EyewearApril 6, 2026
There is a reason opticians who truly love eyewear light up when someone asks about ic! berlin. Pronounced "eye-see-Berlin," the brand has spent thirty years proving that a pair of glasses can be engineered like a precision instrument, styled like a piece of contemporary art, and still feel featherlight on your face. Every frame is handcrafted in Berlin, Germany, by a team of more than 180 craftsmen, engineers, and technicians — and every single one is built without a single screw. [1]
At The Last Optical, we carry ic! berlin because the brand embodies exactly what we believe eyewear should be: uncompromising in quality, distinctive in design, and built to last. Here is the story behind one of the most innovative eyewear brands in the world — and why it deserves a place on your face.
A University Project That Changed an Industry
The ic! berlin story begins in 1996, when three friends — Ralph Anderl, Philipp Haffmans, and Harald Gottschling — developed a screwless hinge system for a university project. They cut their first prototype from a sheet of aluminum and showed it to an eyewear manufacturer in southern Germany, hoping he would license the design. He turned them down. [2]
That rejection turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to independent eyewear. Anderl, who was pursuing a PhD in cultural sciences at the time, convinced his friends to build the company themselves. They crowdfunded their first production run by selling paper vouchers that promised a finished frame within three months, then sent pairs to two German actors who wore them on talk shows and in films. Those actors eventually provided the financial backing to scale the operation. [3]
Their first model, 'Jack,' weighed just 20 grams and was produced in an initial run of only 50 pieces. It was screwless, lightweight, and unlike anything the eyewear market had seen. The brand launched as ic! brille, was renamed ic! berlin in late 1997, and officially incorporated in February 1999. [2]
The Screwless Hinge: Engineering That Eliminated the Weakest Link
If you have ever had a tiny screw fall out of your glasses at the worst possible moment — on a plane, in a meeting, at a restaurant — you understand the problem ic! berlin solved. Traditional eyewear hinges rely on screws that loosen over time, corrode, and eventually fail. The ic! berlin hinge eliminates screws entirely. Instead, the temple clips directly into the frame front through a precision-cut interlocking mechanism in the sheet metal itself. The result is a connection that is screwless, rivetless, and glueless — and one that allows the wearer to detach and reattach temples by hand in seconds. [1]
The impact of this innovation on the broader industry has been substantial. According to EyeOns, the adoption of screwless and hingeless designs by major eyewear brands increased by 25 percent between 2010 and 2020, directly influenced by ic! berlin's pioneering technology. [2] The brand has earned multiple SILMO d'Or awards — the eyewear industry's equivalent of an Oscar — including wins in 2008 and 2011, as well as Eyewear of the Year at the International Optical Fair Tokyo. [2][3]
Handcrafted in Berlin — Every Single Frame
In an industry where the vast majority of frames are mass-produced in factories across Asia, ic! berlin has made a deliberate and expensive choice: every frame is still handcrafted in Berlin. The brand's manufactory — which moved from its original Backfabrik location to a larger facility in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf district — houses the entire design, engineering, and production process under one roof. [1]
Founder Ralph Anderl has been vocal about why this matters. In an interview with mivision, he explained that many of the brand's designs require specialized machinery that is developed in-house — including a custom milling machine built specifically for crafting their shield sunglasses. "Maintaining in-house manufacturing capabilities is preferable to outsourcing to potentially unreliable third-party sources," Anderl has stated. He also ensures distribution reliability by maintaining at least two suppliers for every material used. [3]
The brand's signature material is cold-rolled stainless steel from Germany, cut to just 0.5 millimeters thick. But ic! berlin has expanded its material palette over the years to include beta titanium from Japan, natural and cotton-based acetate from Italy, and — most recently — a proprietary carbon fiber material that represents the brand's most ambitious innovation yet. [1][3]
FLEXARBON: Aerospace Technology Meets Eyewear
Launched in 2023 after three years of development with materials scientists, FLEXARBON is ic! berlin's patented carbon fiber frame material — and it borrows directly from aerospace technology. The material consists of eight layers of ultra-thin carbon fibers, just 0.7 millimeters thick, with a matte surface on the exterior and a high-gloss woven pattern on the interior. [4]
The numbers are remarkable. A FLEXARBON front piece weighs approximately 2 grams. For context, a single sheet of standard printer paper weighs 5 grams. The temples are engineered to be slightly heavier than the front to create perfect balance and eliminate pressure points on the nose — a common complaint with traditional frames. The material cannot be bent even after heating, so ic! berlin developed a proprietary FLEX clip system available in three different tilt angles to allow for pantoscopic adjustment. [4]
The FLEXARBON collection earned the 2024 International Optical Fair Tokyo award, validating what wearers already knew: this is one of the lightest, most comfortable frame materials ever created. [3] At The Last Optical, we carry the full FLEXARBON range and can fit them with your exact prescription — the combination of aerospace-grade lightness and precision optics is something you have to experience to believe.
The 30th Anniversary: Iconic Chrome Capsule
In 2026, ic! berlin is celebrating three decades of screwless innovation with the Iconic Chrome Capsule — a special collection that bridges heritage and innovation. The capsule features six styles: four classic stainless-steel frames celebrating the brand's legacy (LEIF, WANDA, OLI THE 2ND, and PINA) alongside two new technical interpretations (SODIUM and XENON) that push stainless steel into new territory. [5]
The collection revolves around ic! berlin's iconic chrome color treatment — natural finishes that enhance the quality of polished steel without coatings or artifice. All styles are available in a Transformative Teal colorway featuring photochromic lenses that shift seamlessly from indoor wear to outdoor sun protection. It is a fitting celebration: a return to the material and philosophy that started it all, executed with thirty years of accumulated expertise. [5]
From Formula 1 to The Rolling Stones
ic! berlin's reach extends far beyond the optical shop. In February 2026, the brand was announced as the Official Eyewear Partner of the Audi Revolut F1 Team — a partnership that pairs two German brands united by precision engineering and performance at the highest level. [6] The brand also maintains ongoing collaborative collections with Mercedes-Benz and Mercedes-AMG, featuring frames inspired by the flowing aesthetics and performance DNA of those automotive icons. [1]
On the cultural side, ic! berlin released a highly limited collector's edition with The Rolling Stones — just 1,000 pieces globally — and a 2024 capsule with New York fashion designer Bibhu Mohapatra. The brand's frames have been spotted on Hugh Grant, Brad Pitt, Jason Statham, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Chris Rock, among others. German actor Daniel Brühl served as brand ambassador in 2024. [2][3]
These are not celebrity endorsement deals in the traditional sense. ic! berlin attracts creative, self-reliant individuals who value authenticity and craftsmanship — people who choose their eyewear the way they choose everything else: deliberately, with an eye for quality over trend.
Why We Carry ic! berlin at The Last Optical
We are selective about the brands we carry at The Last Optical. Every brand in our collection has to meet a standard: it must be exceptionally well-made, distinctively designed, and not mass-produced. ic! berlin checks every box.
When you try on an ic! berlin frame for the first time, you notice the weight — or rather, the lack of it. Then you notice the fit: the screwless hinge creates a smooth, even pressure that distributes weight across the temple without hot spots. Then you notice the details — the precision of the metal work, the quality of the finish, the way the frame moves with your face rather than against it.
As Anderl himself has said: "Our hinge design is very pure and the way the business works is very much the same — focused." [3] That focus is what makes ic! berlin special, and it is why we are proud to offer the full collection — from classic stainless steel to FLEXARBON — at our Montgomery, NY boutique.
Visit us to experience ic! berlin in person. We will pour you a drink, walk you through the collection, and help you find the frame that fits your face, your prescription, and your style — because at The Last Optical, we believe your eyewear should be as individual as you are.
Sources
- ic! berlin — "Our Story." ic-berlin.com/our-story
- EyeOns — "The History and Legacy of ic! berlin Eyewear." May 2024
- mivision — "Forever Disruptors ic! berlin." October 2024
- ic! berlin — "FLEXARBON '23." ic-berlin.com/journal/flexarbon-23
- The Optical Journal — "30 Years Of ic! berlin." March 2026
- Vision Monday — "ic! berlin Named Official Eyewear Partner of Audi Revolut F1 Team." February 2026
