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info Guiseppe Ratti (1890 - 1965) was the man behind Persol. Interestingly, his first loves were photography and cinematography and it was his brother who owned the optical shop 'Berry', in Turin, Italy. Giuseppe's experiences in aerial photography though may have led to his experiments in lens tinting and in 1917, he was the man behind the burgeoning Persol brand, starting with 'Protector' goggles. 'Protector' was taken up by the Italian Airforce in WW1 and various styles of close-fitting sports goggles were made, with Italian racing car drivers next in line. Ratti's name was made and his initials appeared on his personal logo: the stork. From 1920 onwards, he started to work on perfecting sunglass lenses and frames for the mass market. This was at a time when the public had to be persuaded to even wear glasses, so Persol - 'for the sun' - was a luxury product. In 1937 Ratti introduced his invention 'Meflecto' - for frames. This system allowed the arms to curve and thus hug the head and where its metal core met the front frame at the hinge, a feature called a 'Supreme Arrow' went across the joints. When worn, the decorative and functional parts meet and it can be seen how the design was modelled on an ancient sword. Earlier Meflecto Arrows are embellished with engraved wavy lines on the 'blade' and this pair has those lines. In 1948 Meflecto was patented in the USA and Persol went international. In the 1968 film, The Thomas Crown Affair, Steve McQueen wore the sporty Persol 649/714 frame, glazed with blue tinted lenses. Fast forward 20 or so years to this atypical shape from the late 1970s or early 80's in a demi-amber but the shape has changed: this pair, the 69102 is a unisex frame of medium size and without the keyhole bridge - but the arrow hinge and meflecto temples still in place. Ratti still making Persol frames and they would do so up until 1995, when the company was sold to Luxottica Group and now the parts are made in the Far East and only assembled in Italy. — klasik |
KlasikVintageEyewear |
product code : k8248 : £ 175 1970s/80ss demi-amber plastic frame marked PERSOL/RATTI MADE IN ITALY KlasikVintageEyewearKlasik Can be glazed with Rx or sunglasses lenses. condition lenses : n/a frame : very good fit : very good size face : 131mm lens width : 50mm (marked on frame) lens height : 44mm bridge : 22mm (marked on frame) arms : 145mm |
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