Cartier is arguably the world’s most iconic and respected eyewear brand. Despite being a brand that started off with nothing to do with eyewear, that makes it even more amazing that Cartier took all their knowledge and expertise from the world of jewelry and used that to make some of the most beautiful glasses and sunglasses ever created.

Cartier eyewear collection 

We are showcasing all the different elements that make Cartier glasses what they are and we are going to be explaining how the different variations within the brand of Cartier exemplify different aspects of the brand’s history. 

Cartier is the brand that they dream of as their perfect pair of glasses. 

So what are the fundamental hallmarks of a pair of Cartier glasses?

In every single Cartier eyewear frame you’re going to find either genuine gold or genuine platinum, nothing is painted. It’s all plated with precious materials. That means that the longevity of a Cartier frame is so much higher than the longevity of a normal eyeglass frame because normal metal frames are going to chip the paintwork going to peel away because the plating on Cartier frames is done to twice the industry standard for thickness they retain their luminosity for years if not decades.

Τhe most vintage pieces, the ones that are dating back 40-50 years, are what are now known as the Big C

This is the vintage C Cartier and it has the iconic C of the house of Cartier, emblazoned on each arm. These are the most unmistakably Cartier glasses you’ll ever find if you really want people to know that you’re wearing Cartier. Everybody who buys these, will customize the lens shape and that’s one of the awesome things about rimless glasses in general but particularly with Cartier is the element of customization. With the big C complemented with a slight tint on the lens and a larger lens size these just look awesome. They are beautiful because of the real gold plating and we love the way that everything here is just gold.

But there is nowadays a more refined version of this Cartier line and that is the modern C Cartier frames. 

This one in platinum has in our opinion a more subtle C. It’s almost like a buckle on the frame you wouldn’t necessarily instantly recognize it as the letter C. But for those who know or who are into eyewear or into Cartier or both. They’re going to recognize that instantly. This is such a more classy way of implementing a logo rather than just having the word Cartier written along the side as most brands would do. That’s one thing that really separates Cartier from other eyewear fashion brands because they’re not having to shout about who they are.  The beauty is in the item itself. This model also features genuine wood arms and these are the most desirable frames that Cartier make either the wood or the buffalo horn. 

You can also get slightly more simplified versions so you can get these C Cartier frames with a slightly smaller c logo and a slightly thinner temple in various different colors 

The acetate piece is obviously far less expensive than the buffalo horn and wood pieces so that’s good it helps keep the cost down. What we really like with this model is how the C is almost like a buckle that loops through or in fact the temple loops through the buckle of the C. It’s a really nice effect; it gives this frame a little bit of three-dimensionality from the side.

Moving on let’s focus on a slightly more obscure line from Cartier to break things up a little bit and that is the Trinity de Cartier 

Trinity de Cartier is a feature of a lot of the jewelry that Cartier creates and it’s called the Trinity because it will actually fuse three precious metals together platinum gold and rose gold. The thing is that in the jewelry those precious metals are solid whereas when it comes to the eyewear they are plated and apparently we are told that there is not a very consistent or a very healthy i think it i think it’s quite a toxic process for creating plated rose gold and therefore they leave the rose gold out of the trinity when it comes to the eyewear. When we heard that story i was kind of sad because it does seem like a little bit of a compromise but having said that i do think that when it comes to the eyewear it is quite beautiful there’s that contrast between the gold and the platinum. The trinity line by the way represents love. What you have is the knot which is formed between the two precious metals. That’s what signifies the two coming together and that’s why it has that role within the Cartier eyewear collection. 

One of the traditionally feminine lines within Cartier which has actually now come full circle and worn by men and what ladies equally is the Panthere Cartier line

Panthere Cartier is probably our personal favorite section of the Cartier collection. We just love how adventurous it is, like how often are you going to see a panther actually inlaid into you a pair of glasses. It’s just not really done by anybody else but we love how Cartier has done it and we particularly love how this one has the full metal sides. 

You also have the option of black enamel to represent the panther spots

We love how the face of the panther wraps around the front of this frame, it’s that little bit more eye-catching that little bit more engaging for people who are going to see you in the glasses and a hell of a lot of craftsmanship has gone into the making of this. That’s where Cartier really stands apart from the other eyewear brands. Other eyewear brands might come in nice shapes, they might come in nice colors but you’re just not going to see such amazing craftsmanship, such fantastic workmanship as this in almost any other eyewear brand, especially the big mainstream ones.

Cartier truly artisan frames packaged in a huge brand but that’s why they have such a cult following because they behave almost like a small scale eyewear brand despite their enormous heritage.

When it comes to sunglasses though our favorite eyewear line within Cartier is the Santos de Cartier

If you are a huge fan of Cartier watches you already know of the most iconic Cartier watch, is the santos de Cartier which features exposed screws along the design. It’s a very industrial design and that’s carried through into the eyewear, now there are full-frame semi-frame and rimless versions of the santos de Cartier. 

By the way Santos de Cartier comes from Santos Dumont who was the world’s first aviation pilot. He actually had a watch designed for him by Louis Cartier who created the world’s first wristwatch for his use, because when he was controlling his plane he didn’t have time to take out a pocket watch and therefore having it on his wrist was a lot easier for him. He asked Louis Cartier to design it for him and he created the world’s first wristwatch.

Finally the most modern line within the Cartier eyewear collection are the Premiere de Cartier 

The hallmark of the Premiere de Cartier frames are these ridges which are finished within the temples and the bridge. It just gives the frames a more prominent feel and a more prominent look of course a more dominant style on the face and for people who want to make slightly more of a statement with their eyewear i think this achieves that.

We really hope you’ve enjoyed this tour of the Cartier eyewear collection. Hopefully giving you some inspiration and some examples to take away and think about which one might be for you.