About the service
I craft hard-shell sunglasses cases where a rigid inner form does the real work and the leather wrap is both armor and finish. The shell starts as a moulded insert — dense fibreboard or a laminated veg-tan «tray» pressed over a wooden buck cut to the outline of your actual frames, arms folded, so the case closes with almost no dead air and won't let lenses shift and grind against the walls in a bag or glovebox. Over that shell I wet-form a single piece of full-grain or vegetable-tanned hide, burnishing every seam so there is no raw edge to catch on a zipper pull or car seat.
Inside, the case is lined with a soft, low-nap microsuede or brushed lambskin glued only at the seams, never across the bearing surface, so it cushions the lenses without leaving felt fibres or a chemical smell behind. I test every lining sample for lens-coating safety before it goes near a client's actual eyewear — anti-reflective and mirrored coatings are easy to haze with the wrong glue or dye, and I keep a running log of which combinations pass.
Closures are built to survive one-handed use in a moving car: a flush magnetic snap sewn into a leather pocket (no exposed metal touching the lenses), a spring-steel snap frame salvaged and re-covered, or a simple friction-fit lid for a minimalist brief. I keep a small hardware stock — nickel, brass, and matte black finishes — so the closure matches a belt, bag, or car interior on request.
Sizing is taken from the actual glasses, not a generic template: lens width, bridge height, temple spread when folded, and case thickness are all measured against the pair you'll carry, so aviators, wraparounds, and folding readers each get a shell cut for them, not a compromise. Typical turnaround is one to two weeks depending on hardware lead time; I can also batch a matching set for a family or a small shop selling eyewear alongside cases. Send frame dimensions or the glasses themselves and I'll confirm shell fit before cutting the outer leather.
Inside, the case is lined with a soft, low-nap microsuede or brushed lambskin glued only at the seams, never across the bearing surface, so it cushions the lenses without leaving felt fibres or a chemical smell behind. I test every lining sample for lens-coating safety before it goes near a client's actual eyewear — anti-reflective and mirrored coatings are easy to haze with the wrong glue or dye, and I keep a running log of which combinations pass.
Closures are built to survive one-handed use in a moving car: a flush magnetic snap sewn into a leather pocket (no exposed metal touching the lenses), a spring-steel snap frame salvaged and re-covered, or a simple friction-fit lid for a minimalist brief. I keep a small hardware stock — nickel, brass, and matte black finishes — so the closure matches a belt, bag, or car interior on request.
Sizing is taken from the actual glasses, not a generic template: lens width, bridge height, temple spread when folded, and case thickness are all measured against the pair you'll carry, so aviators, wraparounds, and folding readers each get a shell cut for them, not a compromise. Typical turnaround is one to two weeks depending on hardware lead time; I can also batch a matching set for a family or a small shop selling eyewear alongside cases. Send frame dimensions or the glasses themselves and I'll confirm shell fit before cutting the outer leather.
