RetroSpecs & Co.
announces the launch of its new luxury eyewear collection Cuthbert & Chen, created and designed by Jay Owens and Marya Francis, the husband and wife force behind the world’s largest historic eyewear company. RetroSpecs’ Cuthbert & Chen eyewear features individually registered hand polished buffalo horn frames and modern customizable titanium frames with blonde horn nosepads. The collection debuts in select exclusive dealerships from around the world such as Morgenthal Frederics in New York City, Punto Ottico in Milan and Burri Optik in Zurich as well as in the RetroSpecs retail stores in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Seoul.
“RetroSpecs’ vision for Cuthbert & Chen is about everything the eyewear world has lost over the past 40 years,” says Jay Owens, the founder, CEO and lead historian for RetroSpecs & Co. “Once upon a time eyewear was not just a mass produced accessory with a logo on the temple, but cherished personal objects with the perfect fit and feel. Glasses were the result of a grand competition between frame manufacturers to design stylish frames in multiple sizes from the finest materials in the world. With Cuthbert & Chen, our clients will now be able to wear our unrivaled modern creations, in their personal size, just like our historic collections.”
The brand name Cuthbert & Chen was conceived from deep roots in the Owens & Francis families. “Cuthbert” is Owens’ early English middle name inherited from his antique-loving father’s side of the family and Chen is the maiden name of Francis’ mother, who was born in fashionable Shanghai in the 1930s.
“Having spent more than 20 years archiving and preserving original early modern pieces from the 20th century and often reshaping the frames to appeal to the contemporary market, we are thrilled to finally use our expansive knowledge to design our own signature collection,” comments Marya Francis, the company’s Creative Director.
“If we continue to go deeper in researching and valuing our historic pieces and create fresh and innovative Cuthbert & Chen collections over the years, RetroSpecs has the opportunity to truly re-energize the exclusive high-end market,” added Coralie Calvet Lewis, RetroSpecs’ CFO.
RetroSpecs has a staff of 46 craftsmen at its headquarters in Los Angeles restoring over 30,000 registered historic 12K gold-filled and cellulose acetate frames a year and maintains a core optical team skilled in the lost arts of hand polishing, custom frame shaping and precision lens drill-mounting.
“Cuthbert & Chen is the perfect representation of both of our leaders, reflecting a reverence for eyewear’s long history of craftsmanship and our clientele’s deep desire for authentic style,” said Adam Cowfer, the company’s Director of Sales. “While trendy design and fashion branded eyewear is the rage right now, I feel the industry is in serious jeopardy of merely churning out seasonal, disposable frames. Cuthbert & Chen will bring contemporary eyewear back to its roots,” he added.
About RetroSpecs & Co.:
RetroSpecs & Co. sells exclusively worldwide to 260 dealerships and to its own RetroSpecs retail stores on Robertson Blvd in West Hollywood, in The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and in Seoul, Korea. All RetroSpecs exclusive dealerships will have Cuthbert & Chen on their shelves by summer of 2015