The Catalogue

Altair is a men's full-rim frame with a nearly flat top line that carries a gentle wave, just enough movement to keep the browline from feeling rigid. Its signature is the line work: a play of etched lines runs across the brow and continues along the temples, so that from the side the front and temple read as one uninterrupted graphic. In two of the four colourways these lines are hand-painted in two accent colours, in the other two in a single contrasting colour. The temples end in havana acetate tips and are mounted on flex hinges, so the frame adapts comfortably to broader heads.

Bianca is a smaller take on the butterfly shape. The rims carry a facet: a chamfered edge that runs down towards the lens, which breaks up the surface and keeps the front from looking flat. A small facet detail returns at the back of the temple. The finish is two-tone electroplating: a semi-matt colour on the outside and a metallic tone on the inside, a lively colour contrast every time the frame moves. Graceful and feminine, yet restrained and very easy to wear.

Calypso is a classic-looking women's frame with a contemporary edge. The shape is a hexagonal butterfly, with the bridge set fairly high and quite deep lenses. Shiny gold, in several tones, dominates the frame and is matched to the hand-painted colour panels on the front, which give the frame depth and a playful touch. The front is a monoblock: brow, rims and bridge are cut from one single sheet of stainless steel. Towards the back the temples are slender, and the frame wears light for its size.

Daphne is the smaller sister of Bianca. The lens is rounder and leans towards a hexagon, and the finish takes a different route: the frame is first electroplated in shiny rose gold and then hand-painted on the outside in a matt colour. High-gloss rose gold on the inside, a matt painted surface on the outside. Here too a facet runs down towards the lens edge, so the front never reads as a flat disc. A small, refined frame for women.

Diana is a classic women's half-rim frame, the lenses held by a nylon thread, with fairly deep lenses. From the front the line work flows in waves towards the back, and the temple is the surprise: it is built from two separate plates that run apart and cross each other in an open, twisted pattern. Technically one of the most demanding frames in the collection. The main frame is electroplated gold and within the lines the surfaces are hand-painted in a deep, warm matt colour.

Flora owes its studio nickname, mille-feuille, to its construction. All of its lines are separate, laser-cut layers of stainless steel, stacked on top of each other. The difficulty is not welding each layer in exactly the right place, but bending them: every line has to stay perfectly in step with the next. The lenses are trapezium-shaped; the temple is a plain flat blade in one of the accent colours, ending in a havana acetate tip. A slightly more toned-down colour setting with two accent colours in the layers. Sturdy, yet highly original and playful.

Orion belongs to the XL by C-ZONE line and is, unmistakably, a very large frame. The upper part of the brow carries an engraved line pattern, and the top line of the front has a slight wave that follows the browline. The lens is held by a thin rim wire below the solid brow; in some colourways that wire receives a small colour accent. Despite its size the frame is made as light as possible. A very wearable frame for people with a broader face.

Pollux plays with form. The lenses are round, almost oval, yet the outer line of the rims is square: a hexagonal outline cut around a round eye. Across the entire front runs a dense pattern of fine horizontal lines that deliberately ignores every shape it crosses. The rims are made of thick 1.4 mm stainless steel, which gives the line pattern real depth. On paper a daring design; worn, the graphic quiets down and what remains is a compact, highly original frame with a lot of character.

Rigel is a true C-ZONE frame, first of all in its colour. Every colourway combines three shades that seem to clash yet fall into place. The shape is masculine: a fairly square, inverted-trapezium lens with a strong brow bar in the main colour above lower rims in a second colour. The line work along the brow visually widens the front; on the temples it gives the frame direction as it runs back towards the havana acetate tips. Despite the bold colour combinations this is a very wearable frame.

Vela has a fairly classic panto shape, and that is the only classic thing about it. Along the top line of the front a mesh pattern is water-jet cut into the rim; it returns on the temples. The pattern is accentuated by an almost metallic coating on the upper half, matched to a more matt spray-painted finish on the lower half. By reversing the usual order, the pattern along the top is what catches the eye. Modern, colourful and highly original. A unisex frame that wears very light.