u/amynias

This lovely little pressed tin pince-nez case with wonderful patterns on front and back has purple velvet inside and is older than I originally thought, it likely comes from the Victorian era before the year 1900, perhaps somewhere from the 1870s to 1890s. What a beautiful find for a collector of pince-nez eyeglasses. ❤️

The hinge and clasp are fully intact and functional. The filigree pattern on the front and back is quite beautiful witj its contrasting patina and is nearly fully intact. No obnoxious markings or lettering are present on the outside of the case. The case is likely English or American due to its small stamp on the inner lip saying "PATENT APPLIED FOR" in English.

These astig bar-spring pince-nez from France (likely the Edwardian era) are fully functional and quite shiny, I had prescription lenses made for them. They fit quite nicely along with their earclip chain into the metal case. It is very compact and lightweight feeling. Overall a great find and practical for use with my pince-nez. Just thought I'd share this great little find with you all! 😊

So I did an incredibly gay thing recently. While stewing in my depression I stumbled upon antique (yeah... it's past vintage at this point, it's literally like 115 years old) pince-nez eyeglasses that I HAD to have. Imported them from the Netherlands, it was... surprisingly cheap lol. Had 5 opticians refuse to make me lenses for them until I found this one who was willing to risk it. And holy shiiiiiiit these are so cool omg. Totally worth it omg. They also turn grey-black in the sun with a transitions coating. Zeiss lenses, quite nice.

For some background, pince-nez have largely been lost to history since the 1920s, and the C-spring variant was popular around the 1880s-1890s. In the early 1900s "astig" pince-nez with a flat bridge and bar spring to do the pinching emerged to account for astigmatism. This variant appears very rare on the market. These frames are quite a stunning find, and still shiny nickel with fully intact celluloid pads (an early type of soft, grippy plastic).

Anyways, they look so goddamn cool as a vintage item, I'm DEFINITELY wearing these in public and no one can stop me hehe. 😈 Now I need like... a walking cane, a suit, and a top hat or something haha 😄. Anyway, I hope the quirky people I like interacting with here appreciate my strange taste in eyewear. 🥸

I found these fantastic Edwardian-era pince-nez shiny nickel frames made pre-WWI in France in absolutely beautiful condition with no visible tarnishing. The rather large nose pads are celluloid, an early type of soft, grippy plastic and fully intact over a century later! They are the "astig" style of pince-nez, meaning they use a bar spring on a fixed bridge instead of a C-spring bridge to pinch and hold the lenses on the face. The first picture shows them being worn by me with a period-era silver earclip chain and very high-quality Zeiss lenses in my prescription. I also got gray-black transitions on these lenses so they can be worn in the sun or outside like a classy Edwardian-era gentleman. The second picture shows them in a carry case from the same era, which just so happens to fit them and the earclip chain perfectly. I obtained the frames, case, and the chain clip from a seller in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The last several pictures were taken by the seller pre-lens-fitting and serve to showcase the piece better than my camera could. I am based in the northeastern United States. Multiple opticians refused to make lenses for these frames, but I finally found one that came through in flying colors who had the lenses professionally made and cut in a lab. I love love love the Steampunk aesthetic of the bar-spring bridge. Functional AND beautiful design, courtesy of a French craftsman circa 1910. So glad I could bring this treasure back to life with this little eyewear experiment. I have no idea how this particular pair survived for so long in such fabulous condition but I now plan to wear these on the regular. It is so fun to wear them in public haha. I saw these and thought, heck yeah, we're bringing these back to useful life for sure. Make pince-nez cool again. I want them to be more than a historical footnote. Especially as a lifelong glasses-wearer, these bring a special kind of joy to my heart to use. :)