Eyeballs Eyewear in Paddington is a Sydney stockist of Barton Perreira glasses and sunglasses, and we hold the optical collection deep alongside the signature sun models. You can try them on at 342 Oxford Street, about ten minutes from the Sydney CBD, open seven days.
Two designers who stopped working for other labels
Barton Perreira is what happens when two people who spent their careers designing eyewear for other people's names decide to make it under their own. Bill Barton and Patty Perreira founded the house in 2007 on a short list of disciplines: small production runs, Japanese manufacture, and shapes drawn from the mid-century rather than from whatever is current.
Everything is made in Sabae, the Japanese optical town, in Japanese acetate and titanium. That shows up in the details rather than in anything loud — the way a hinge moves through its arc, the taper of a temple from hinge to tip, the depth of polish on a bevelled edge, the fact that a five-year-old pair still opens with the same resistance it had new. The house's only visible mark is a small metal keyhole plaque and a plate on the temple.
Why it turns up on screen
Barton Perreira has become a quiet favourite of costume designers, which is why the frames appear on film far more often than the production volume would suggest. There is nothing mysterious about it: a shape that is period-correct and contemporary at the same time solves a problem for anyone dressing a character, and a frame with no logo on it never dates the picture.
The catalogue reflects that. Joe, the round metal, and Stax, the squared acetate, are the two that most people arrive asking for. Coltrane and Norton cover the classic panto and rectangle ground, Bantam is the small round, Cagney the sharper keyhole, and Hattie is the one we most often reach for when someone wants a soft cat-eye that is not costume. The Allied Metal Works line takes the same shapes into thin metal.
What we hold in Paddington
We buy the optical collection properly rather than sampling it, and we hold sun models in more than one colourway so you can see what a lens tint actually does to a frame.
- The optical collection in depth, in acetate and in titanium
- Signature sun models, several in more than one colourway
- Thin metal and titanium frames, including Allied Metal Works pieces
- Limited and collaboration releases as they come through
- Prescription lenses fitted to the sun models, edged in store
Fit, weight and who they suit
These are frames for people who do not want to be seen to be trying. Sabae acetate is denser than Chinese or Italian acetate of the same thickness but the fronts are cut thinner, so a Barton Perreira frame usually weighs less than it looks like it should. The titanium models are lighter again and hold an adjustment better, which is worth knowing if you have a face that is not symmetrical — most are not.
Sizing runs true and the bridges are cut on the narrower side, so if you have a low or wide bridge, ask us and we will steer you to the models with a fitted or keyhole option. Come in, put a handful on, and let us adjust the pair you like properly — a well-fitted temple bend is most of the difference between a frame you wear and a frame in a drawer. Ring 02 9331 4650 if you want something specific set aside.
