The Best Wood Eyewear Brands

The qualities of wood eyewear

 

Wood is natural and unique

Wood means warmth. It radiates a warm feeling onto the wearers face, softens facial features and compliments practically any skin tone. Similar to horn frames, a pair of wood spectacles is always unique due to the distinct grain and surface structures. So buying a pair of wood spectacles is an investment in a one-of-a-kind accessory! It’s all about the surface patterns, color variations, and slight nuances of this sustainable natural material that creates a unique look. If individuality is what you’re looking for, then wood is the ‘natural’ answer.

 

Wood eyewear is light and robust

Some wearers have been hesitant to try wood frames. The reason is fear they may be less robust than titanium glasses or carbon frames. But rest assured: Wood can hold up to the test of time by virtue of being constructed from premium wood veneers. This means laminated wood sheets composed of several layers for added strength. The construction technique makes wood frames uniquely robust and resilient. It also avoids a natural flaw of wood: The material tends to ‘work’ when exposed to different temperatures. So crafting a frame from single blocks of wood inevitably would lead to tears and fractures in the material. That’s why veneers are the way to go. It also adds a distinct aesthetic to the mix.

 

Wood looks great and feels soft

In the manufacturing of wood frames, popular choices include birch, maple, cherry tree or walnut. Naturally, the choice of raw materials impacts the resulting color variations: Maple frames tend to be light brown. Cherry or walnut trees create a strong red-brown hue in wooden frames. Overall, wood eyewear combines lots of positive factors into a sleek, sustainable package: They blend aesthetics and soft feel with manual craftsmanship and unique comfort of wear. What’s more, wood frames tend to be incredibly lightweight for their sizes. So they rest on the wearer’s face unobtrusively. They are at the opposite spectrum from 3D-printed glasses – similar but very different.

 

Wood is about craftsmanship

When it comes to turning wood into eyewear, a combination of patience and expertise is paramount. After all, wood is a living material that can be hard to tame at times. Most premium brands aim to achieve a balance between traditional craftsmanship and high technology in order to offer relevant products.

 

Brands like Rolf Spectacles Love Wood

In the mountain region of Tyrol, a phalanx of expert wood eyewear manufacturers has emerged to push the boundaries of the genre. Tyrol-based company Rolf Spectacles registered a patent for a unique lens-fitting process for wooden eyewear frames. This is achieved by a special thread that connects the lenses to the specifically machined openings in the wooden frame.

Although wood itself tends to be a rather inexpensive material, finished wooden frames tend to range in the upper price segment. This is due to the fact that the manufacturing process is rather hands-on and resource intensive. Then again, every single wooden frame is one-of-a-kind and the result of a sequence of meticulous manual steps.

 

Our advice: Wearers looking for that exclusive touch can aim for a two-tone frame crafted from two different materials. In combination of two natural materials (for instance two types of wood, wood/titanium or wood/stone), designers can unfold a wide spectrum of aesthetic nuances and contrasts.

Last but not least: Wooden frames are truly positive products as they are 100 percent sourced from natural materials. Look good and feel good as well.

 

 

The best brands for wooden eyewear

Only a select few independent eyewear brands have taken it upon themselves to transform the natural material from the world’s forests into stylish frames. We looked around to compile an exclusive selection of the coolest styles, available in our Virtual Try-On tool to see test live on your own face. Here’s a list of the most important manufacturers:

• Einstoffen
• Herrlicht
• Hoffmann Natural Eyewear
• Lindberg
• Rolf Spectacles