ic! berlin

Founded 1996 · Berlin, Germany · Ralph Anderl and Harald Gottschling

ic! berlin makes frames **with no screws, no soldering and no rivets**: a half-millimetre sheet of steel cut by laser and folded, with a slot-in hinge that assembles and comes apart with your fingers. It is the only house on this list whose patent is not a lens but a joint.

History

Ralph Anderl and Harald Gottschling founded the house in Berlin in 1996, and their contribution is engineering before fashion: the patented screwless hinge solves the exact point where glasses break and where they work loose with use. The frame comes from a single 0.5 mm sheet of stainless steel, laser-cut, hand-folded and unpainted, so it weighs around twenty grams. Manufacturing is still in Berlin, and every frame is engraved with its serial number and the name of the person who assembled it. It is one of the very few eyewear houses not owned by a large optical group.

Iconic models

Screwless hinge (patented, 1996)
The house's invention: it assembles and comes apart with your fingers, with no tool and nothing to work loose.
0.5 mm steel frames
A single sheet, laser-cut and folded. No soldering, no rivets and no paint.
Signed series
Every frame is engraved with its number and the name of the person who assembled it in Berlin.

Worth knowing

Take a temple off a pair of ic! berlins and you need no screwdriver and no trip to the optician: it comes off with your fingers and goes back the same way. The whole house was built around that hinge.