Cubitts, a Londonian brand with various styles!
In 2013, Cubitts was born in King’s Cross London, in the Eurostar’s neighborhood. Cubitts’ frames are made in a traditional way and go through fifty crafted stages of production over a period of six weeks including four separate stages of polishing to ensure a glorious luster.
Most of their frames are constructed with custom Cubitts pins that secure right through the acetate - this is called pin drilling. This process is done by hand and takes more time and skill, but means hinges can be easily maintained.
A Made-to-Measure Collection
To mark the opening of their first Atelier at 68 Jermyn Street, Cubitts introduced what they have called the St. James’s Collection. Comprising 16 silhouettes available in 175 acetate colors as well as horns, all the frames are made-to-measure and made-to-order. Befitting their royal surroundings, each frame is exclusively designed and made by one of their master craftsman using traditional handmade techniques in our King’s Cross workshop.
Your facial measurements are taken to adapt the spectacle sizing for a perfect fit at all cubitts locations.
The range draws on timeless shapes from the last 200 years. It is inspired by the streets and history of our atelier's environ, such as Whitcomb Street which gives its name to a slender rounded frame, whose aligned lugs, and bridge which mimic the street that follows the line of ancient thoroughfare known as Hedge Lane which existed during the reign of Henry VIII.
The lenses
Cubitts offer a wide range of prescription lenses, including single vision lenses, higher indexes for stronger prescription, and progressives. Their sunglasses offer full category 7, UV400 protection, including polarised lenses and Zeiss mirrors.
A store experience
Using advanced technology, including fundus cameras to photograph the back of your eyeballs, each eye examination lasts around thirty to forty minutes and is taken by one of their team of optometrists, who will talk you through each step. Eye examinations cost £25 with a pair of spectacles or sunglasses and £40 without.
An Avant-Garde & experimental approach
In homage to the six centuries of spectacles in London, Cubitts has launched a unique frame made from the very fabric of the capital's rich history. Using materials 'mudlarked' from the banks of the River Thames, including Tudor hairpins, Bellarmine 'witch pots', and even a WW2 bullet, the 'Frame for London' was also on display in the charming St James's Market Pavilion on St Alban's Street, London.
One of the styles that was shown in the exhibition, composed of a unique shapes and material.
Celebrating the long history between London and spectacles, the retrospective exhibition was full of British icons, from a remake of the first ever pair of spectacles, to monocles and 'Supras', to lorgnettes and 'Windsors', to Michael Caine's favourite style of sunglasses.
The regular collection is composed of 6mm block Mazzuchelli acetate frames, sleek flat fronts, pinned hinges, temple tip grips. And of course, UV400 lenses. Most high quality frames are made from cellulose acetate. This is a semi-synthetic material which comes from a plant base (mostly tree pulp and cotton). While non-petroleum based, it is still a plastic and draws on some of the earth’s natural resources. Lenses, too, typically come from a plastic called CR39.
Cubitts frames are built to outlive the summer.
Made to last, with complimentary annual frame service, extended 2 year warranty, as well as repairs and adjustments for life.
An Environmental approach
In response to this environmental issue, while launching their REDUX program (ten one-off concept frames from ten different waste materials - potatoes, sheep’s wool, corn husks, chopping boards, plastic packaging, human hair, mushrooms, yogurt pots, CDs, and cornstarch. All frames being handmade in the UK), Cubitts made the following commitments:
Producing frames that are high quality and that will last a long time, constructed in a way that can be repaired.
Always encouraging repairs over replacement.
Encouraging customers to care for their frames, and to extend their lifespan through spectacle care products and complimentary frame services.
Reducing, and ultimately eliminating, all non-functional packaging.
Swapping single-use for multi-use packaging, such as their reusable Home Try-On boxes.
Finding waste or surplus materials from other value chains to feed their packaging.
Reusing offcuts from their production process to set up new things.
Recycling all of their frames after use by donating them to the Kwale Eye Centre in Kenya and Orbis for their program in Ethiopia. Anyone can drop their old frames - Cubitts or not - in any store, or by post to our King's Cross store, located at 97 Caledonian Road, London N1 9BT.
Written by N.B.