Lunettes de Gandhi-National Gandhi Museum (2)

Windsor glasses are a type of

eyeglasses Glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles, are vision eyewear, with lenses (clear or tinted) mounted in a frame that holds them in front of a person's eyes, typically utilizing a bridge over the nose and hinged arms (known as temples or ...

characterised by circular or nearly circular eyerims and a thin metal frame. The style emerged in the 19th century and first became popular in the 1880s. Traditionally the bridge of Windsor glasses is a "saddle" (a simple, arched piece of metal joining the two eyerims), and hence to prevent the glasses slipping off the face the temples are "riding bow temples" (a strongly arched wire that hooks around the ears); however, in a modern and extended definition, Windsors typically have a bridge with nose pads and gently curved temples.

In popular culture

Notable people associated with Windsor glasses include

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

(and thus the glasses are sometimes referred to as "John Lennon glasses ") and

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, as well as the fictional character

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

also sometimes wore Windsor glasses, although they better remembered for their horn-rimmed

Groucho glasses Groucho glasses, also known as nose glasses, the beaglepuss, or the GM 20/20s are a humorous novelty disguise which function as a caricature of the stage makeup used by the comedian Groucho Marx in his movies and vaudeville performances. They t ...

and

rimless A rim is an external flange that is machined, cast, molded, stamped, or pressed around the bottom of a firearms cartridge. Thus, rimmed cartridges are sometimes called "flanged" cartridges. Almost all cartridges feature an extractor or headspacing ...

pince nez Pince-nez ( or , plural form same as singular; ) is a style of glasses, popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, that are supported without earpieces, by pinching the bridge of the nose. The name comes from French ''pincer'', "to pinch" ...

, respectively.

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...

wore glasses with a thin frame and round lenses, but unlike proper Windsor glasses they were rimless. File:Portrait Gandhi.jpg, Gandhi File:John Lennon 1969 (cropped).jpg, Lennon File:Groucho Marx.jpg, Marx File:Theodore Roosevelt laughing.jpg, Roosevelt

Practical considerations

The

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

nature of Windsor glasses presents some pragmatic advantages over other styles. Glasses that have eyerims with a particular customised shape may be subject to

vendor lock-in In economics, vendor lock-in, also known as proprietary lock-in or customer lock-in, makes a customer dependent on a vendor for products, unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs. The use of open standards and alternative ...

, where the only company able to manufacture new lenses for a given frame is the same company from which that frame was purchased. In contrast, the circle is a basic geometric shape and may be found in the eyerims of many different brands (i.e. it is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

). This means that Windsor glasses (or any glasses with circular eyerims) made from one brand may be compatible with the

lenses A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

made by another brand. Eyeglass lenses were historically made of glass and had to be ground against an abrasive surface to fit the shape of the eyerims. Getting the lens to fit an irregularly shaped eyerim required skill and specialised equipment. The simplicity of carving a circle meant that circular lenses were generally cheaper to produce. Modern lenses are instead made of plastic and can be made to any shape with ease. The thin frame requires less metal, and therefore less cost to produce, although the corollary of this is that Windsor glasses are more easily broken if crushed.

References

Eyewear Minimalist clothing {{Eye-stub