I was especially curious about these, which came over from England. They have a patent number 7263 etched into both temples, but it's so small I might be misreading a number, though that's the number given in the Ebay listing as well. They said the glasses were from the late 1800s, and I did a search on US patents and numbers in the 7,000s dated from the 1850s, though I'm presuming these are British... ? So, I instigated the following correspondence with the Ebay seller:


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I received these glasses safe and sound over here in New York City and traveled through time as soon as I put them on... Amazing.
Question though: where were these from? Where did you get them?
I'd love to know as much background info on them as I can.

Thank you,

Ben Gerstein



Hi Ben
I'm really glad you like the glasses and I'm glad they arrived safely. My great great grandfather Edwin Priest, formed and ran a manufacturing opticians firm in Sheffield England called Priest and Ashmore. In was quite a large place with plush showrooms in the front from the accounts I've heard. This firm was run by subsequent offspring until 12th Dec 1940 when it was destroyed during the Blitz. A couple of years ago I was helping my folks out by clearing the loft so they could get some new insulation put in. Amongst the vast quantity of junk up there was a suitcase full of the last few bits and pieces my dad and his father had managed to salvage from the wreckage. Along with the bits of documents that must have seemed so important in the moment, were glass eyes, monocles, pince nez, lots of old spectacle frame parts etc. Some of the pieces were new and some in for repair or in the case of some of the glass eyes, in for cleaning. Card pots with a dirty glass eye in and 'Mr Dawson' or similar written on the lid. I was selling all these things quite frequently until a year or so ago when I lost pace. However,my business has been a little quiet for a few weeks so I've dug out a few pieces to sell. The sunglasses you have came from this case. They must be used due to the state of the case but I couldn't tell you why they were in at the firm. That's about as much as I know. I rambled on a bit there but it's an interesting story. Keep your eyes peeled, I may be listing more items soon.

Kind regards

Ash



This is beautiful... Grateful for all the info; the more the better! With glasses like these it's such a magical thing... a meditation...
Blessings to you and your family! I'm connected now through the eyes, somehow...
It's deep.

Transportedly yours,

Ben Gerstein



No problem Ben
Great to have a little discourse such as this. The majority of buyers don't say a word.

Regards

Ash