Cutler and Gross

Graham Cutler and Tony Gross met at Northampton College in the early 1960s while studying optometry, and founded their eponymous brand in London in 1969. Their starting point was a simple but then-unconventional idea: that eyewear could be a genuine fashion object, not just a medical device. When they opened their Knightsbridge boutique in 1971, revered framemaker George Smith produced each pair individually in his workshop directly above the store. His craft set the standard the brand has held to ever since.

By the 1980s, demand outgrew that original workshop, and production moved to a dedicated atelier in Cadore, in the Dolomites region of northern Italy, a location with a generational reputation as the centre of European optical manufacturing. That move preserved the handmade method rather than replacing it. More than five decades on, Cutler and Gross remains a brand where every design decision traces back to the same founding philosophy: quality over volume, craft over convenience.

Each Cutler and Gross frame goes through 42 individual steps and takes up to 12 weeks to complete. Production takes place entirely at the brand’s atelier in Cadore, where highly skilled craftspeople work with acetate and titanium using traditional artisan techniques that have not changed substantially since George Smith’s workshop days.

• Production location: Cadore, Dolomites, Italy: the recognised centre of European optical craft
• Process: 42 handcrafted steps, up to 12 weeks per frame
• Primary materials: Acetate, hand-layered, polished and sculpted; titanium for lightweight and architectural styles
• Identification: Each frame is laser-engraved on the left temple: “Handmade in Italy by C&G”
• Branding approach: No external logo, the design itself is the identifier

The brand’s position on handcraft is deliberate. Cutler and Gross holds that the small inaccuracies inherent in a handmade frame are not flaws; they are what give each pair character and make it specific to the person wearing it.

Cutler and Gross draws directly from a six-decade archive when developing new collections. Shapes, proportions and surface details are reinterpreted season to season, but the original DNA of each design is never discarded. The result is a range that feels both contemporary and considered, rooted in something real rather than built around a trend cycle.

The collection is unisex and spans a wide spectrum: bold acetate frames with deep colour and architectural presence sit alongside refined titanium styles built for quieter impact. The breadth is intentional. Cutler and Gross designs for people who want to be noticed and for those who simply want a frame of genuine quality. Both are valid, and both are in the collection.

The brand’s frames have appeared on figures across fashion, music and culture for decades. This is a natural consequence of making eyewear that reads as a deliberate choice rather than a default one. At Groovy Glasses, Cutler and Gross joins a curated group of designer glasses chosen precisely because they bring that same quality of intention to the people who wear them.