What can you do with vinyl records that you rarely listen to? Tipton Eyeworks and its brand Vinylize could perhaps be a good reference. Founder Zachary Tipton discovered his father’s old record collection and the thought of turning them into glasses just came up. In 2004 he teamed up with his brother Zoltan and launched Vinylize. With currently 16 people in the production team, each Vinylize frame is handcrafted in Budapest over the course of 6 weeks. Each has its unique look because of the grooves on the records, and the area selected to form the frame.

Even the thickest record (around 2 mm) alone wouldn’t be sufficient for making eyewear frame, plus, the effects of heat and pressure could affect the appearance of the vinyl and make it curved. Therefore, the records have to be laminated with biodegradable cellulose-acetate in Vinylize’s proprietary technology before they are CNC milled into frames. Vinylize frames are available in an array of shapes and sizes, and can be paired with optical lens or turned into sunglasses. The brand has also collaborated with rock band AC/DC to develop a special collection. Frames from the collection are cut from their classic album Back in Black and feature the AC/DC lightning bolt in the temple.

Vinylize is exclusively in Visual Culture Causeway Bay flagship store in Hong Kong.