Monocles.

[Clarke]

Here's a tinted one:

 

[Dr Doran]

Amazing pince-nez pictures. I forgot about the pince-nez in Matrix but I was less impressed with that flick anyway than everyone else in America and France was.

 

[Nick D]

I just came across this webpage. I've never heard of them, but they're based in the UK. Has anyone had any experiance with their frames (specifically their monocles)?

http://www.goldspectacles.com/

 

[metalnut]

side tracking

You've neglected to say whether you have a vision problem with one of your eyes. If you don't, then how can you justify wearing a monocle without seeming ludicrous? Are you one of those fellows with perfect vision who wear spectacles, not to mention the healthy souls who pretend to use canes?


.

Wish Veronica would return to her metal pipes and check out queries.Seems to be no other way to contact her

 

[Dr Doran]

Wish Veronica would return to her metal pipes and check out queries.Seems to be no other way to contact her

I think Chevalier can track her down.

 

[Anthony Jordan]

To continue the tangent; what's wrong with the hale using a walking stick, anyway?

 

[Dr Doran]

To continue the tangent; what's wrong with the hale using a walking stick, anyway?

There were terrible controversies on this thread, my good man, violent and bitter disagreements. I thought I was going to get punched. Some folks apparently got upset at the idea that someone would wear a monocle today. Perhaps it pushed a button or wore a raw nerve. Stirred a bad memory of a mean Latin teacher in elementary school or a scary movie. Made someone remember an elitist babysitter or a bad game of Monopoly. I am not sure. Please feel free to read all the posts. I was very amused at how hot under the collar certain people got. It will go down in history as one of the hottest tempests in a teapot on the Lounge.
I hope it doesn't erupt again, but now that I wrote this, it probably will. Oh well.

 

[Dinerman]

a bad game of Monopoly

lol lol lol

 

[Nick D]

In the words of actor Charles Coburn, "No point having two window panes where one will do."

Years of walking with a hiking stick in the Boy Scouts has left me with a like of having something to swing while I walk, and I sometimes do. I'd love to get a tippling stick or a stick with several cigar humidors inside. I've also seen one from Dunhill with a silver case for a top with a spring-loaded lid which contained a pipe.

 

[BegintheBeguine]

Doran's funny

I was going to quote the bad game of Monopoly line but Dinerman beat me to it! lol lol lol lol Yes, monocles and tuxedos got some people ready to come to fisticuffs. Makes a nice change from colors and flatheads as brawl topics.

 

[Anthony Jordan]

It sounds well worth the reading! (I only went back about four pages when I first perused the thread.)

I haven't affected a monocle or stick for some years, but I like to think I still have the option, should I be so minded.

BTW, the monocle illustrated on the goldspectacles page looked a little clumky, but that may be just me/the picture.

A.

 

[Nick D]

It may be from the pixelation, though the loop does look a little big in comparison to the rest of it.

 

[Anthony Jordan]

I finally got around to trying again with the monocle pictures - here's a slightly better one of the edge detail:

 

[Alan Eardley]

Yes.

I wear one for reading.

Alan

I just came across this webpage. I've never heard of them, but they're based in the UK. Has anyone had any experiance with their frames (specifically their monocles)?

http://www.goldspectacles.com/

 

[Dr Doran]

Nice edge!

 

[Nick D]

If it keeps falling out you need to make sure that you have the correct size for your eye socket. Did you check that before buying it? Also, is it gated (a sort of ring behind the one that holds the lens) or ungated? Some people need a gate, others can't keep a gated glass in their eye. Finally, are you having to try hard to hold it in? It should fit naturally without any effort on your part, otherwise it will drop out every time you relax your eye muscles.

Alan

Alan,

Something I've always wondered, how do you determine the correct size for a monocle without a gallery, either with a frame or without? My current rimless monocle is 41 mm in diameter, and it stays in place well most of the time, but I'm not sure if it's fitting me correctly. I can keep it in without clamping down with my brow, but when I'm sweating slightly I find I can't keep in in without clamping down a little. I've thought of getting another in another size, maybe 37 mm, to see if it fits any better.

 

[Alan Eardley]

Nick

I used trial and error - in retrospect I would cut out a circle from stiff card (a beer mat would do) and pare it down until it fit well. It sounds to me as if yours is on the large size.

Mine (I have two) are for occasional reading (as in menu rather than War and Peace) so I never wear it for long. For occasional use I find them much more convenient than reading spectacles (which I always lose...).

Alan

Alan,

Something I've always wondered, how do you determine the correct size for a monocle without a gallery, either with a frame or without? My current rimless monocle is 41 mm in diameter, and it stays in place well most of the time, but I'm not sure if it's fitting me correctly. I can keep it in without clamping down with my brow, but when I'm sweating slightly I find I can't keep in in without clamping down a little. I've thought of getting another in another size, maybe 37 mm, to see if it fits any better.

 

[Nick D]

I tried the mock-up, I think I will go for ~1.5" when I get a new eyeglass (which will have to be soon, because my current one is starting to wear.)

My wife took a couple quick shots of my rimless a couple nights ago, but I forgot to post them. I posted a picture of it a while ago, but not worn:

And this is an original one, which I bought on eBay from Mr. A. Jordan.

I can barely keep the original one in my eye, though they are the same size and were inserted the same way. The edges are different (mine is beveled and notched, the other flat and corrugated), but the real deciding factor is that the glass one is simply three times heavier. But, if it were a bit smaller I think it would stay fine. I've got a lot of photos of men from the early 20th century wearing rimless monocles, and most (though not all) have the apex of the curve of the glass in contact with their brow. On mine, the top of the glass is just past the brow. I can wedge it in with the top covered (and it's very secure there!), but my eyelid sticks to it, a thoroughly intollerable state of affairs!

Fritz Lang:

Later in life:

I've found the films of Erich von Stroheim very helpful in how to keep mine in, because he adjusts and inserts and even fiddles with his monocle. I've completely changed how I screw it in after watching "The Great Gabbo", to a way that is more difficult so far to do consistently, but when it's in, it's in! In this clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaIz7TI1ySc , watch at 8:00, his monocle pops (looks accidental), he catches it, and puts it back in. In the "Lollipop Song" scene he also adjusts it several times to keep it from falling out by giving it a sharp clockwise (to him) twist.

Hope that's of interest.

~Nick

 

[Anthony Jordan]

Yes indeed!

 

[Alan Eardley]

It's not just the diameter of the eye socket that makes a good 'fit', but the depth. If the glass is set too far in and your lashes or lid keep pushing it out, you need a galleried version that is, of course rimmed. This has the advantage of a cord suspension. If like me you only need it occasionally (e.g. for reading a menu or admiring a beautiful lady's charms) a cord is useful for dropping it into a waistcoat pocket.

Alan