://www.ioffer.com/c/Optical-157520


_18th Century Reproduction Glasses GL-791 [GL-791]. Finish off your period outfit with truly authentic looking spectacles. An exact reproduction of an original pair in our collection that date from about 1785. Nicely made of black metal with double-hinged temple pieces. These are very high quality frames made exclusively for us by an eyewear manufacturer. Clear sample lenses are included in the round 1-3/16 inch openings - ready to have your prescription installed at your local optometry shop. Yes, you can usually fit bifocals into them. We have found a small wood box that fits these frames rather well ... Jas. Townsend & Son - Personal Accessories. Courtesy of Fezz (above)._
http://jas-townsend.com/index.php?cPath=7

http://www.klasik.org/index.html
http://www.la411.com/The_Pasadena_An...nnex_42457.cfm


_Lunor brings the essence of German engineering to life in styles inspired by great vintage frames of the 20s and 30s. Founder and designer, Gernot Lindner began collecting antique eyewear at age fourteen and continues to draw on traditional designs for his collection of modern classics. Lunor frames are available in their incredibly own durable bronze alloy or in precious metals such as platinum and 18k gold. Inspired by antique eyewear styles, this collection is designed and handcrafted in Stuttgart, Germany.  Signature telescoping temples and clean designs give the frames a modern look.  Celebrities such as Nicolas Cage, Madonna, Billy Baldwin and many more wear Lunor._
http://www.lunor.com/


*Opera Opera Opticians Limited*
_We are a British company (established in 1978), owned and managed by an Optometrist. We manufacture bespoke custom handmade eyeglass frames, spectacle frames and sunglasses in house at our own English eye glasses frame making factory - in the brand name of Harpers - our registered trade mark. Choose a frame from our standard stock - select from hundreds of different styles, several sizes and in multitude of colours. Alternatively have one made in any style, colour or size. We are able to make a one off copy of any vintage frame. Alternatively, forward a photo you have, off the internet or a link, for example to Johnny Depp , John Lennon , Buddy Holly etc., - to quote for a reproduction hand made frame. Each piece handcrafted and will be unique. Many frames in our standard stock are based on eyewear designs of 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s & 80s & we also hold a vast vintage collection and are a major eyewear supplier to theatre, television & film production companies. Pince-nez, monocles & lorgnettes also stocked. Period settings supplied with the correct spectacles and sunglasses._
http://www.operaopera.net/

_Optik Birmingham eyewear shop (Michigan), has about 1,500 vintage frames made between the 1890s and the 1980s that he can turn into shades or prescription eyeglasses - Detroit Free Press, April 14 2005._
http://www.optikbirmingham.com/


_Optometrist Attic_
http://www.optometristattic.com/
Vick@optometristattic.com

Re-Specs Antique Eyeglass Restoration and Recycling
http://www.respecs.com/

RetroSpecs & Co - Los Angeles, CA (USA)
http://www.retrospecs.com/

Retrospecs - United Kingdom
http://www.retrospecs.co.uk/

http://www.spectacleshoppe.com/vintage.cfm
http://www.vintageeyewearhouse.com/
http://www.vintageiwear.com/
http://www.vintageous.com/eyewear/eyewear.html


*Other sites of interest:*

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...18705?v=glance

_I was contacted by the author of this site a few months ago and I have to say it has more antique eyewear info in one place than anything else I have run into. Super informative section on dating specific features of eyeglasses, but it can be a bit slim on giving the primary documentation on those specific features. You wont find anything better about 18th century spectacles on the web._
http://www.antiquespectacles.com/ and http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...tacular_specs/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...e_eyewear.html

_Welcome to APERTURE the web gateway for optical history sites. This page provides an opening onto the rest of the web for sites with content relating to the science and history of optics or ophthalmic antiques._
http://www.college-optometrists.org/...ture.aperture/

British Optical Association Museum
http://www.college-optometrists.org/...museyeum_home/

http://www.members.aol.com/mesda/index.htm
http://www.oaicclub.org/
http://www.oaicclub.org/newsletter.html

Museum of Vision Science
http://www.optometry.uwaterloo.ca/~museum/answer2.htm


*Two more sources for vintage eyewear in San Francisco and Berkeley*




> For Raymond Ascher its been a vintage year. At this past Vision Expo West, hordes of dispensers and vendors alike were digging for eyewear treasure making his booth one of the jumpingest joints in Las Vegas. Ascher, along with partners Herbert Kurzenberger and David Ulrich, have been purveyors of the best specs of years gone by, mostly selling their wares at European trade shows such as MIDO and by word-of-mouth in the States.
> 
> We had primarily sold in Europe, explains Ascher. Before we only sold to boutiques or private collectors. But at Expo we sold to ODs and small little guys. A good percentage of our sales are to designers. We get so many designers buying [vintage] frames to copy them, which is fineits flattery. So what decade is the most popular? Anywhere from turn of the century to the 80sWere going the full gamut. We just brought back original Puccis from Europe; theyre so great I dont even know if I want to sell them, he jokes. He notes the hardest to find are 20s metal frames. Ive almost stopped selling them. I have so few I try not to push them. However, he did recently unearth 2,000 Windsor saddle bridge frames with cable temples from the turn of the century. They were still wrapped in bundles.
> 
> The frames Ascher and his partners sell are all unused. He adds the quality of the older eyewear is superior to much of whats in the market today. The quality is nicer, he says. In the old days they used 8mm thick plastic. They had built-in nose pads not laminated nose pads. We have 50-year-old eyewear with stones that are still in placetheyre not glued. In those days they actually drilled and then heated them in there.
> 
> How Ascher is able to have such a cache of vintage frameshe estimates conservatively that he and Kurzenberger have about four millionbegins with his familys optical pedigree. My family started in the business in 1930, he explains. We were wholesalers. We imported frames all the way back in the 40s. We also exported lenses in Europe at that time because they didnt have factories. In the 50s, we had distributorships in France, Italy and England. In addition, the Aschers at one time had 39 retail stores; now there are two:* Phoenix Optical in Berkley, Calif. and Spectacle Shoppe in San Francisco* both run by family members.
> 
> We had hundreds of thousands of pieces, says Ascher. Wed keep frames around for spare parts. Back then people wore the same frames for 10, 15 years. They expected you to be able to fix them when they came in can you imagine coming into a store with a 15-year-old suit and expecting them to fix it? As a result, we accumulated many frames.
> ...


From http://www.2020mag.com/index.asp?page=3_167.htm

*Phoenix Optical Co*
5519 College Ave
Oakland, CA 94618
Phone (510) 841-4177

*Spectacle Shoppe*
177 Maiden Lane
San Francisco, CA 94108
Phone (415) 781-8556


_OptiBoard member rinselberg describes how he's carved his own personalized cyberspace on the Web under the mock umbrella tradename rinselberg ..._

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## Fezz

Rinselberg;

You are truly amazing! Thanks for the impressive suggestions. You are one of the few "consumers" that I truly enjoy see post. I do admit..you are truly in a league of your own! Bravo for all your hard work and efforts to make Optiboard the source for optical knowledge.
Thank you.


Fezz
:cheers:

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## rinselberg

Appreciate that, Fezz.

There is another "Retrospecs" in the* U.K.* that apparently has nothing to do with the "RetroSpecs & Co" in the US that was already posted in this thread:

http://www.retrospecs.co.uk/

I didn't want this to slip by without notice - now I am going to add this to my larger post just above.


Are you reading more posts and enjoying it less? Make RadioFreeRinsel your next Internet port of call ...

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## Grubendol

Rinsel, you are a God Among Men (and women)

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## ziggy

My patient and I thank you all for your help. Rinselberg you are always going out of yur way to find tons of info, on behalf of every one thank you. I am calling on Steve to bistow a special title,,something such as "all knowing supreme internet searcher":D thanks for all you do!

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## chip anderson

Rieselburg:
I once had some Saville Row frames (the seem to have the market of 100% of the half glasses in England).  Had  lawyer that wanted some, waited 4 weeks for delivery,  then the damn nosepad broke off under gentle pressure during initial adjustment.  The whole frame was a piece of flimsy junk.  If this is indicative of thier product line, no matter how many process steps they use, I sure wouldn't sell one again.

Chip

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## Judy Canty

I just dug out my old Saville Row Shallow Panto and aside from a little tarnish, it seems just fine.  I suppose I should put some new lenses in it...

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## rinselberg

_Here's another one - and it looks very special._

*Opera Opera Opticians Limited*

We are a British company (established in 1978), owned and managed by an Optometrist. We manufacture *bespoke* custom handmade eyeglass frames, spectacle frames and sunglasses in house at our own English eye glasses frame making factory - in the brand name of Harpers - our registered trade mark. Choose a frame from our standard stock - select from hundreds of different styles, several sizes and in multitude of colours. Alternatively have one made in any style, colour or size. We are able to make a one off copy of any vintage frame. Alternatively, forward a photo you have, off the internet or a link, for example to Johnny Depp , John Lennon , Buddy Holly etc., - to quote for a reproduction hand made frame. Each piece handcrafted and will be unique. Many frames in our standard stock are based on eyewear designs of 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s & 80s & we also hold a vast vintage collection and are a major eyewear supplier to theatre, television & film production companies. Pince-nez, monocles & lorgnettes also stocked. *Period settings supplied with the correct spectacles and sunglasses.*

http://www.operaopera.net/

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## Judy Canty

I just must be an idiot, Rinsiy.  I have a handful of the originals in some of these styles, and no one wants them.  Ce la vie!

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## rinselberg

I have taken my vintage eyewear search as far as I would like to take it. It's been fun, but I want to move on ...

ALL of my search is recorded above under the post title Antique/vintage and replica eyewear.

Just to bring y'all up to date, I added these additional webpages:

http://www.arckiv.com/
http://www.eyebeenframed.com/index.html
http://www.klasik.org/index.html
http://www.operaopera.net/
http://www.optikbirmingham.com/
http://www.spectacleshoppe.com/vintage.cfm
http://www.vintageeyewearhouse.com/
http://www.vintageous.com/eyewear/eyewear.html

And at the very end of the post, I added Phoenix Optical in Berkeley and yet another "Spectacle Shoppe" - this one in San Francisco. No webpages for these two. The "Spectacle Shoppe" that does have a webpage, if you go back up towards the top of the post again, is two stores in Minnesota.

Maybe someone should try to take some of those vintage frames off of Judy Canty's hands, as she just posted right before this one.

Yours truly.


_OptiBoard. Come for the optics, stay for the convo ..._

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## rinselberg

_Optometrist Attic_
http://www.optometristattic.com/
Vick@optometristattic.com


There's a new source for antique/vintage eyewear, which I just added to the "A to Z" listing which was posted (previously) on this same "Period glasses" thread ... See Antique/vintage and replica eyewear.

Vick has just registered with OptiBoard, and I'm pleased to add the "Optometrist Attic" to that listing.

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## Chris Ryser

*Guaranteed original vintage frames* 
Guaranteed satisfaction. If you do not like them when you see them, 
return in 3 days for a full refund of purchase price. _
We do not pay shipping.
Eyeglasses Warehouse, 969 Augusta Road, 
Winslow, ME 04901         207-872-5849_

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## walleye

Eyeglasses Warehouse is a good source. I deal with Ed Welch and he is very honest. 
If you are interested Ziggy, I have 2 gold frames that Ed Welch has seen in person and told me may have been from German (Hessian) mercenaries dating from the revolutionary war! I can let them go for $300/each.

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## Clive Noble

> Rieselburg:
> I once had some Saville Row frames (the seem to have the market of 100% of the half glasses in England).  Had  lawyer that wanted some, waited 4 weeks for delivery,  then the damn nosepad broke off under gentle pressure during initial adjustment.  The whole frame was a piece of flimsy junk.  If this is indicative of thier product line, no matter how many process steps they use, I sure wouldn't sell one again.
> 
> Chip


When I lived in the UK I sold literally tens of thousands of these original UK Optical NHS designs through my wholesale company.  The 722 half-eye and 422 panto were made from GF material and I'm sure many are still in use today.  Supplies started to dry up and become scarce during the John Lennon phase, if I remember rightly the factory in Lurgan (Ireland) couldn't cope with the demand

Saville Row (or as they call it Savile Row) seemed like an opportunity to fill the demand with a similar shaped product, but not the same raw material.

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## RustyS

Lunor frames are pretty much 1700's design knockoffs being sold since late 90's. perfect for reenactors. they are very good quality also

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## dr_intrepid

I guess the best source is EyeglassesWarehouse.com? That seems to be the only reliable online source, but over the years I've heard/seen a lot of success buying vintage frames from two other sources: eBay and estate sales. If there's an antique mall nearby, those typically will have a few vintage frames laying around (at least, near where I live).

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## Judy Canty

Good information...if not just a little late.

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## zhogman

hey i just wanted to say hey. get in touch Ray

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