The Glasses Maker

It was a long shot, but Jack Ransome Lupton was going to try anyway. Tucked away in his London workshop he began to assemble, from scratch, a pair of custom-made glasses in bright yellow acetate with small round frames. The plan was to surprise the artist David Hockney with them, someone whose choice of eyewear is as much a part of his identity as the thick Yorkshire accent and wardrobe full of pastel-hued cardigans. 

Jack found the contact details for an assistant and sent out a hopeful message. Could he deliver some glasses to David? To his surprise, there was a response. He was invited round for dinner at Hockney’s London house. The glasses were a hit, he’s since ordered five more pairs, and a photo of the artist wearing his custom Ransome frames hangs  on the wall of Jack’s Hampstead shop. 

If you don’t ask, you don’t get. 

There are very few fully bespoke glasses makers left in Britain, and Jack Ransome Lupton is one of them. “I’m probably quite unusual, because I’ve wanted to be an optician since I was about six,” he says with a laugh. “I’ve always needed glasses, but it never used to bother me as a kid, in fact I liked the feeling of being a bit different. As an optometrist, I want combine taking care of people’s eye health, as well as being able to make beautiful glasses for them if needed.”

A pair of Ransome glasses are made entirely by Jack’s hand in a workshop that sits under the shadow of the brutalist Trellick tower. After an extensive consultation, it will take multiple hours of methodical work—shaping, carving and honing using antique machinery—for the glasses to come to life. The whole process, from first meeting to delivery, takes around a month. 

“I started by messing around with acetate in my dad’s shed,” he says, “patching together different bits and pieces, sort of like Franken-glasses.” Those first frames, a classic round shape, not unlike a Hockney signature, also hang, slightly wonkily, on his eponymous shop’s wall. 

“I want it to feel like my glasses have really been made by a person,” he says. “They might not be absolutely perfect, you can see where they’ve come together, which I think adds to the charm. Glasses have the ability to completely change someone's character. You could be wearing a monotone outfit, but with a really interesting pair of glasses your whole personality is defined differently.”  

As well as modelling our new spring collection, Jack is also busy working on a range of exclusive Ransome sunglasses for us here at Drake’s, which will be in-store very soon. “I love being able to combine all of my interests into one: conducting eye tests and taking care of people, being a craftsman working with great materials here in London, and working with friends and customers who share those sensibilities.” 

“If you want some glasses that nobody else has, made entirely by hand, I’ll be in my workshop.”