Wood You Believe It! – New Timber Frames from Ivan R Cammack

The drive for excellent eyewear

Visionary lens and frame innovations from Optometrist Ivan R Cammack

The Optometrist Ivan R Cammack have always worked hard to stay ahead of the game when it comes to protecting our eyesight. Medical advances, improved technology and equipment, even fashion changes are carefully monitored and introduced for the benefit of their patients. Cammacks, could see the safety advantages of DriveSafe Lenses from German manufacturer Zeiss. And now they have introduced some startling wooden frames from Italian company, FEB 31st.

DriveSafe Lenses

The clocks have just gone back. Winter is truly upon us. More hours of darkness, fallen leaves rain and sleet in the air. Night driving is difficult.

Every oncoming vehicle has its headlights on, dipped but still appearing as twin beacons of dazzle. “Road lighting is clearly less effective than natural daylight. This prompts the pupil of the eye to enlarge in order to absorb more of the available light. That increase in pupil size can help to magnify any errors, such as short-sightedness, that already exist in your eyes. You may not notice the effects in normal light but the symptoms are exaggerated when you are having to focus in low light. As driving at night requires.”

For all the electronic sophistication of a modern car, for all the computer-aided engineering, there is one component more important to safe driving than any other. And that’s the person sat behind the steering wheel. And what is most important to that person is their ability to keep a keen eye on the road ahead.

This is where ZEISS DriveSafe Lenses really help. A range of lenses specially designed to help drivers in specs when the light dims or the weather closes in.

Headlights push out a high spectrum of blue light, and the glare reduces rather than increases visibility.

The Germans, those masters of car engineering, have come up with a rather elegant answer. ZEISS DriveSafe lenses have a special finish which cuts down the effect of glare by over 60 percent. The lens coatings contain contrast-enhancing filters which, by minimizing the levels of blue light, mean that your eyes will have a much better fix on objects instead of simply being dazzled by the oncoming lights.

But staring through the windscreen isn’t the only aspect of good, safe driving. There are mirrors to check and dashboards to consult in flashes of seconds. Here the ZEISS lenses can help as well. The varifocal versions allow you up to a 43 percent larger mid-distance zone of vision and up to a 14 percent wider far-distance zone of vision. So you get to see much more of the road. They make for a much smoother transmission of your eye-line.

There’s less side to side and up and down head movement, since the focus of the lenses gives your eyes the opportunity to do more of the work that your head would normally do, switching from dashboard to wing-mirror to road.

What’s more you can wear your ZEISS glasses for everyday use. Watching television, viewing your tablet screen, or reading a book.

Wooden Frames

Ivan R Cammack have now introduced a fascinating new range of frames from Italian manufacturer, FEB 31st.

FEB 31st frames are carved from sustainable wood. Weighing in at just 21g and available in 43 different colours, each frame is comprised of 13 different layers. The colour sandwich combinations are unlimiting, which makes each frame completely unique and personal. Using what FEB 31st calls flexy soul technology, the layers are carefully pressed together with 2 thin layers of a secret flexible fibre, to ensure structure and flexibility. The process enhances the natural qualities of the wood and creates a lightweight but surprisingly strong frame. FEB 31st frames are actually the thinnest and strongest frames in the wooden eyewear market.

The idea behind FEB 31st is to respect nature and human ingenuity, combining both to produce eco-friendly luxury wooden eyewear that is attractive and comfortable to wear. Frames are made from certified FSC ecologically harvested kauri and bolivar wood. Everything the company produces is made to order, and because there are no wasted materials the environmental impact is minimal.

Not only can you personalise the colours of the different layers, you can engrave a name, logo or even a message on the inside or outside of the frame. This is eyewear that is truly bespoke and unique,

As for their name? Well the founders were told wooden frames weren’t possible. Just like February 31st, they didn’t exist. So the name seemed to be the perfect fit. Just like frames from Ivan R Cammack you might say.

You can read more articles like this one in the latest edition of Thame Out.