Antique Pince-Nez Spectacles

Pictured here are several examples of Pince-Nez style spectacles from our personal archive.  This style was at the height of its popularity around the late 19th to early 20th century.

The name comes from the French pincer, to pinch, and nez, nose.

The pince-nez style became popular when wearing eyeglasses all the time had fallen (temporarily, of course) out of favor, causing many to prefer this fashion, which allowed the spectacles to be easily stored in a jacket pocket and affixed with a chain or cord to be simply retrieved when one needed them.

Similar to the monocle, but more practical and less Monopoly-Guy-Mister-Peanut, the pince-nez was favored by many notable people such as Russian writer Anton Chekhov and President Theodore Roosevelt.

President Theodore Roosevelt was well known for wearing the pince-nez style, as evidenced by the distinctive spectacles being included on his Mt. Rushmore sculpture.  As opticians we are quite proud when eyewear is featured on such a grand scale.