After two years of R&D, Parkman Sunglasses launched in July 2014 with a mission—to make handcrafted sunglasses that have a story. Sunglasses, you could say, that rock. Their latest model, the Bombay, does just that. Parkman has teamed up with Patterson Guitars and C&C Drum Company to make sunglasses from wood recycled in the guitar-making process.
“We met the guys from Patterson Guitars and we realized they had the same passion for handcrafted, American-made products and immediately knew we had to collaborate,” Co-Founder Andrew Shalhoub said. He and his brother Chris are the ones behind the shades, which they make by hand in their shop in Mountainside, New Jersey.
Each pair takes 7-10 days to make from start to finish and like any good song by The Boss himself, is American-made and tells a story.
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“Making each pair of sunglasses requires the combination of comfort and ease on large industrial machines, along with the finesse and patience required with timeless hand tools, which creates the callused hands, dusty clothes and sawdust-covered floors proving our passion for creation and our persistence for excellence,” Shalhoub said.
Made from the mahogany bodies and rosewood fretboards of the guitars, the Bombay sunglasses are constructed around an aircraft-grade birch core for not only style, but durability as well. The wood’s never stained, Shalhoub says, so no two pairs are ever exactly alike.
Feeling a little bit hipster and a little bit rock and roll? Parkman also makes a pair from recycled vinyl.
Check out the Parkman Bombay here.
