Monocles!

[Nick]

There's something I wear that is quite different from the norm. Wearing it elicits laughs and derision from some, interest and acceptance from others.

That's right. I wear...a monocle.

Not all the time, and it's not just an affectation. When people ask why I would wear such an eccentric piece of eyewear, my response is "For the same reason anyone wears a corrective lens." The reasons for the stylistic choice lie in my often eccentric tastes and a love of things old.

It's true, monocles carry a certain stigma that no other optical aid does. When you say "monocle", one of two images usually springs to mind: a foppish dandy or a German militarist (from either World War). I am neither of these things, of course. To me, a monocle just looks darn spiffy, and there's an undeniable level of practicality with a single, small lens. Of course, they're just about as impractical as possible in other instances, but that's why it's not an all the time thing.

The biggest problem with monocles is finding the darn things! Today originals are scarce and new ones are expensive. To solve this problem I made my own, with a gallery (the part that holds it away from your eye) and a lens from another pair of my glasses. Unfortunately, in a recent attempt to tweak the gallery, I melted the rim , and am currently monocle-less until I can make another one.

I would like to find a place that could make a rimless monocle, ala Fritz Lang, but they're even rarer than galleried monocles. The biggest problem is that it would have to be new so it was in my perscription. I've never seen one up close, so I couldn't even give accurate instructions as to how the edge of the lens is formed. I keep looking, but so far no luck. If anyone has any leads (I hear they're still sometimes made in England and Germany), I would be greatly appreciative.

There aren't many monocle wearers left. Besides their general scarcity, people are afraid of the image, I think. I don't allow myself to be fettered by a stereotype.

Cheers
Nick

[GMan]

I have always thought of wearing a monocle, but never had enough intestinal fortitude to do it. Good for you Nick.

[James]

You are not alone-excelent bit of kit.

James

[furrycelt]

I applaud you for wanting to be eccentric. However, from a purely pragmatic stand-point, why the monocle? Would you not want the same vision correction in both eyes at the same time? And do not your face muscles fatigue from having to "grab" and hold it with muscles that are not used to "grabbing and holding"?

I too like to embrace things of old like that. I figure when I am older and will need reading glasses, I would go for a pince-nez if one can be found these days.

-ian

[Rigged]

http://eyeglass.com/monocles.html

[mudd]

Would you not want the same vision correction in both eyes at the same time?
-ian

I know! A monocle for each eye! Then, you could weld a piece of wire between the two across the bridge of the nose to make them one piece! Then, weld a couple of wires on each side that go back around your ears to hold the whole thing up! :grin: Brilliant!

[Nick]

It's actually similar to bifocals. The brain banishes any confusion, and after getting used to it you get your depth perception back. It's a little hard to explain, but they do work.

You don't have to grab and hold, as is commonly thought (and is what I thought, too!) With the galleried monocle, by placing it correctly, it is held in by friction and the elasticity of the skin, with no muscle involvement. Apparently rimless monocles are equally effortless when sized correctly, but I can't say from any experiance.

Furrycelt, if you're interested in pince nez, I reccomend eBay. There are always several types up, and some good prices can be found. I have a regular pair and a pair of pince nez sunglasses.

[Rigged]

And a nice bit of reading to go with those new spectacles:

http://www.ongoing-tales.com/SERIALS.../DOYLE/GP.html

[KiltedHuntsman]

Well, I know where you're coming from on this. Kilts, monocles, my pipe smoking, Foxhunting (my favorite affliction) are all evocative of the late 19th-early 20th century, which seems to be a more distinctive era, when men were Gentlemen, and women were Ladies, and life was more elegant and colorful. One of the reasons I enjoy going to the British Isles foxhunting each year and living the life of the landed Gentry for a precious week or two.

Back then, you dressed for dinner, you went to concerts and plays, and the Army still had the Calvary! Science was exciting, whereby individuals could still make dramatic discoveries, and explorers could still find unexplored places.

Mass culture today is so harsh, crude and loud. Science/engineering is a routine group/project thing. Nothing really amazes anymore. We've gotten so used to it all. I swear if Aliens landed tomorrow, it would be a media storm for about a week, them everything would return to same old-same old shortly thereafter.

Anything that allows me to escape all that for at least a little while is a good thing. As I write this, there's a commercial on for "Mucanex", the anti-mucus drug. Sigh. What a glamerous existence we lead...

I was in a folk Music pub ("The Wanch") in Hong Kong once, and a couple of Brit gentry showed up in tweed, with one wearing a monocle, and I thought, "jeez, this is the only place in Asia I like to come back to"

[Pleater]

Ah yes, life around 1900 - corsets, tuberculosis, no birth control, no penicillin, no electric light, maybe even no gas light either, no refridgeration, no bathrooms.

Working in shops or factories for 12 hours a day plus Saturday mornings, bringing up children who will die in the next war or the next epidemic of influenza or measles or diptheria.

It was fairly OK if you were not poor,I supose.

My mother's mother was the illigitimate daughter of a servant girl and the son of the household - he was sent to Canada and she was dismissed.

My grandmother's first husband left her with three children and went off to war, he was killed at the First battle of the Somme. Two children died in a diptheria epidemic.

Those spectacles and monocles must have rose tinted lenses.