How Warby Parker glasses are made

design

It starts at our headquarters

Every Warby Parker frame is designed in-house, where our team puts together mood boards for inspiration, sketches initial designs, and maps out product details for prototyping.

city skyline
technical drawing of eyeglass frame

materials

We use only the good stuff

From custom-designed cellulose acetate sourced from a family-run Italian factory to ultra-lightweight titanium, we use nothing but premium materials for our frames.

Colored organic pigments are mixed with acetone and applied to acetate

closeup of small yellow acetate chips

Acetate is cut into small chips

hands mixing acetate chips inside a mold

Mixed chips are placed into a mold and pressed together

24 hours later, chips have fused into one block

production

Every frame is hand-assembled and polished

After raw material is cut into face fronts using a high-tech CNC machine, it’s tumbled with wood chips and hand-polished with a German wax compound. The frames are then carefully assembled and sent through a series of quality checks.

A CNC machine cuts a general frame shape from raw acetate sheets

the front of a cut frame resting atop wood chips

Face fronts are polished in tumbling barrels filled with wood chips

closeup of hand holding polished, glossy frame

Frames are hand-buffed multiple times on a polishing wheel for an extra-glossy finish

closeup of logo being applied to frame

Logos are carefully applied by hand

frame being twisted by machine

Testing our hinges to make sure they can withstand the occasional pull, push, or nudge

lenses

When you order, a new pair is made just for you

We custom-cut and polish the edges of your lenses, which have been treated with anti-reflective and scratch-resistant coatings. Our frames come standard with impact-resistant polycarbonate lenses that block 100% of UVA and UVB rays.

prescription lenses in tray alongside frames

Prescription lenses are placed into a job tray with coordinating frames

Lenses are precisely milled into their correct shape using a CNC machine

optician carefully mounts lenses to frame

Lenses are carefully mounted into the frame

closeup of lenses in frames being carefully reviewed

Glasses are sent for a final review, where the prescription is checked one last time

closeup of eyeglasses

Good to go!

final review

And off they go

After the frames are individually inspected and bench aligned, they’re packaged up and ready for you!

woman smiling as she tries on eyeglasses

Find your pair