Zurich and London designers Aekae have designed a collection of glasses made of water buffalo horns.

The range of eyewear, called SIRE, consists of three pairs of sunglasses and three pairs of correctional frames.

Each piece is made of several thin layers of horn, which are laid in alternate directions to increase stability.

The range is manufactured by Swisshorn Eyewear and is being shown at the SILMO Eyewear and Optics Exhibition in Paris this week.

Photos are by Nadine Ottawa.

Here's some more information from Aekae:

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SIRE handmade natural eyewear

In the ancient days a sire was chosen for his character and skill.
The SIRE collection takes this tradition into the future, using only the finest materials and the best manufacturing techniques to create exclusive optics with outstanding character.

Each single piece of eyewear is handcrafted out of natural horn in a collaboration between aekae and Swisshorn.

aekae's aim to introduce new ideas into the very traditional market of natural horn optics is visible in the design: the open nose part involves a new construction and a strong visual element. The experience and knowledge of the small manufacturing company Swisshorn has gone in to numerous prototypes in the past two years. Finally, the SIRE collection of three sunglass- and three correctional frames is beeing presented for the first time in Paris from the 17th to the 19th of September at SILMO.

manufacturing process:

Each SIRE natural horn spectacle consists of up to seven thin layers of horn. The core plates of horn fibers run in opposite directions known as the ”Triplex Safety System”, which is considered to offer the highest standards in quality, stability and resistance to deformation. The only waste in the production are horn splinters, which serve as natural plant nutrition. At the end of the manufacturing process every frame is polished carefully by hand, to make the natural horn structure visible.

about natural horn:

The water buffalo is a domesticated animal throughout Asia, comparable to our cattle. It is normally trained to plow and harvest fields, and is vital in the rice plantations. Besides also supplying milk and leather, the horns, which can reach two meters in length, are later used for exclusive natural products.

SIRE spectacles are hand crafted into exquisite eyewear from this raw material. Only a small part of it can actually be used to produce an eyeglass frame.
Our manufacturer Swisshorn selects only the finest horn pieces, and continues to craft them into beautiful horn spectacles. Due to the characteristic patterns and colors of the raw horn, each product is always a unique piece. It takes the best and most experienced craftsmen in this field to create a SIRE frame.