List of oldest eyewear companies

This page provides a list of oldest brands and companies operating only in the eyewear manufacturing business to date and in any country. "Eyewear", although being a relative modern terminology, refers to the category of all items and accessories worn over the eyes for fashion adornment, protection against the environment and medical issues, which include glasses (also called eyeglasses or spectacles) and sunglasses. To be listed, a brand or company name must manufacture and sell its own eyewear products and remain operating, either in whole or in part, since inception. Generic optical stores, retailers and factories are not included in the list.

List of oldest eyewear companies

Year	Company	Current Location	Sources
1615	Murata	Japan	[1][2]
1777	C.W. Dixey & Son	United Kingdom	[3][4][5][6]
1826	American Optical Company	United States	[7][8]
1865	Shuron	United States	[9]
1875	E.B. Meyrowitz	United Kingdom	[10][11][12][13][14]
1877	Rodenstock	Germany
1878	Gouverneur Audigier	France	[15][16]
1878	Lozza	Italy	[17][18][19][20]
1879	Erker's	United States	[21][22]
1882	Anglo American Optical	United States	[23][24]
1905	Masunaga	Japan	[25]
1914	Sterling Optical	United States	[26][27]
1915	Moscot	United States	[28][29][30][31]
1917	Persol	Italy	[32][33][34]
1918	Art-Craft	United States	[35]

References

1. 村田眼鏡舗. "村田眼鏡舗". www.murata-gankyoho.co.jp. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
2. "Murata Gankyoho". Time Out Tokyo. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
3. "C.W. Dixey & Son - Fine British Eyewear Since 1777". www.cwdixeyandson.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
4. Sweet, Leon. "C W Dixey & Son". www.framesinthelanes.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
5. "The History of C.W. Dixey & Son". Vimeo. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
6. "The story behind Winston Churchill's glasses". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
7. "History | AO Eyewear, Inc.". aoeyewear.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
8. "American Optical Manufacturing Company of Southbridge, Massachusetts". www.antiquespectacles.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
9. sale, Eyeglasses for. "Shuron Ltd. / Shuron.com". www.shuron.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.
10. "Glasses for the Happy Few: E.B.Meyrowitz Eyewear". www.parischerie.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
11. "Home". www.ebmeyrowitz.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
12. AnOther. "E.B. Meyrowitz". AnOther. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
13. Muchowski, Keith. "Theodore’s spectacles". The Strawfoot. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
14. "Spectacles of Well Known People in History (Part Six)". www.antiquespectacles.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
15. "Clément Gouverneur - Detail freaks since 1878". clement-gouverneur.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
16. "Clément Gouverneur & GOUV/AU". Eyewear. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
17. "Lucio e Giuseppe Lozza". Wikipedia (in Italian).
18. "Lozza: the fascinating history of sunglasses made in Italy | DaringToDo.com International". en.daringtodo.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
19. Molho, Renata (2009). Una storia di occhiali. A History of Eyeglasses. Electa. ISBN 9788837068950.
20. "Lozza". www.lozzaocchiali.it. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
21. "Heritage | Erker's". erkers.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
22. Lambo, Turquil. "America's Finest: Erker's Fine Eyewear | America's Finest | INVISION". invisionmag.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
23. DigitalCavalry. "Anglo American Optical – About". angloamericanopticalltd.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
24. "20/20 Magazine > ANGLO AMERICAN OPTICAL: ANGLO AMERICAN EYEWEAR". www.2020mag.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
25. "Masunaga Optical - The Story". www.masunaga1905.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
26. "History - Sterling Optical | Eye Care and Eyewear Professionals". www.sterlingoptical.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
27. "Sterling Optical - Franchising.com". Franchising.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
28. Jones, Justin (2015-01-15). "Moscot, A New York Legend, Turns 100". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
29. "Our Story | MOSCOT". moscot.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
30. "The 100-Year Vision of Moscot Eyewear". The Forward. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
31. UTC, Eli Epstein2014-06-11 19:19:40. "5 Generations in, Moscot Keeps Business in the Family". Mashable. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
32. "History - Official Persol Site - USA". Persol.com. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
33. "The Legend of Persol". Optical Illusion. 2013-11-05. Retrieved 2016-04-09.
34. Vito Albino, Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli (2011). When Tradition Turns Into Innovation: How Firms Can Create and Appropriate Value Through Tradition. Chandos Pub. pp. 97–98. ISBN 9781843346647.
35. "Art-Craft Optical Co., Inc. - Company History (Page 1)". www.artcraftoptical.com. Retrieved 2016-04-13.