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The Oliver Goldsmith brand was established in 1926 by Philip Oliver Goldsmith and quickly became synonymous with sophisticated, fashion-led eyewear. From the outset, the company redefined glasses as more than functional accessories, transforming them into expressive style statements that balanced technical precision with aesthetic innovation.
Four generations of the Goldsmith family have led the house, each one carrying forward the founding conviction that glasses are not a medical device but a statement of identity — and that the person wearing them deserves something genuinely exceptional.
Oliver Goldsmith holds a remarkable list of firsts. First to use an alternative material to metal for spectacle frames. First eyewear brand to appear in Vogue. First to make special sunglasses for movies, celebrities, and catwalks. The “Manhattan Art” collection of the 1940s — bold, colorful, handmade — is widely credited as the moment eyewear entered the world of fashion for good.
Today the brand is led by Claire Goldsmith, Philip’s great-granddaughter and the fourth generation at the helm, continuing to produce archival reissues alongside new collections that carry the same spirit of innovation the brand has held since 1926.
As an authorized Oliver Goldsmith dealer, at Konstantin Vision, we carry Oliver Goldsmith eyewear at our NYC showroom — and the history behind every frame is palpable the moment you hold one.
These are frames that have been worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Grace Kelly, Michael Caine, John Lennon, Peter Sellers, Princess Diana, and The Rolling Stones. The Manhattan sunglasses Hepburn wore in 1961 remain in production today — reissued from the original archive, made the same way they were made then.
Oliver Goldsmith attracts clients who want their eyewear to connect them to something larger than a seasonal collection. These are frames with a documented place in fashion history, cultural history, and the history of what eyewear can be when it is designed with genuine ambition.
Our licensed opticians will guide you through the full Oliver Goldsmith collection — from iconic archival reissues to current designs — with no pressure and no rush, backed by over 25 years of optical expertise in New York City.
Oliver Goldsmith’s character was formed in the mid-20th century and has never needed to be reinvented.
Charles Goldsmith — Philip’s son, who joined the firm in 1935 and became chairman after his father’s death — understood instinctively that eyewear could be more than a functional object. He pursued press coverage, cultivated celebrity relationships, and collaborated with Paris couture houses including Dior and Givenchy to create frames that complemented seasonal fashion collections. From bamboo-clad sunglasses to frames shaped like TV screens, butterfly silhouettes to music notes hand-painted in acetate, Oliver Goldsmith designs were deliberately designed to gain attention — and they did.
That boldness was never random. It was always grounded in craft. Every frame produced in the Poland Street workshop was handmade. The process started with the acetate, cut and shaped by hand before being finished, polished, and assembled with the precision that distinguished Oliver Goldsmith from every other optical brand of its era.
That character persists today. The archive — a collection spanning over 60 years of production, with frames held by the Victoria and Albert Museum — serves as the living foundation for current collections. Archival designs are brought back to life alongside new work that honors the same standard: timeless, stylish, design-led, and unmistakably Oliver Goldsmith.
Oliver Goldsmith has always understood that the character of a frame begins with the material it is made from.
From the earliest tortoiseshell frames of the 1920s and 1930s — hand-crafted from real tortoiseshell, expensive and painstaking to work with — to the colorful new plastics of the 1940s and 1950s that launched the Manhattan Art collection, the brand has consistently chosen materials for their quality and their expressive potential rather than their ease of manufacture.
Today, Oliver Goldsmith frames are crafted from premium acetate — rich in color, depth, and surface quality — using the same tried and tested techniques the brand has employed for decades. The acetate is hand-cut, hand-shaped, and hand-finished, producing frames that carry a tactile quality immediately apparent to anyone who picks them up.
The same commitment to material quality extends to the hardware: hinges, screws, and fittings are selected for durability and precision, ensuring that an Oliver Goldsmith frame continues to perform as beautifully in ten years as it does on the first day of wear.
At Konstantin Vision, every Oliver Goldsmith frame is fitted with the expertise of our licensed opticians and backed by our two-year warranty — because frames of this heritage deserve to be worn for a very long time.
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