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The Complete Guide to Persol Sunglasses: All Styles, Explained | Gear PatrolSkip to main content
Welcome to Brand Breakdown, a series of comprehensive yet easy-to-digest guides to your favorite companies, with insights and information you won’t find on the average about page.
Donned by pilots, race car drivers and style icons, Persolsunglasses are unquestionably cool. Few brands have withstood the test of time like Persol, which is just over a century old, earning it the right to be called a true classic. And whether it’s the Italian brand’s innovations, quality or cachet, you wouldn’t be faulted for wanting a pair for yourself.
This guide will take you through everything you need to know about the brand, from its history to the terms you should know and the brand’s available styles. But, for a more general primer on sunglasses, check out our guide to the best sunglasses for every face shape.
In the midst of World War I, Giuseppe Ratti worked as an optician for his family’s business, Berry Opticians. Pilots frequented the business and regaled Ratti of high-altitude bulldog fights as well as battles against the glaring sun. After experimenting with smoked lenses, Ratti introduced a glare-reducing pair of spectacles dubbed The Protector, designed specifically for pilots — just like Aviators.
The glasses featured smoked crystal lenses, which Ratti had developed with the help of a German chemist, as well as an elastic band and rubber-lined frames. The Protector’s popularity took off, landing itself on the faces of race car drivers and motorcyclists while also securing Ratti contracts with the armed forces. Shortly after, the Persol name was born, a portmanteau of “per il sole” (for the sun).
Between the 1930s and 1950s was when Persol solidified itself as an innovative brand, first with the introduction of its now-iconic Meflecto technology. Using a complex system of cylinders inserted carefully into the stems, the Meflecto system allowed the glasses to adapt its shape to any wearer’s head, reducing pressure and increasing comfort. The brand’s trademark Silver Arrow, inspired by swords of ancient warriors, also came about during this time and distinguished Persol from imitators. It evolved and branched into several iterations, of which the “Supreme Arrow” is most synonymous with the brand.
Persol
From the 1960s, Persol expanded its production to include work goggles used for various manufacturing throughout Italy, and won dozens of patents along the way, and also secured contracts with NASA. Thanks to celebrities like Steve McQueen wearing the brand in films and shows, the brand also gained cultural relevancy. Though the brand found its way into Hollywood, it came at a time when eyewear wasn’t overly branded like many are today and it was the Silver Arrow that gave persistent fans the hint they needed.
“They were the first to be an aspirational brand for jet setters, where there wasn’t really such an eyewear brand before them,” says Jordan Silver, eyewear expert and owner of NYC store Silver Linings Opticians. “Every other brand was looking at eyewear as ‘you should wear this as a medical device.’” But Persol took it to another level and the Silver Arrow was a callsign to say that you were a part of the cognoscenti.
“They’re authentic — or were authentic — because they weren’t a fashion brand going into eyewear,” Silver says. “They were an eyewear brand and eyewear brand only. They were what the rich dudes wanted to wear and so other people wanted to wear it because of them. They didn’t have to put a logo or a designer’s name or a fashion house on it.”
Persol
Persol became who they are through innovative products, selective distribution, and quality, which helped the brand remain a pillar of style and quality today.
How Persol Compares to Other Brands
Persol vs. Ray-Ban
Luxury eyewear conglomerate Luxottica acquired Persol in 1995, four years before it bought Ray-Ban. Diehard fans of both brands pine for the days pre-acquisition, citing changes in quality and the brand’s new corporate identity as the major shifts since folding under Luxottica’s ownership group. And it’s a big one, too: Luxottica owns 80 percent of all eyewear brands and stores — from Oakley and Gucci to Sunglass Hut and the Optical section inside Target.
Ray-Ban and Persol are of course different, though — at least in origin story. Persol is Italian luxury. Ray-Ban is an American icon. They have exude opposite energies, because while Ray-Ban is a solid introduction to nicer eyewear, Persol is most folks’ first foray into luxury eyewear. As such, Persol is naturally a step above Ray-Ban, even though they’re technically made by the same company, albeit in different factories. Ray-Bans are made in both Italy and China, while Persol shades are exclusive to Italy.
Terminology
Meflecto
Persol’s crowning achievement, the patented Meflecto technology was created by the brand and is the world’s first flexible stem design. It allows the stems to bend according to the unique shape of the wearer, via a complex system of metal cylinders embedded into the acetate stem.
Victor Flex
The three-notch bridge technology which allows the bridge to curve and flex as needed, improving fit and comfort.
Silver Arrow
Inspired by the swords of ancient warriors, the Silver Arrow is Persol’s trademark, invented in the 1930s.
Acetate
A naturally-derived plastic formed cotton pulp. Acetate is formed into a mold and the shape of the frames is carved out from this.
Crystal
Persol’s lenses are crystal lenses that are made from glass and offer the highest clarity.
Polarized
Polarized lenses are lenses that are coated with a layer of polarizing film which cuts reflections and glares.
Styles
649 Series
The 649 is Persol’s most recognized design and its most imitated. Introduced in 1957, the 649 was originally designed for Turin’s tram drivers, with large lenses to block out dust and debris. It features all of Persol’s hallmarks, including the Silver Arrow, Meflecto and Victor Flex technology and is available in over a dozen different configurations. The 649 Original features an overall wider profile with thicker temples and frames, while the PO9649S is a trimmed-down version with a less prominent bridge.
The 714 is a sleeker set of specs compared to the 649, with thinner rims and more slender stems. The brow line, while still contoured, is flatter than the 649 and features a bridge that’s more carved out. The most distinct difference is the fact that it has hinges at the stems as well as at the bridge, which allow the glasses to fold into a compact form factor. This innovation made the 714 first-ever foldable sunglasses. The 714 reached peak cool and cemented itself in style history when Steve McQueen wore them in the iconic 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair.
In homage to Mr. Cool himself, the Steve McQueen Series is an upgraded 714. Every pair of Steve McQueen’s is made with polarized lenses and features Persol’s Supreme Arrow motif not only at the hinges where the stems meet the lenses but at the hinges within each stem. You’ll find Steve McQueen branding on the inside of the stems as well as on the compact carrying case. It’s available in several colorways, the most opulent of which is a 24k gold plated version.
Main Collection
Outside of Persol’s icons — like the 649 and 714 Series — there are plenty more standard issue frames. These aren’t a part of any particular collections, just Persol’s catalog at large. They are by no means lesser. In fact, they’re often the newest.
In today’s age of tv characters being just as stylish as the actors who portray them, Persol has become a popular eyewear brand permeating the television world. Hit shows and movies like Succession (Brian Cox as Logan Roy wore a pair of black PO3099S, but unfortunately, they’re out of stock, so we found a similar option—the PO3048S) and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Edward Norton as Miles Bron wore a pair of blue PO3166S) featured prominent Hollywood stars in suave specs.
Drawing on the art of calligraphy, this series of Persol frames is marked by design elements lifted from calligraphy pens. Each frame in the series features metal stems with elegant lines reminiscent of nibs and metal accents with ornamental striations. The Calligrapher Edition consists of a pantho and square styles as well as a circle and square double metal bridge styles.
For the Galleria 900 series, Persol mined their archives to bring back designs from the 1940s. Made in both optical and sunglass versions, the collection features vintage acetate patterns shaped into somewhat compact proportions and includes the classic key bridge, Silver Arrow hinges and Meflecto temples.
The Cellor series is a take on the Clubmaster style, featuring an acetate brow line and rimless bottom half. Sunglasses in this series also feature a metal bridge and plastic nose pads.
The 4 Lenses series provides wraparound coverage with an additional pair of lenses at either side of the temples. This full coverage saw use among NASA’s astronauts. The series contains two styles. The PO0005 is a rounded lens with acetate frames, Silver Arrow and Meflecto stems. On the other hand, the PO0009 model features an almost cat-eye silhouette and though it lacks the Victor Flex and Silver Arrow motif, it still has the patented Meflecto technology.
Inspired by famous writers, the Typewriter Edition series of glasses is decidedly vintage-leaning. Each frame features rounded lenses held by acetate frames and a metal bridge. Metal accents and rivets call back to classic typewriter designs, while the name of the collection is inscribed inside the arms in the unmistakable typewriter font.
This series of sunglasses is a balanced yet striking contrast of acetate frames and a metal bridge. The PO3184S follows the timeless rounded panto shape, the PO3186S is in the family of square lenses. Where Persol’s 714 and 649 lean into a heftier silhouette, the Combo Evolution cuts down on the bulk.
The Titanium Collection marries Persol’s Italian design with Japanese craftsmanship. Featuring premium titanium frames, the collection consists of four different shapes: Oval, Hexagonal, Double Bridge and Round. Each shape is made with titanium frames and nose pads, meticulously embellished with guilloche engraving.
This collection focuses on eye-catching acetate patterns and colors and is characterized by bold stripes, blending the translucent with the opaque. The colorways range from cobalt blues to blond yellow, creamy whites and black marble.
Persol’s maintained a close relationship with tv and film for decades. This collection was made in collaboration with the Netflix original series La Casa de Papel. The gripping, action-packed show centers around a group of criminals who take over the Spanish mint to print their own money. Its main character, The Professor, is seen wearing Persol sunglasses and this limited edition series of eyewear features a double bridge acetate design with packaging made to look like a brick of gold. It comes in three renditions, one of which is gussied up with 24k gold plating.
In collaboration with French brand A.P.C., this three-piece collection takes the iconic 649 and renders it in limited-edition colorways. Two of them feature a transparent acetate frame while the clean all-white version is opaque and inspired by Kurt Cobain. All three come with non-polarized crystal gradient lenses.
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