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ic! berlin

ic! berlin Logo

ic! berlin designs and produces screwless glasses and sunglasses in its own Produktion Haus in the heart of Berlin. 100% Made in Germany. ic! berlin is a child of the new Berlin entrepreneurial revolution, a thriving creative metropolis fueling innovation, and ideas. ic! berlin produces glasses, sunglasses, reading glasses for kids, women, men, and everyone in between. Each and every ic! Berlin frame features a one-of-a-kind patented screw-less hinge system, which combined with high-quality materials such as sprung stainless steel, makes ic! berlin eyewear virtually indestructible. ic! berlin eyewear is designed with passion, produced with technical precision, and handcrafted with love.


Designed & Handcrafted in Berlin, Germany
Established 1996

Shop Our In Stock Inventory Visit The ic! berlin Website

About

It must be emphasized that ic! berlin glasses really are produced in Berlin. Ic! berlin glasses are luxury articles, hand-finished, piece by piece. This factor eliminates unnecessary long distances between design, production, and distribution – no “made in China.” With ic! berlin, all branches can be found in one building, the backfabrik (bake-factory) in Berlin Mitte (central Berlin). Only in this way can the highest degree of quality be lastingly guaranteed: made in Berlin – made in Germany!


When you hold a pair of ic! berlin glasses in your hands, you can feel why all of this effort is justified: the glasses captivate you with their form-stability and flexibility. The rounded edges caress your fingers. Ic! berlin glasses do not allow for compromises because they are naked. Because we neither screw, solder, or weld, no pair of ic! berlin glasses can irreversibly lose their parts or components!

Man with a beard wearing a brown metal ic! ierlin frame
Two ic! berlin frames in white and silver metal with one black ic! Berlin sunglass in black

Design & Craftsmanship

An intense amount of value is placed on the steel. The quality of this material determines the overall quality of the glasses. For this reason, ic! berlin relies solely on German producers, who brew the stuff together in Germany, exactly according to ic! berlin’s requirements. The front pieces are cut from metal by a small family business in the north of Italy (Valdobiaddere). Acetate frames are complimented with the highest quality organic cotton acetate to make sure the plastic can keep up with the steel.


The flat raw pieces are then reformed in Berlin, and the edges are worked over in a small village near Brandenburg. There the edges are rounded and smoothed. This is done using a big multiangular trovalising (vibratory grinding process) machine. After about ten hours, sharp metal edges are made into tender feminine curves.


The cutting and routing of the lenses is done directly in the ic! berlin building in the Saarbrücker Street, where finishing and quality control takes place as well. On the same floor as production, the office is also to be found, from where the logistic experts send the glasses out into the entire world.

History

The first series of ic! berlin’s well-known screwless hinge system glasses was produced in 1996. It all began with hand-cut aluminum glasses. In these frames, the basic idea behind the hinge could already be seen, even if they were fragile and sensitive. The fastening clip on the hinge had not yet been developed. Their very first trade-fair was in 1997, in Cologne. Although they were a tiny stand, hidden behind some gigantic eyewear company, the truffle hunters of the industry didn’t stop from sniffing ic! berlin out. At the trade-fair “euroblech” in Hanover, they discovered a laser-sheet-metal-cutter, which provided the first cutouts from stainless steel – the basis for the first attempts at remodeling. The material held out, and the hinge sprang to action with a never-before-seen liveliness. The frames were still without a fastening clip. Seek, and you will find – a slit right through the side of the hinge, and a clasp to fit around it, which held both sides together. The frames were now able to be taken apart and put safely back together. The so-called prescription glasses collection has existed since January of 2000.


Since 2003, Ralph Anderl has been leading the firm alone as acting partner. Officially, he carries the honorable title “sheet-metal-glasses-salesman.”

Woman and man wearing blue ic! berlin sunglasses in blue with mirror tint

The ic! berlin Anchor Hinge

The original game-changer. Watch and learn how ic! berlin’s screwless hinge system works. The ic! berlin hinge locks the temple to the front without screws, bolts, glues, or gimmicks. Lenses and temples can be removed and reattached quickly and easily, by hand and without any extra tools. We recommend taking the lenses out for a thorough clean, just make sure everything is completely dry before putting it all back together. The current world record to remove and reattach a temple is 3.3 seconds. Can you do better?

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