Vinylize Your Eyewear at Specs
Calling all vinyl fans, we have the thing for you, if you’re looking for some eyewear that is very unique try Vinylize. Here at Specs we like to have a lot of variety in the eyewear we sell, to give you, the customer, the best fit. So we pair with many unique brands, one of those brands being Vinylize, Vinylize is a Hungarian-based eyewear company that does things a little different. They make glasses frames out of vinyl records.
Originally Vinylize was called Tipton Eyeworks, in Seattle, Washington, owned by Zachary Tipton, a Hungarian-American. This company made rimless titanium glasses, but Zachary wanted to do something more, and one day while working in his fathers garage he spotted an old vinyl record, and got the idea to make glasses frames out of vinyl records. The very first Vinylize prototype was handmade out of an old Creedence Clearwater Revival album.
After apprenticing at an eyeglass factory in Hungary, and with the employees there he created an eyeglass frame made out of vinyl records, and acetate that exceeded European standards. The business Vinylize brought to that old factory wasn’t quite enough to keep it open, and it closed, forcing the company to move elsewhere. Years later in 2014, when that factory closed Zachary and his brother bought all of the machines used to make the very first Vinylize frames, and they moved their business back to Hungary.
Vinylize makes glasses frames out of vinyl records, and acetate. They get unsold vinyl records from London, and fuse them with acetate to create a prescription-ready frame. Each and every frame from Vinylize is handmade in Hungary, and can take up to six weeks to craft. There are only about 70 frames made in each model, so all the frames are considered limited-edition.
Every frame is unique, as they’re all handmade, and for Vinylize it's all in the details. When you hold a Vinylize frame in your hand you can feel the grooves of the vinyl record it came from on the front of that frame. These frames have a very unique look and style that you’re not going to see anywhere else. And just like vinyl records themselves, there are a few frames that come in groovy colors as well.
At Specs we like to be common among the uncommon, and that means carrying unique brands like Vinylize. Vinylize has multiple interesting collections, even a few with AC/DC! If you’re looking for a distinctive, unique look, this is the eyewear for you. Each piece of eyewear is different, even if they were cut from the same record, because of the authentic vinyl record grooves on the frame.
Since 2015 Vinylize has put out three collections with AC/DC. These frames are made from authentic AC/DC records, where you can see the grooves corresponding with your favorite AC/DC songs. There is even a signature lightning bolt inlay in the temples of all of the AC/DC glasses. Vinylize wants it’s customers to know they’re receiving authentic products, so every pair of Vinylize glasses from any of the AC/DC collections comes with a certificate of authenticity, a custom AC/DC case, cleaning cloth, hang tag, and box.
Even if you aren’t a prescription glasses wearer, Vinylize also creates unique sunglasses, in the same way as their prescription glasses frames. However, we do not have them in-stock in-store, at our Specs Waterfront location. If you are still looking for a way to support this awesome brand whilst also supporting a locally owned business, we can certainly order in Vinylize sunglasses for your every need, and we also offer them on our Specs Eyewear for Everwear website!
Vinylize reuses unsold records to make their frames, records that would otherwise end up in a landfill as waste. Reusing non compostable or biodegradable vinyl to make glasses is a great step in the right direction for sustainability.
If you’re looking for Vinylize eyewear near you, we offer it at our Specs Waterfront location, and on our Specs Eyewear for Everywear website. So feel free to come in, and feel the music!
