Sense of smell has the strongest link to your memories.
It's why the wet paint on our new workshop walls reminded me of my grandfather.
He was a decorator.
Rather than bore you with paint drying, here's a story I've waited for the right moment to share.
It's personal.
This is my 'Grandpa'.
Great painter. Terrible business man.
He took great pride in his work and even 'gold leafed' the inside of Aberdeen theatre - work which remains there to this day.
But he never charged appropriately.
A mistake that cost him his business.
Growing up, I hadn't a clue what to do for a living. But I never wanted to be that good at something and sell myself short.
Jump to 2015, Lucy and I hosted a pop-up shop during London design week. A man approached our handmade glasses to inspect them.
I was hoping for a sale.
"These are too cheap" he said, handing back the glasses. "Lovely. But they should be at least double the price."
I thought of Grandpa that day. A lot.
In our culture, money is taboo. Plus a mindset that opticians are 'out to get you' with lenses and coatings that take advantage of your eyesight.
Well, I'm here to say — you get what you pay for.
Grandpa's gold-leaf-work still shines in Aberdeen theatre, just like my glasses frames shine today. When other optical brands race to be the cheapest, I hurry slowly to be the best.
Thanks for believing in quality.
Jamie, co-founder x
PS: I found this photo of Grandpa's gold-leaf work inside Aberdeen theatre.
As a strange coincidence, I also use gold foil to mark small letters on the inside of your glasses frame as seen further below.
"95% of the job is preparation."
Richard Henry Bartlett - Master Painter, 1919 - 2012 RIP.
At the beginning of this process (moving workshop) Lucy and I promised each other to document each stage of the 'big move'. So the following photos are really just a snapshot of the day we painted all the walls with this 'limewash' sand colour, 5th of May 2025.
To our surprise, we managed to get the whole room painted in one day. Similar to the prior anecdote about quality, the paint we used was really great stuff and only needed one coat for the patchy, textured look we were going for.
Passers-by kept noticing the colour, asking if we'd "plastered the walls?"
A very long day, but lot's done. As I write this, the paint is still drying (and thankfully lightening-up).
Thanks for looking.