Matador Eyeworks Optical was asked if we would like to show case a Limited Edition ic! berlin eyeglass frame.  We of course said “YES”!  Limited to only 99 pieces worldwide, this frame was designed by George Bamford of the Bamford Watch Department and handmade by ic! berlin.  The frame has arrived and is now on display for your viewing pleasure.

ic! berlin X BAMFORD collaboration

Ralph Anderl owner of ic! berlin eyeglasses

George Bamford(left) with Ralph Anderl(right)

George is heir to a multi-billion-pound empire; Ralph grew up next to a chicken farm.  George’s favourite jacket is the one he bought at a flea market; Ralph’s, from Louis Vuitton.  George wears glasses; Ralph makes glasses and both have a little bit of an obsession with shoes.

George Bamford of the BAMFORD Watch Department

George Bamford of the Bamford Watch Department has joined forces with worldwide sheetmetalglasses salesman
Ralph Anderl for ‘ic! berlin X BAMFORD’: a limited edition screwless hybrid frame, a one-of-a-kind luxury watch and design match made in heaven. The two luxury rebels met in Berlin during an interview for a Japanese fashion magazine (as you do) and while stuck in the rain on the way to ic! berlin’s onono showroom they discovered a shared passion for form, function and design (and glasses). A fairytale bromance was born.
Though on appearances they seem worlds apart, The Bamford Watch Department—which George runs out of ‘The Hive’, a town house just around the corner from Buckingham Palace— and ic! berlin—whose Flagship Store was an East Berlin butcher shop before Ralph moved in nearly 20 years ago—share the same DNA: both brands got their big break by breaking the rules (George, by tweaking and customising Rolex watches of his own accord and Ralph, by crashing trade shows and trying to sell screwless glasses without a stand or a permit), both brands have a strong attention to detail and both brands focus on creating the perfect design for their clients.
In the summer of 2016, two years after that rainy afternoon in Berlin, ic! berlin X BAMFORD launches across the globe:
99 sunglasses. 99 correction glasses. One bromance.