Come to the bench, or talk to me, and find out what a TANAKA frame is.
See and try the frames. Experience the new material on your face. Meet the maker, and see the atelier. A chat is reason enough.
Thursday 3 to 7pm. Friday and Saturday 11am to 6pm. The building is not open to the public, so tell me when you are coming and I will let you in.
Somewhere else? Write to me, or I can answer your question on video call if you prefer. For invitations to events and new releases, sign up to Atelier notes.
Black Archive can be made at a distance, and I will tell you what is possible for you.
Questions are welcome too. The material is new to eyewear, and so is the way I work.
gow@tanaka-eyes.com, or a message on Instagram.
If you are an optician and want to see these in the hand, write to me.
Unit 106, Riverbank Business Park, 1 Dye House Lane, London E3 2TB. Fifteen minutes on foot from Hackney Wick Overground or Bow Road underground. Paid parking on site.
If you wear prescription lenses, bring your current frame and your most recent prescription. A specialist glazier works in the same building and can join by request.
At Distance
A frame is fitted in the room. Where that is not possible I make Black Archive sun frames at distance. A frame for prescription lenses is fitted at the bench and handed over in person, because where each lens sits before your eye can only be set once the frame is finished and sitting on your face.
Patina is made to your measurements, and a measurement taken from a photograph is not a measurement taken from a face. If you cannot reach the bench and still want Patina, write to me and we will decide together whether it can be done. If we go ahead and the frame has to come back because I misread, the shipping is mine. For any other reason, it is yours. The work is mine either way, and your number stays with you.
Photographs. Three, taken by someone else, in daylight, without glasses. Straight on, with your eyes level to the lens. Three-quarter, turned slightly away. Profile. In the first, hold a ruler flat against your face just below the eyes, with the millimetre markings toward the camera. Do not measure anything. The ruler is there so that I can.
Thirty minutes by video. Have the frame you wear now to hand. Years of wear leave a record no photograph carries, and I can read most of it through a screen. I draw the line I would draw in the room, and tell you which shape and which size I would make.
One app, if you have an iPhone. EyeMeasure by Bonlook, for pupillary distance. It records. I read it. iPhone X or newer, free, iOS only. The photographs and the ruler are enough without it.
Sending. There are countries I cannot send lenses to. Duties and import taxes on arrival are yours. I will tell you what applies to you before you commit.
On arrival. The frame is fitted on arrival like any other. If it does not sit correctly, send it back. I can make small adjustments to the ear height and nose pad. If the fault is in my reading, I make it again once. This is not a returns policy. It is the second fitting, held at a distance.
If you can come to the bench, come to the bench.
Questions
Where is the atelier, and when can I come?
Unit 106, Riverbank Business Park, 1 Dye House Lane, Hackney Wick, London E3 2TB. Fifteen minutes on foot from Hackney Wick on the Overground, or Bow Road on the District and Hammersmith & City lines. There is paid parking on site. I am at the bench Thursday 3 to 7pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 6pm, by appointment. Tell me when you would like to come.
How long does a frame take?
Three to four weeks from a confirmed order to collection or dispatch. I work to a small monthly capacity, and when the month is taken I will tell you your start date in writing.
How does payment work?
In full when the order is confirmed. The frame enters the making schedule at that point.
Is every frame made to measure?
No. Every TANAKA frame is fitted. Not every TANAKA frame is made to measure. A frame cannot be bent to fit afterwards. At the final fitting I can only make small adjustments to the ear height and nose pad. Made to measure determines its dimensions from the start.
Black Archive is made individually to order in two sizes, wide and narrow. Patina is made to your measurements from the beginning, and numbered, 150 of each shape. Either shape in either finish.
Can I have prescription lenses fitted?
I make and fit the frame. Your own optometrist or dispensing optician glazes it to your prescription. The fitting is done here, at the bench, with the finished frame on your face. Where the lens sits before the eye, at what angle and at what distance, can only be set that way. That is why a frame for prescription use is fitted here and not at a distance.
Can I drive in them?
Yes, in daylight. The sun lenses are filter category 2 and pass traffic light recognition. They are not suitable for driving at night or in twilight.
Do you ship internationally?
Yes, tracked and insured. Black Archive sun frames are made at a distance where a visit is not possible. Type-I and Type-RO are tested to BS EN ISO 12312-1. There are countries I cannot send lenses to. Import taxes, duties, customs charges and handling fees in the destination country are the recipient's. I will tell you what applies to you before you commit to anything.