Studio

Ten frames,
one workshop,
no seasons

RIM started in 2016 with two shapes and a stubborn idea: make frames worth keeping, then keep making them.

Why the catalogue is so small

A frame takes nine months from sketch to shelf: milling the acetate, curing it for six weeks, tooling the hinge, wearing prototypes until something annoys us. Ten shapes is what two people can do properly.

Everything is cut in one workshop outside Padua that has been doing this since the seventies. We are not their biggest client and we are not trying to be.

Nothing gets discontinued. If you buy a Halden today, you can buy the same Halden in five years, or just send it back for new lenses.

How a frame is made

Block

A sheet of Italian acetate, milled — not injection-moulded. You can see the layers at the temple edge.

Six weeks

Curing in wooden drums with beech chips. This is what makes acetate hold its polish instead of going dull.

Hinge

Riveted, not glued. Five-barrel on acetate, spring on titanium. The part that decides whether a frame lasts.

Check

Every frame is worn for a day by someone here before it ships. Sounds excessive; catches things a bench never would.

Visit the studio

Grensen 14, Oslo. Wednesday to Saturday, 11:00–18:00. Try everything, no appointment, no salesperson hovering. Coffee is decent.

Stockists

We supply eleven independent opticians across Scandinavia and one in Berlin. If you would rather buy locally, email us and we will point you to the nearest.

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Ten frames,one workshop,no seasons