Some objects ruin your relationship with everything else you own. Not through ugliness or disappointment, but through sheer, stubborn excellence. Cubitts glasses fall squarely into that category. So consider this fair warning before you go any further.
Why Cubitts Glasses Are Worth the Investment
Founded in 2012 and based in King’s Cross, London, Cubitts has quietly been doing something the eyewear industry generally finds inconvenient: making glasses well. Not fashion-season well or good-for-the-price well, but properly, stubbornly, almost provocatively well. Inevitably, that level of quality leaves you slightly embarrassed about every pair you owned before.
The brand takes its name from the Cubitt brothers, master builders whose fingerprints press into the architectural DNA of Victorian London. The connection feels more than symbolic. Just as their streets and squares were built to last centuries, these frames carry the quiet assumption that someone will still wear them decades from now.
“They could outlive you.” Tom Broughton, Founder, Cubitts
Those three words land somewhere between reassuring and faintly unsettling. In a culture built on churn and cheerful disposability, here stands a founder calmly offering an object that might outlast its owner. Furthermore, roughly 250 metric tons of eyewear end up in landfill every year. Against that backdrop, Cubitts bets on a radical idea: quality and longevity are still desirable. In short, one extraordinary thing beats ten mediocre ones.
Ready to buy Cubitts glasses? ZEISS lenses as standard. Lifetime repairs included. Free in-store fittings across 18 UK locations.
10 Reasons Cubitts Glasses Will Ruin You for Everything Else
Consider this your fair warning. We have done our research. You have been told.
01. You Will Never Be Satisfied With Cheap Glasses Again
Before Cubitts, frames from a high-street optician feel perfectly adequate. After you try a pair, however, every flaw becomes obvious. You start noticing rough edges, lightweight hinges, and lenses that never quite sit right. Cubitts polishes its acetate across fifty distinct production stages and builds each frame around a custom pin system inspired by Lewis Cubitt’s rivets. As a result, everything else starts to feel like a photocopy of a photocopy. Moreover, if you are considering buying Cubitts glasses for the first time, budget for the second pair — because you will want one.
02. The Hinge: A Masterclass in Spectacle Craft
Most glasses have hinges. Cubitts, by contrast, has a hinge philosophy. Craftspeople carry out each pin-drilling process by hand, drawing on traditional British spectacle-making techniques. Consequently, the movement feels precise — almost mechanical in its satisfaction. Once you experience it, the spring-loaded resistance of cheaper frames becomes difficult to tolerate. In fact, if you value craft in what you wear daily, this detail alone justifies buying a pair of Cubitts glasses.
03. You’ll Develop a Genuine Enthusiasm for Eyewear History
Cubitts has staged exhibitions charting London’s six-hundred-year history of spectacle-making. Meanwhile, founder Tom Broughton spent his twenties collecting antique frames. Together, these influences bake a genuine, slightly obsessive enthusiasm for optics into every Cubitts product. Within months of buying your first pair, you will likely find yourself explaining lens grinding at dinner parties without irony. Worse things have happened.
04. Lifetime Repairs Are Included — Which Removes Every Excuse to Upgrade
Every pair of Cubitts glasses comes with complimentary repairs, adjustments, and servicing for life, plus a one-year frame service from day one. On paper, this sounds ideal. In practice, it quietly removes any excuse to replace your glasses. That familiar dopamine hit of “I need new frames” evaporates entirely. On the upside, the cost-per-wear calculation becomes frankly embarrassing compared to any fast-fashion alternative — so the investment pays for itself faster than you might expect.
05. Bespoke Cubitts Glasses: Frames Designed Around Your Face
Cubitts offers made-to-measure and fully bespoke services. Sooner or later — perhaps after your third visit to one of their meticulously designed stores — you will find yourself being measured for frames built entirely around the geometry of your face. At that point, it feels less like a choice and more like an inevitability. Furthermore, for anyone who has always struggled to find frames that truly fit, the bespoke service is genuinely life-changing.
Frame yourself properly.
Cubitts bespoke glasses are designed around the exact geometry of your face. Book a fitting in store or explore the full bespoke collection online.
06. ZEISS Lenses Come as Standard on Every Pair
Every pair of Cubitts glasses ships with ZEISS ClearView lenses as standard — not as a paid upgrade. In addition, DuraVision coatings come included as well: anti-reflective, hydrophobic, scratch-resistant, and UV protection all in one. The world appears sharper, cleaner, and unexpectedly vivid through them. By comparison, most high-street opticians charge extra for each of those features individually, so Cubitts actually delivers outstanding value at the price point.
07. The Collaborations Are Dangerously Tasteful
Cubitts collaborates sparingly and always intentionally. Partnerships with YMC, Sunspel, and Phoebe English maintain clear aesthetic coherence throughout. Most recently, the collaboration with SOAR produced the Cirrus — a titanium sunglass weighing just 10 grams. Nothing feels forced, and as a result every release becomes quietly desirable. Beyond your first pair, the secondary temptation of adding a collaboration piece to your Cubitts collection is very real indeed.
08. The Cleaning Cloths Are Collectible Objects in Their Own Right
Twice a year, Cubitts commissions artists to design glasses cleaning cloths, with proceeds going to charity. Contributors have included Tracey Emin, Camille Walala, and Edward Hopper. Rather than simple accessories, these function as collectible objects in their own right. Buy a pair of Cubitts glasses and you will almost certainly find yourself accumulating them with surprising enthusiasm — which, frankly, is a very pleasant problem to have.
09. There Are 18 Cubitts Stores Across the UK — One Is Near You
Cubitts now runs an expanding network of 18 UK stores, with locations in Edinburgh, Cambridge, Brighton, and across London. In each store, staff offer free adjustments, cleaning, and genuinely enthusiastic conversations about eyewear. Every visit is an experience worth making time for — and naturally, that makes walking out without a pair considerably harder. You can also find your nearest Cubitts store here.
10. Buying Cubitts Glasses Is the Responsible Choice
Cubitts uses biodegradable materials wherever possible and runs an active frame recycling programme. Their craftspeople make the titanium frames in Japan from 99.97% pure titanium — exceptionally light, hypoallergenic, and built to last. Given that eyewear sends 250 metric tons to landfill annually, buying a pair of Cubitts glasses feels less like indulgence and more like the sensible, considered option.
Cubitts Glasses Review: The Verdict
Ultimately, the case against Cubitts glasses is identical to the case for them. The brand builds frames with patience, designs them for permanence, and sells them with quiet conviction. In other words, a well-made object is its own argument — and these are exceptionally well-made objects.
Tom Broughton’s fascination with eyewear began early, with Morrissey’s frames as an unlikely inspiration. He went on to collect antique pairs and study the craft in depth. When he founded Cubitts, the goal was straightforward: restore the idea that glasses are not disposable, but enduring possessions worth investing in.
“Your face is the most beautiful canvas you have. Frame it accordingly.”
So no, you shouldn’t buy Cubitts glasses — not if you prefer staying comfortable with mediocrity, not if you enjoy rotating through forgettable frames, and not if you’d rather avoid the quiet knowledge that something better exists.
If, however, you have ever held a truly well-made object and recognised instantly that this is how things should be — then the outcome is already inevitable.
Go on, then. Buy your Cubitts glasses.
Handcrafted in the traditional way. ZEISS lenses as standard. Lifetime repairs included. Free in-store fittings and eye exams at 18 UK locations.
Cubitts has stores across the UK and in New York. Eye exams, frame fitting, bespoke services, and lifetime repairs available in-store and online at cubitts.com
