When I first came across Legacy Eyewear, I wasn’t sure what to think of wooden sunglasses. The designs looked cool, but wooden, really? So I decided to investigate. I contacted you through social media and we soon chatted. I ended up ordering a pair to see if they really were as good as advertised. It didn’t take long for me to realize that they were even better than advertised. These sunglasses are super lightweight and comfortable, flexible, durable - you name it. Most every pair of sunglasses I had ever owned were either too tight on my head or bothered the bridge of my nose, but these are honestly the most comfortable ones I’ve ever worn. So now to my first question - how in the heck did you get into making wooden sunglasses?

Well, I have made furniture for the better portion of my adult life. I also have worn glasses my whole life, it was just a matter of time until these two worlds met. I found myself in need of a pair for myself, so I made a rudimentary pair and popped some of my old lenses into them. After a few messages from family and friends requesting their own pair a company was born!

Can you walk us through the process of crafting wooden sunglasses?

Well, all our stock comes in rough sawn from the sawyer. From there, our frames get milled down to size and blanks are created. We then move over to our CNC router where we program in the frame style and tell the machine where to cut. After the rough frames come off our CNC, we move to the finishing line where they are hand sanded, and finished to reveal the true brilliance of the amazing grain hiding within. Then we laser engrave our logo, pop in our polarized lenses, affix hardware and do final inspections. From there we package and ship our frames directly to you!

What makes your frames so durable and flexible?

Well we’ve done a lot of research in the past year or so and we now laminate all our frames with a special glue that remains flexible even after it hardens. The thin strips of wood paired with amazing glue technology allow our frames to flex and bend like no other wood frame on the market!

What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever crafted a pair of glasses out of?

My personal favorite… Because I’m a history nerd… would definitely be the short run of frames we made out of the Original Teak decking from the USS NC. The USS NC served through WWII and is the most decorated battleship of WWII, it still watches over the city of Wilmington, where we’re lucky enough to call home. The material has such an amazing history, and you can really feel it when you look at the frames, nothing else like it!

Are any of your frames RX ready?

We are currently in the midst of launching a huge Rx line. All of our frames currently can be retrofitted with Rx, but we will be taking orders directly online to help streamline the process for our customers!

You mentioned that you recently quit your day job to pursue Legacy full-time. Can you share a bit more about that - are you excited, nervous, all of the above?

Definitely all of the above! It was a big step for me personally, as well as my family. We’ve been fortunate in our lives to be able to pursue our dreams, and I’m forever grateful for it. With my transition to full-time I truly realized how lucky we were and wanted to pass that on. In conjunction with our new Rx line, we’ll be launching our “WE SEE” program, where every pair of Rx frames purchased will provide an eye exam and new pair of glasses to someone in need. We’ve partnered with SEE International to help facilitate our HUGE aspirations, and we’re super jazzed about it!

Do you have any specific goals for Legacy now and in the years to come?

My major goals for Legacy are to give back to those in need as much as we can, and creating a sustainable business that allows stability in my family’s life as well as our employees.