Desert island rx

There are the glasses that add a spark of colour to a gloomy Monday, the bold silhouette for an important meeting or a playful pair that puts a spring in your step for the most mundane of errands.

Providing an outline to the physical feature that many people notice first, spectacles are not an accessory but a reflection of who we are and how we hope to be seen in the world.

As eyewear company co-founder, Jason Kirk told OT about his favourite pair of spectacles: “It’s a part of me. It really expresses my personality.”

Given that there are optical frames for all occasions, OT reached out to a range of optical professionals to ask what eyewear they would select for the most niche of scenarios.

What frames would provide them solace – and, for some wily contributors, a survival advantage – if they spent their days searching the horizon for the wisp of a sail?

Read on below for the eyewear our panel would reach for if stranded on a desert island.

Name: Gill Thorp

Role: Dispensing optician, Airedale Opticians

Frame: ‘Koenji’ by Etnia Barcelona

“I often find that my most recent pair of glasses is my favourite at the time, but my absolute favourite pair of specs are my ‘Koenji’ frames, from 2019. They make me feel brave and daring. They’re a bold fire engine red, while still being fine and not too heavy-looking. The shape is almost cat’s eye, but a bit different. I often get compliments when I wear them. They are fun, a bit exciting and not too serious.”

Name: Daniel Read

Role: Practice manager and dispensing optician at BBR Optometry, a Hakim Group independent practice

Frame: ‘Lemtosh’ by Moscot

“I’d be stuck without my specs, so on a desert island, I would need something that will take a knock or two. The Lemtosh is so well put together and so solid. It is an absolute classic – and has been worn in many films – including by Robert Downey Jr in Oppenheimer. I like that there are stories attached. We all respond to stories and patients like to feel that they’re wearing something with some heritage.

“I think the emerald green would make me smile, and, as the Lemtosh has been worn by Tom Hanks, of Castaway fame, it would give me hope of being rescued. I dislike photochromics, so I’d take the Cliptosh for it as well and get Nikon to put one of my favourite tints in it, a teal polarised. Polarised is a given, particularly on the island and the teal will make the sea look glorious.

“A patient once said to me, ‘I like your spectacles; they must make you smile,’ and that’s what good eyewear should do. Excellent vision is something that is expected as a given with eyewear – more than that, what we can achieve is making people feel good about themselves.”

Name: Jason Kirk

Role: Co-founder of eyewear company, Kirk & Kirk

Frame: ‘Horace’ by Kirk & Kirk

“Whenever I see someone try on glasses, I will ask them how they feel and they inevitably talk about the physical aspects of the frame – they might say the frames feel tight around the ears or they don’t feel balanced. Actually, what I really want them to say is how it makes them feel emotionally.

“Emotionally, this frame feels like it is a part of me. It really expresses my personality. I've got it in a number of colours, but the Cadillac pink is the most exuberant and the most joyful. When it is worn in the right setting, and I am in the right mood, it doesn’t stand out – it is a seamless part of who I am. And that’s what I like about it.

“In terms of practicality, the Horace is a visibly chunky frame, but it weighs virtually nothing as it is handmade with acrylic. It’s comfortable to wear all day.”

Name: Dr Neil Handley

Role: Curator of the British Optical Association Museum at the College of Optometrists

Frame: antique pince-nez spectacles, by Lawrence & Mayo

“Thinking practically, I’d probably hope I had packed a pair like these antique pince-nez spectacles by Lawrence & Mayo. Dating from Edwardian times, they were designed by an Anglo-Indian firm for use in tropical conditions and are a variation on a patented design, the ‘Amulet,’ of 1905.

“The side visors combat extraneous light and also include a semi-circular area of textured grip which, together with the detachable curl sides, would ensure that they’d never slip from the nose even in the sweatiest most humid conditions.

“The green-tinted lenses would be therapeutically soothing but on the downside they probably wouldn’t filter out the UVA or UVB rays so I could even harm my eyesight by wearing them as sun protection in the longer term… Hopefully I’d be rescued sooner rather than later.“