Even the biggest Savile Row devotees typically don’t think to commission bespoke eyewear—a curious oversight considering that most will study your face long before they notice the precisely tailored Huntsman jacket you’re sporting. But for those in the know, E.B. Meyrowitz, a London-based optician that has been producing optical and sunglasses the old-fashioned way for nearly a century and a half, has long been the place to go.
Founded in Prussia by Emil Bruno Meyrowitz in 1875, the brand not only refined the methods of making made-to-measure, everyday eyewear to their pinnacle—many of which are still alive and well in their Royal Arcade atelier—but also provided custom frames for the earliest aviators, racecar drivers, and professional mountaineers. Today, helmed by Sheel Davison-Lungley, the optician is quietly going global, bringing its exacting standard to Asia and the U.S.
E.B. Meyrowitz’s second stateside tour kicks off at the end of October in New York, making stops in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles before heading back across the pond. Snag an appointment (check out the full itinerary and email bespoke@ebmeyrowitz.co.uk for specific availability), and you’ll receive the full Meyrowitz experience. Their fitters, perhaps Davison-Lungely herself, will take stock of your face, a surprisingly intimate experience in which they note 23 separate measurements—not counting those taken for your lenses during the actual eye exam. From there, you’ll work together to develop a design, often tweaking ready-to-wear styles like the New Byron (shown above) to your preferred color of tortoiseshell or acetate and scaling its proportions to match your own.
Upon returning to London, Meyrowitz’s team of artisans and opticians will set to work building your glasses. In all, it can take 10 to 12 weeks and upward of 40 hours of precise handcrafting to complete any given pair—though if you want your frames done in an exotic skin or buffalo horn, expect to leave a little bit of extra time for sourcing and preparing the ultra-fine materials.
Unlike your favorite suit or exquisitely patinaed pair of oxfords, glasses bring the world into focus. They frame your face and provide an immediate framework for how you’d like the world to focus on you. They speak volumes about your personal style and sense of self—so they may as well be chic.
