What Are your glasses made from?
Do any of us pay much attention to what our fashion eyewear or optical frames are made from? Honestly, not really! Most people don’t care as long as they look great and they fit our price bracket. But we think it does matter what your fashion eyewear or optical frames are made from. Believe it or not it can have a dramatic effect on the way you feel and think. Its the same with clothes. I know we are all trying to be more environmentally friendly and behave responsibly, but do we really know that much about the fabrics we wear, how they’re made, and where they come? The small army of people that do care is growing, and as consumers, we are slowly becoming far more discerning than ever before, even though we are still very much in a fast moving and disposal world.
If I was totally honest I would have to admit that I’m guilty too. I don’t pay enough attention to my clothing and how it’s made and what type of material I’m wearing. Whilst writing this, I’ve suddenly thought about my morning appointment, and the fact that I’d better go and have a shave before I present myself to the bank. I don’t normally bother, but my growth is a bit heavy so its time for a tidy up. And what do I shave with? A cheap plastic disposable razor. I feel bad. But why do I use a cheap plastic disposable? Very simple. Because they’re really good, and I get a clean shave without tearing my face off. Incidentally, I’ve tried every razor and shaving cream known to mankind and the animal kingdom, and this is by far the best one for me. But it’s made from plastic and I am now wondering what they do with all this plastic that I am guilty of throwing in my bin. I will have a re think this evening on how I can correct my poor mis guided behaviour whilst leaving my face intact.
Glasses are slightly different, as most of us that wear glasses usually wear them from the moment we open our eyes to the moment we collapse. So yes, the materials your glasses are made from are important and not just from the environmental point of view. Campbell Marson make wooden sunglasses and glasses, which of course are environmentally friendly right down to the glues, lacquers and production process. But it’s more than that, because although there are no particular benefits in wearing plastic, acetate, or metal frames, there can be huge benefits from wearing wooden glasses.
I’ve read lots of reports about the benefits of using and living with wood. For example, a study conducted in 2010 in an Austrian school, compared two ‘timber’ classrooms versus two ‘standard’ classrooms. The benefits for children studying in the timber classrooms were impressive, especially their heart rates, which were lowered by up to 8600 heartbeats. They were more relaxed and the timber rooms had a positive effect on their performance too. There was also a decreased perception of stress. A Japanese study found exposure to wooden panels significantly decreases blood pressure, while exposure to steel panels make it rise.
There are lots of reports conducted on the benefits of wood which are easy to find, but the findings are always conclusive. Wood has great health benefits especially in terms of relaxation and stress. Yet we’ve never really seen wood as a material to make glasses from, and for good reason. Making high quality glasses or sunglasses using wood is incredibly complicated, time consuming and un forgiving if you make any mistakes. Sure we can all find an example of somebody on you tube making a pair of glasses from wood, but we can also find examples of people making rockets. Needless to say non of these rockets are ever going to the moon. Most of them will fizzle out by the time they reach Barnsley, never to be heard from again.
But wearing a pair of wooden sunglasses or glasses for some reason gives me some kind of majestic feeling that I never felt with other material. Maybe its because my daily pair are made from Macassar Ebony, and Ebony wood is seen as a symbol of protection and power. Similarly, Rosewood has been used in the healing process for centuries. The leaves and sap of the tree are frequently ground to a paste to place on the skin in order to heal blemishes or pimples. Even heartburn, indigestion, and certain heart diseases are thought to be preventable with the intake of rosewood pastes and remedies.
Every tree and type of wood has a story, and each wood species can be worn to suit your personality and character. Its completely unique.
And one final thing. Every pair of Campbell Marson designer glasses are handmade and knowing that your glasses have been made with passion skill and love, increases the experience one hundred fold..
Ohhh and one more final final thing I forgot to mention. Wooden glasses have been around since the 15th century.
Maybe its time they made a comeback.
