ic! berlin eyewear review

[Markboots]

Hello Everyone,

Just wanted to post an eyewear company review for anyone looking into getting a new pair of regular Rx or sunglass. Such an important accessory for anyone, especially for people like me who don't wear contacts. I previously posted an article on Buffalo horn glasses.

My Buffalo horn glasses got banished to the office because my wife prefers smaller frames, so I decided to expand my horizons and do a deep dive into the eyewear industry. I really enjoy learning about different brands and trying to understand quality in clothing, footwear, accessories and now eyewear.

I found that hardest with eyewear. Styleforum has been such great help with clothing and footwear but eyewear information…. not so much. Google searches seem really weak as well. I have a few pairs of Lindberg rimless that I won’t go into details about here, but let’s just say they did not work out for me and I would not recommend them. Moving on…..

A big issue for me is my long temples. When I walk into an eyewear store and try on the usual 135mm temple with curved traditional arm hooks, they usually are way too short, which is super frustrating. I am also not a big fan of the traditional eyewear arms that hook behind your ears. Just not comfortable for me. I have always liked the Oakley skull hugger temples but never was a fan of their regular Rx glasses. I wanted to stick with frames made in Japan, France or Germany. Sorry Italy, your role is with shirt and pant fabric. Plus, I think there is a lot of hit or miss with eyewear made in Italy. Mainly miss….

Seems like a lot of the frames made in Japan are designed in different countries like USA, but made in Japan. So, is it just marketing and design that separates these made in Japan brands? I thought some of the vintage Matsuda were cool, but those temple arms just don’t work for me (temple length and style) as stated above.

Here are two pictures from my collection. My latest addition from the ic! berlin Silk collection is the model named Etesians. The round lens with skull hugger temples comes in at 14g with 49mm lens. With a -4 Rx, I try and stick with simple and a smaller lens style to keep the lens light as well. The Etesians are perfect for what I was looking for!

The other picture has 2 pairs of Vue Des Alpes (chocolate and black frame color) along with a Rx pair of Harmonic Oscillator sunglasses and 67 nixenstraße sunglasses (need to have Rx lens installed).

The Etesians and a pair of Vue Des Alpes (gunmetal color) are currently at my optics shop (www.saltcityoptics.com) having Rx lens installed so could not make the group picture. SaltCityoptics did a super cool lens for another brand of sunglasses I have and wanted to give them a shout out for quality and customer service.

Why ic! berlin?

1. Screwless eyewear. I am not looking to have one of those tiny screwdrivers lying around trying to fix my glasses.
2. Love the temple options! A lot of companies give you one temple arm style. ic! berlin has many different temple arms style. They also have different temple lengths. They try to cater to the needs of everyone!
3. The fit for me is second to none!! They hug my head and therefore I can wear them for work or play. They will stay on regardless of activity and look great with any wardrobe choice.
4. Feather weight frames made out of light weight 0.5mm spring stainless steel. The Etesians (from their Silk collection) is only 12g. The 3 Vue des Alpes is 17g and some of the Polyamide I am looking at are around 25g. The new rubber models are around 21g.
5. They come in stainless steel, acetate, 3D printed Polyamide or rubber. I am planning on getting rubber soon as I have the other 3 (Polyamide – 3D printed material is the 67 nixenstraße). The Polyamide is strong and lightweight (30% lighter than cellulose acetate). Again, a company that looks out for everyone with the different frame materials.
6. Ultra comfortable. You simply need to try them on to appreciate how great they feel.
7. Glasses are modern, classic, trendy, quirky and extreme. A style and fit for everyone.
8. Designed and Made in Berlin. They have total control of the finished product that is produced since design, production, sales, distribution & marketing all happen under the ic! berlin roof in Berlin. A little more detail information I was able to obtain - In Moabit, they mill and polish acetate parts, color metal parts using industrial-grade physical vapor deposition (PVD) and create luxury buffalo horn eyewear for their sister brand onono. I have not tried onono yet. Marzahn is home to their sheet metal production and global HQ. Here they cut, bend, shape and engrave their glasses from sheets of 0.5mm spring stainless steel and gather all the individual pieces together to hand craft every single ic! berlin frame. They have over 500 frames at their flagship store in Berlin.
9. Quality wise, one of the best made eyewear brands out there. There are more expensive brands.

Other cool facts:

1. The employees model their products and even have some of them named after them. How cool!
2. They released their screwless hinge system over 21 years ago so they have been around for a while.
3. How can you not like Ralph Anderl! Ton of personality, great style (eyewear and fashion), the founder and visionary. Someone I would love to meet someday.
4. Sold in over 60 countries
5. Lenses can be fitted quickly and easily without the need for specialized tools
6. ic! berlin frame can be dismantled and rebuilt with your own two hands in a matter of seconds.
7. They have won various awards - iOFT Eyewear of the Year 2017 in Tokyo was the latest.
8. Ic! berlin recently released a new children’s line. Not simply smaller versions of the adult frames, the shapes and their proportions are specifically designed for younger, still-growing faces.
9. Some famous celebrities like Prince and Madonna wear them if that is something that interest you (it doesn’t me).

I don’t work for the company in any capacity or I would have had a frame named after me by now….. I highly recommend their product. The next time you are in an eyeglass shop you have to try them on. You won’t find ic! berlin in LensCrafter so you will need to look into shops that carry them. I know they are being sold at Rims and Goggles in Mill Valley, CA, near me, but I am sure you can look up on their website or contact them directly through the ic! berlin website to get a location near you.

Any questions feel free to ask.
Regards,
Mark

 

[reddot15]

Beware if you are looking to buy Ic! Berlin frame, i purchased mine in July 2017 and after only wearing it for a year the frame snapped off at the hinge area. There is no warranty if the frame is purchased from place other than their AD, and the warranty is only good for two years!