Thin acetate: Murk from Fleye

A key trend for 2013 is a thinner, subtler use of acetate. Frames have got bigger and often chunkier, but now some designers are using acetate in gentler, understated way as shown above in the frame Murk by Danish eyewear house Fleye. And below from a recent shoot...

L.G.R 2013: acetate greats

Italian acetate specialist L.G.R has hit the mark for 2013 with its glasses and, if you continue below, its sunglasses too: simply amazing material...

Cheap Monday 2013 sunglasses

Cheap Monday must be one of the most inventive lower-cost eyewear brands around as this little preview of its 2013 sunglass collection demonstrates: great shapes, colours and an obvious element of cool, all included.

Bill's Collection: Bar Refaeli wears Beatrix glasses in Under.Me ad

As I recovered from my New Year's flu I decided to settle down and watch Kill Bill Vol. 2 while doing that whole two-screen thing and looking for some new brands. Then I received an email from Maya Sapir, the owner of Hamashkifa opticians in Tel Aviv. Not only was she presenting to me a rather stunning collection of spectacles, the frames in question were inspired by Kill Bill! But let's not get distracted by an irrelevant tale of synchronicity...

Bill's Collection should not be killed. It's small but perfectly formed: four handmade models in two colours. What's more, here they are (top and below in an ad for lingerie brand Under.Me) modelled, underwater no less, by Israeli model Bar Refaeli.

Varg Eyewear: not big, not bad, nothing to be afraid of

Time for another new brand: this time from England, with a Norwegian connection. Laser-cut beta titanium, sometimes coupled with good-looking cellulose acetate, with clever screwless hinges. All inspired by the wolf.

Varg Eyewear has just released its new promotional video, below. We look forward to getting to know Varg a little better! More below...

Oliver Spencer x Eye Respect: Bob and Sid

Menswear tailor Oliver Spencer has teamed up with Eye Respect to produce a collection of terrific sunglasses including these two, Bob and Sid.

Blue Magic Eye 2013: "Euforia"

These are from independent Italian framemakers Blue Magic Eye. Great combination of acetate with a metal behind. And great colours too! Featured here are Euforia 6200 and 6300, available from all good opticians. "Life's too short to wear boring glasses," as BME says. EWG agrees.

50 Shades

If you thought I was going to do a post with 50 sunglasses in it, you're wrong – that'd take forever! Or if you thinking I'm in any way interested that book, you're mistaken.This is a book review, a short one, for 50 Shadesby Lauren Goldstein Crowe.

A super tome it is too; said number of sunglasses on the likes of (top-to-bottom) Jack Nicholson, Audrey Hepburn, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Robert Redford, John Lennon and other massive stars. Each great photograph is accompanied by a quote, sometimes glasses related, from the shades-wearer. It's a book led by its amazing photography, capturing the stars perfectly, but the selection of sunglasses features prominently, even if the frames are mainly unidentified. Those that are attributed to their designers are Ray-Ban, Oliver Goldsmith and Persol. A few others I believe I know include Neostyle on Elvis Presley, Francois Pinton on Jackie Kennedy Onassis, but I can't be entirely sure.

My favourite sunglasses featured in the book are worn by Carole Lombard, not sure who they're by; and perhaps the best quote is, "With my sunglasses on I'm Jack Nicholson. Without them I'm fat and 60."

Hover over images for photo credits, or see below. 50 Shades is available direct from Reel Art Press. More good glasses books here.

Photo credits – Audrey Hepburn: Keystone/Getty Images / Bob Dylan: Jan Persson/Redferns / Diana Ross: Larry Ellis/Express/Getty Images / Jack Nicholson: Giribaldi/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images / John Lennon: Robert Whitaker/Getty Images.

Factory900 does the slits

Colour and creativity: two things Factory900 always brings to Eye Wear Glasses (as well as a smile!). This is FA-086 Slit II, handmade in Japan.

Prada FW2012 women's ad featuring Prada Portrait sunglasses

Prada maintain's its status as the most interesting designer fashion brand for specs, as is demoed in this FW2012 ad, featuring its Portrait sunglasses

Christiane Schaumburg-Müller in Kilsgaard

Danish actor and TV host Christiane Schaumburg-Müller dons a rather fetching pair of Kilsgaard frames, from its PSB collection.

Pared pairs: the Now & Then sunglass collection

Pared (good name alert!) is the new brand from Ksubi designer Samantha Stevenson. 

Here are four good pairs from the the first collection, Now & Then: top is Puss and Boots, then Bigger and Better and below is Salt and Pepper.

Handmade from top-qual Japanese acetate; prices start at AUS$220.

The Brechin sunglasses from The Leisure Society

Sunglasses don't come better than these: Brechin from The Leisure Society. The build quality of all Leisure Society eyewear is second to none. Handmade in Japan, these exquisite shades are available in brown with 18k gold (above),  black with 12k silver, or Sahara with 12k silver. They will cost you $795 but believe us, they're worth it.

Mykita Decades glasses: Coco and Bibi

Loving the gold bridges on these Mykita Decades frames. Top is Coco in coral red, while below is Bibi in opal.

Face à Face majors in blue with Jodie and Madam

Striking blues, inspired by the Majorelle Garden in Marrakech, feature in these new designs from French frame masters Face à Face. Above is a chunky feminine sunglass named Madam, while top is Jodie, a brow-focused cat's eye frame with some stunning 3D-patterned acetate.

Face à Face is one of my favourite makes, with both me and Mrs EWG frequently wearing their frames. Here's Beck, below on Christmas Day on the beach in Suffolk, wearing Face à Face Ebony, originally featured here a couple of years ago.

Lunettes Kollektion 2013: nude, rouge and lemon

A huge favourite of ours, Lunettes Kollektion has launched its latest shades for 2013, Le Flaneur and La Passante. Note the chunky T-shaped keyhole bridge on Flaneur, the subtle double bridge on Passante, and of course the wonderfully understated colours, top to bottom, lemon, nude and rouge, and the contrast with the dark lenses. MMmmmmm...