Seen Opticians

Oliver Goldsmith Sunglasses

tareq — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:20:04 +0000

Peter Sellers. Audrey Hepburn. Sophia Loren. Grace Kelly. Michael Caine. Vidal Sassoon. Christian Dior. What do all these Twentieth Century Icons have in common? Oliver Goldsmith.
Oliver Goldsmith started making eyewear in the twenties but it wasn’t until the swinging sixties that it became THE eyewear collection to be seen wearing. Cult movie classics such as Ipcress Files and Breakfast At Tiffanys ensured the brand was extremely desirable. Who wouldn’t want to look as sexy as Audrey?!! (common misconception is she was wearing a Wayfarer- no no!)

Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffanys. Wearing Manhatten

Oliver Goldsmith was the first to recognise glasses as a fashion accessory. He created the concept of “Eyewear”. Sunglasses for winter and Catwalk pieces are all OG inspired.
It wasn’t until 2005 when Great Granddaughter of Oliver, Claire Goldsmith, decided it was time to bring this brand back to life. Claire brought back this fashion story and recreated these design masterpieces,
We’re stoked to have Oliver Goldsmith at Seen. Cult Sunglasses for our fashion forward clients. Styles that will never die. OG is an absolute must for every sunglass aficionado. Or even just to show off to your friends!

Lord. Caramel Split

Lord. Bottle Green

Manhatten

Orbison. Mint Choc Chip

Orbison. Electric Tortoiseshell

Berny. Blue Tortoiseshell

Claire Goldsmith. A Legacy Continued.

tareq — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:09:50 +0000

Claire Goldsmith is the woman behind our latest optical range. Claire is the great granddaughter of Oliver Goldsmith, one of the most famous names in the optical world. Goldsmith is synonymous with iconic spectacle wearers from the 20th century and Claire has cleverly used the traditions and heritage of this fine brand to inspire her. In 2005 Claire was responsible for the rebirth of the Oliver Goldsmith Sunglass line. And in 2010 she revitalised and relaunched the optical collection under her own name. Refined classics and innovative creations make it one of the most desireable optical collections of 2012.
We’re proud to have both the collections at Seen. One of the first stockists of Claire Goldsmith in the UK.
The Claire Goldsmith optical range is not for the faint hearted. Bold and heavy styles made with the finest acetate. Clever use of Matte finishes and layered colours. Wearing a Goldsmith will get you noticed. You may even become an icon yourself!

Irwin Grey on English Tea

Irwin-S Tokyo Tortoise

Riley Matte Black on Claret

Watson Deep Sea

The Soloist Collection by Oliver Peoples.

tareq — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 16:21:15 +0000

This is very cool news. Sometimes it’s clear a collarboration is an attempt to save or revive an ailing brand. And sometimes a collaboration is the meeting of two minds at the top of their game. And this is 100% from the latter catagory.

Oliver Peoples has collaborated with The Solo1st Japan with two frames designed by Takahiro Miyashita. The collection is called The Solo1st and it pursues a vintage-inspired aesthetic, with close attention to detail and superior craftsmanship. You’ll see filigreed metal eyewire combined with acetate top-bar and temples. The contrasting colors of the plastic create a unique beauty to this frame.

Wearing this will give an air of individuality and a far eastern mystery to your style. Like a vintage tailored garment in our opinion!

How nice it feels when a Sunbeam lights up your face!

tareq — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 16:31:31 +0000

Is there anything nicer than a beam of sunlight breaking through the clouds and landing on your face. It enlivens the soul and brightens up our lives.

Mr Kirk of Kirk Originals fame has decided to enrich all our lives by creating an eternal ray of sunlight that we can wear all year round, night and day. And hes called this new collection Beam and Sunbeam.

Jason Kirk is a long standing friend of Seen Optician- we’ve stocked his frames since the day we opened our doors and this year the collection has blown us away. Nothing in the world is like this. Nothing comes close to the staggering use of technology and materials to create amazing colours.

We met up with Jason at optical trade fair Silmo in Paris last week-
“What a great Silmo. With the economic atmosphere a touch grey before the show, I have to admit we were a little concerned so we took the decision to splash a little colour around the collection.
It was well received as we had our best ever sales, up 9% on last year. I think everyone is ready for a little colour in their lives”

The world needs Beam and Sunbeam. In stock later in the year at Seen.

This frame is incredible!

Are you ready for this girlies?

Theo Eyewear. A little bit gangster!

tareq — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:04:29 +0000

Picture the scene- its the nineteen twenties going into the thirties and our friends across the pond are chasing notorious gangsters across the country. Bonnie and Clyde are running amok with robberies and murders. Yet the good folk of the states held a sympathetic outlook for them!
Not so much for the bootlegger and mastermind organised crime mobster, Al Capone. Although he was just cool!
And what has this got to do with eyewear. Nothing actually. The gangsters were into hats. And thats where the link is- our quirky friends at Theo Eyewear in Belgium are also in hats! And for that reason, the design team created frames they thought the mobster and murderers would have sported during their time running the USA ragged.
And so we have The Bonnie, The Clyde and The Capone.
All on the shelves here at Seen and truly amazing attention to detail with the design and colours. What we like most of all is the clever use of angles which allows the frame to look unique when viewed at different heights.
Criminal status not require to purchase!!!

The Bonnie

Its amazing what comes out of a workshop in Berlin…

tareq — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:28:35 +0000

Mykita is a unique company in our opinion. One would think from all the press and awards they get that they’d be a huge faceless organisation. But nothing could be further from the truth. Every time we open up a Mykita delivery we find an invite to come to Mykita Haus and have some fun building frames and drinking beers. And the 4 chaps that started it all off in 2003 are always knocking around the trade shows- often with a cigarette and a glass of champagne to hand!!!

At Seen, we’ve loved Mykita since we first stacked them on the glass shelves here. The styles are often effortless yet stand out from the crowd. And thats just Collection No1.

Collection No2 was even more up our street. Bold acetate frames, big hinges- real “check me out” glasses!!!

mykita audrey

mykita amber

mykita luna and duncan

You don’t have to smile for this photograph…

tareq — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:07:07 +0000

Retinal Photograpy in our opinion is a must during a routine eye examination these days. It is a camera that captures an image of the inside of the human eye and allows us to make sure the eye is in great health. The area of the retina that is captured is the central section and its where all the magic happens. The Optic Nerve Head, the Central Retinal Artery and Vein and the Macula area including the Fovea. This is so useful to examine your eye in detail as well as keep the image on record for future comparison.
And all this is possible with use of a Retinal Camera which we use at Seen on every client.
Best of all is that its instant, quick, easy, painless and you don’t even have to smile for it!!!
Contact us to arrange your eyetest including Retinal Photography

A Creator Of Beutiful Things

tareq — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:36:51 +0000

A Video Catalogue for Garrett Leight California Optical from Ron Moon on Vimeo.

Garrett Leight is a man inspired to create beautiful thing; in particular, beautiful eyewear. Based and brought up in Venice Beach California, Garrett designs frames for the people he knows- people that appreciate beauty, youth and vision.
We invited Garrett to Seen in Manchester when he was touring europe early in 2011. It was his first visit to Manchester and he was stoked when he walked into our store because it was clear to him from looking around that Seen stocked the finest frames and had a similar vision to him. And that was it; the start of a beautiful relationship. We hope to stock Garrett Leight California Optical for a long time, and as long as Garrett keeps designing frames with the style and quality of his first collection, we can’t wait to see the new stuff.
Garrett Leight California Optical is only available in a handful of the finest optical stores in the world and at Seen we’re proud to say we’re one of those…
Call in and check them out.

Theo + fashion student = amazing design

tareq — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:27:58 +0000

Every year Belgian eyewear brand Theo helps one or more students at the Antwerp Fashion Academy with their accessories for their graduation show.
This time theo lend En-Ya Vandenhende a hand with her design. Together with theo designer Serge Bracké and in close collaboration with ZEISS, En-Ya has created a pair of sunglasses with a keyhole-nose and clip-on.
At Seen we absolutely love Theo, and creations like this are exactly why…

Glasses can be made to look super sexy…

tareq — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:58:17 +0000

Starring real life couple Devendra Banhart and Rebecca Schwartz, the premise of the Oliver Peoples 2011 campaign is an exploration of authentic intimacy and sexuality. The love affair is explored in the one-of-a-kind masterpiece by architect John Lautner: Rainbow House. The contemporary California setting proved to be a perfect atmosphere to showcase the natural chemistry of the young, intriguing couple. Produced with acclaimed photographer and aspiring director Lisa Eisner

Devendra Banhart at the Rainbow House – Director’s Cut from Oliver Peoples on Vimeo.