Persol - the Polarized Lens of the Bon Viveur

Solid in the hand, with a surprising heft, the evocative silver arrow glints in the sun swept Riviera morning as you take your first espresso. You place the flexible frames over your visage, and they sit comfortably and snug as the trademark Meflecto sizes your anatomy. You see Gianni Agnelli cruise by at the speed of light in a Ghia bodied Fiat Jolly, its effervescent exhaust note mixed with the sounds of the gently lapping Mediterranean construct a heady aural cocktail. Or not. Really you are slouched in your cubicle pensively staring at the artificial fluorescent light above your head, as your colleagues stand back perplexed as to why you are wearing sunglasses indoors. That’s the power of Persol sunglasses, you don them and suddenly feel like the subject of Peter Sarstedt’s Where Do You Go to My Lovely? Far more than a pair of purposeful barriers from UV rays, but an acetate manifestation of a lifestyle, a culture, and a dream. I love Persols not because they are objectively excellent at shielding the iris, but because they make me feel like I am taking a small part in preserving a unique kind of elegance and appreciation for the finest things, muddled far too long by our suffocatingly sterile technological world. They give me, and our fine desk jockey fellow, hope. And all those who find the shiny silver arrow situated upon their temples are part of a small, proud club of bon viveurs dating back to the likes of Steve McQueen hammering up the Hollywood Hills in his Jaguar XKSS.

Originally created to fit a need for pilots who struggled with the glare of the unforgiving Italian sun. Giuseppe Ratti, the founder of Persol, or “per il sole” (meaning for the sun) was working as an optician and created one of the first ever glare reducing spectacles comprised of reflective smoked lenses. Persols became highly functional tools, complete with elegant utilitarian solutions to comfort and shade. Ratti determined it was better to construct his crystal lenses from silica and then tint them, creating an iconic yellow brown pigment featured on all Persol lenses. Yet, one of the most irritating plagues of the spectacle wearer is the constant slipping down the nose from improper fitting glasses. Ratti of course had an elegant solution to this as well, with the now brand defining Meflecto system composed of malleable cylinders inserted with the stems of the glasses, allowing each pair to uniquely form to the anatomy of its wearer. The first step in a long and close relationship with your stylish shades.

Credit: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/75927943693559927/, https://www.amazon.com/-/es/dp/B018ZUAXTO

Yet, the true beauty of a Persol frame lies in its simplicity of style and casual elegance. Branding is something that many a great fashion house struggles to achieve properly and strike a balance between ostentation and understatement. But, Persol’s condensed, yet still omnipresent silver arrow design simultaneously achieves minimalism and brand envy. Much like the Lacoste alligator and the Polo pony, the silver arrow is synonymous with quality and classifies the wearer, whomever they be, as a rakish iconoclast. This silver arrow was a symbol to aspire to as it was suddenly seen shielding the ubiquitous faces of the Hollywood elite: Steve McQueen, Michael Caine, several James Bonds, George Clooney, and Tom Cruise to name just a few. Persols were the original brand that went beyond its original scope to be associated with a greater culture and a lifestyle.

James Bond portrayed by Daniel Craig wearing Persol 2720, and Persol signature silver arrow.

Credit: https://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/product/persol-2720, http://tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com/2013/06/persol.html

But really, the genesis of Persol’s transcendence from tool to fashion item was catalyzed by Steve McQueen and his Persol 714s in The Thomas Crown Affair. This film still conjures images in every Persol Tifosi of idyllic, overzealous motoring behind the wheel of a Meyers Manx over the Massachusetts coastline. Interestingly, the decision to wear the sunglasses in character was McQueen’s as he already owned a pair of 714s and insisted wearing them on set.

Actor Steve McQueen and actress Faye Dunaway with the iconic Meyers Manx dune buggy from The Thomas Crown Affair

Credit: https://petrolicious.com/articles/steve-mcqueens-dune-buggy-from-the-thomas-crown-affair-is-going-to-auction-next-year

For me, wearing Persol represents a love of history, culture, cars, and the finer things in life and a reverence for the past, not a blind charge into a future we traditionalists find rather untenable. It’s the small things that keep this lifestyle alive, and while we all like to think we have more in common with the dream-like renaissance men and women of the past, I am more than happy sharing just their choice of eyeshade on a sunny day.

Credit: https://www.blinkoptic.com/blog/steve-mcqueen-started-the-persol-trend/