Glasses Framecraft

Our frames

Spectacles and sunglasses are so much more than functional items.

Engineered for your eyes, we marry traditional methods with modern technologies, to create frames for advanced vision, and better living. Each frame goes through fifty crafted stages of production over a period of six weeks, including four separate stages of polishing, to ensure a glorious lustre.

A pair of spectacles should accentuate the beauty of human form, not conceal it. So Cubitts shapes emphasise simplicity, line, and form. Good design never goes out of style.

We avoid unnecessary details like filigrees or external branding. We look closely at the small details—hinges, screws, temple tips, bridges. We use materials honestly, without concealing their innate qualities. We simplify wherever possible.

Spectacles should be designed for a whole gamut of beautiful faces. So Cubitts frames come in multiple sizes for a range of heads, and a variety of fits for a miscellany of facial vagaries. Bespoke allows you to take this a step further, creating a frame designed to your exact measurements.

Every frame is designed to be easily serviced and repaired, to serve the wearer admirably for many happy years.

The humble rivet. The sign of a hand-pinned hinge.

The Cubitts custom 'wire core', with dimensions conforming to the golden ratio.

We start with the raw materials. Our cellulose acetate is derived from natural cotton and wood fibres, from Mazzuchelli (Italy) or Takiron (Japan). After being heated and set, it’s allowed to rest for months, like a fine wine. This process stabilises the acetate, forming a consistency which helps the frames retain their shape through heavy wear and high temperatures.

We also use 304L surgical grade stainless steel, and 99.7% pure titanium, five times lighter and ten times stronger than acetate, as well as being hypoallergenic, resistant to corrosion, and ion plated to over 0.3μ.

The wire core is a slender piece of metal, inserted into the temple to make the frame adjustable; the length and the body conforming to the Golden Ratio.

The process of inserting the wire core into the temple is called ‘side shooting ’. To get it right, we heat the core and the acetate to just the right temperature, and then ‘fire’ the core to submillimetre precision. It’s a niche but very skilled role. Get it wrong, and you’ll get bubbles and a wonky core.

The temple tips on our frames are fractionally thicker and more rounded than the rest of the arm, to create a more comfortable fit. We add traditional grip detailing to improve the fit.

Our Cubitts logo is carefully inlaid on the inside of the temple - while our frames are quintessentially Cubitts in the design, we do not believe in unnecessary external adornment

Our frames are constructed with custom Cubitts pins that secure right through the acetate—this is called ‘pin drilling’. This traditional frame construction method is usually eschewed in favour of the cheaper 'heat sunk' approach. It takes more time and skill, but means hinges can be easily serviced or repaired.

The pins and rivets are made individually with an exacting precision. The shape is based on a wrought-iron rivet set in stone by Lewis Cubitt in 1850, still visible in King’s Cross today. It isn’t our logo; it’s more important that. An archetype of form following function, it’s the keystone and foundation of Cubitts.

Every frame has a mitred (angled) join between the front and the temples. This is a sign of quality and more difficult to do, but it means a join can be filed back to allow a better fit.

Each frame features barrelled hinges from OBE, chosen for strength and consistent movement. We avoid spring hinges, which are difficult to fix when broken (the sartorial equivalent of an elasticated waist on a tailored suit).

On any acetate or horn frame, we can add custom metal nose pad fittings, to help fit a lower crest. Pads are available in silicone, stainless steel, titanium, or ceramic.

Making spectacles

Each Cubitts frame goes through fifty crafted stages of production over a period of six weeks. Here are just ten of those steps:

We make our own custom rivets, structural bonds that connect the front and the temples, without the need for ‘heat sinking’ or glue. These are made individually, with an exacting precision.

The shape is based on a wrought-iron rivet set in stone by Lewis Cubitt in 1850, still visible in King’s Cross today. This isn’t our logo; it’s more important than that. An archetype of form following function, our rivet is the keystone and foundation of Cubitts.

The wire core is a slender piece of metal, inserted into the temple to make the frame adjustable. Our wire cores are custom made, with the length and the body conforming to the Golden Ratio.

The frame fronts and temples are precision cut from strips of acetate sections, using optical CNC machines operated by Cubitts optical engineers from CAD designs.

Once the shape has been cut, both front and sides are worked by hand with a file, sandpaper, small milling table or tool such as a Dremel, to remove any milling marks or imperfections.

We used a ‘V’ cutter to mill a lens groove in the front eye aperture. By holding the front tight against the milling table, and running the inside eye through the full revolution, you create a consistent groove. This ‘v cut’ is 0.5-0.7mm deep, allowing the lens to be glazed into the frame.

Cubitts custom screws include miniature silicone bands, which preserve the thread and mean a temple keeps its tightness for much longer. We use the finest teflon coated hinges, between three and seven charnieres.

A small white-gloved assembly team go through each and every frame that passes through the workshops. This stage includes adding screws to affix the temples to the front pieces, ensuring the frame sits level, and another polish to remove thumbprints.

Every frame passes three sets of eagle eyes in quality control, before being signed off and placed in a protective sleeve.

The final stage is then to fit a lens, called ‘glazing’. This might be dummy lens, a plano lens, a sun lens, or a prescription lens. We use a state-of-the-art MEI Bisphera glazing machine, which first traces the shape of the lens aperture, then grinds the uncut lens to the same shape with submillimetre protection. It can then be placed in the frame with a strong thumb and a reassuring ‘pop’.