Bond's Accessories: Persol

It has been a while since I last wrote about sunglasses, but I have in the past mentioned my love of Italian sunglasses manufacturer Persol, and in an unrelated post, discussed the refined, insouciant character offered by a lighter colored pair of sunglasses than basic black. Today, I combine the two. Persol sunglasses, and tortoise-shell frames.

Persol calls their tortoise-shell colored frames "Havana". Call them what you like, the lighter colored frames catch more attention and can better compliment a colorful ensemble than black frames. Black is unimaginative in most cases- granted a black suit and shoes would probably cry out for black sunglasses, but in other scenarios, a lighter frame accents the different color hues in most clothing.

I personally have been blessed/cursed with a fair complexion, light hair and skin tone (yeah, that's me on the right), and tortoise-shell frames break the stark contrast that is achieved when I wear all black frames. Conversely, individuals with either olive, brown, or reddish skin tones will have their complexion complimented by the different shades of brown and amber present in a tortoise-shell frame. Everybody wins, you see.

My newest aquisition are these Persol 2720-S sunglasses, which were worn by Daniel Craig's James Bond in the 2006 film, Casino Royale (see picture, below). I opted for the brown lenses while Bond wore frames with green lenses, but I like the way that the Persol brown-orange lenses block out all the sunlight without making indoor lighting seem nonexistant (for the times when walking indoors briefly after forgetting your phone at home or dropping something off at the post office or making a bank deposit... not when gong out clubbing and trying to look cool by wearing shades indoors... you actually look like a douchebag when you do this. Trust me).

I have quickly fallen in love with this pair of shades. My wife tried to "adopt them" and I told her she'd better start trying to come up with a way to bump me off if she wants to inherit them. Like Charleton Heston said, "...From my cold dead hands." They're mine. I offered her my Ray Bans. She refused.

For those who are unaware of the history, Persol comes from the Italian words per il sole, meaning, "for the sun". The brand was founded in 1917 by Giuseppe Ratti. Its trademark is the silver arrow, and several of the company's glasses feature this symbol.

Persol was a heavy influence in the production of sunglasses. The company developed the first flexible stem.
Persol was introduced to the United States in 1962. Its first boutique opened on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles in 1991.

Steve McQueen popularized two Persol models: the 714 folding sunglasses and similarly styled 649. He wore a special pair of 714's with blue lenses (now avaiable as a Steve McQueen Special Edition model at http://www.persol.com/) in The Thomas Crown Affair and was often photographed wearing the 649 model.
One of the most iconic images of Persol sunglasses can be seen in the movie Divorce Italian Style where Marcello Mastroianni wears a pair of black 649s; Mastroianni also has a pair of Persol sunglasses on in almost every scene in the movie La Dolce Vita.

Persols can be seen on celebrities as frequently as plastic surgery. Jack Nicholson, Jake Gyllenhall, Jay-Z, George Clooney, Sharon Stone, Pierce Brosnan, Bill Murray, and a slew of others are seen wearing them regularly, but that's not to say that celebrity iconography is what makes them worth a damn.

Persols are durable, stylish, and fit like a glove, thanks to the brand's patented "Meflecto" cylinders in the arms, which hug and flex comfortably around the wearers temple to provide a custom fit. The lenses are made of high-impact glass rather than plastic, and resist scratching better than any other sunglass lens on the market. The lenses also provide unsurpassed clarity. Each pair is hand-made in Italy and no two pair are absolutely alike, like a utilitaritan piece of art that one can wear on his face.

Upon reflection, I don't know exactly what the purpose of this post was, whether it was to plug Persol, make a James Bond reference, promote tortoise-shell frames, or just to say, "Hey, check out my new toy." Maybe it was a bit of all of these reasons, but I can guarantee you this: each reason was in the service of style. After all... that's why we're here. Isn't it? 

Cheers.

-Paul