Sunglasses with real glass lenses deliver unparalleled clarity and protection

It might sound like an oxymoron, but your run-of-the-mill sunglasses don’t actually use glass. To comply with certain legal regulations, “shades,” as we sometimes call them, have to use plastic or resin materials that are more resilient but have poorer optical quality. That’s true even for those expensive sunglasses, which will probably make you feel a bit cheated, especially when you notice how unclear your vision behind these plastics really is. Thankfully, the optics industry has reached a point where we can have the best of both worlds of durability and optical clarity, creating the industry’s first modern sunglasses made from actual glass, designed to deliver clarity, comfort, and protection to your eyes with an accessible price point.

Designer: Ilija Melentijevic, PhD (founder of Kolari Vision)

Click Here to Buy Now: $169. Hurry, offer ends soon!

These ‘plastic’ and ‘resin’ lenses come with a lot of responsibilities, given the fact that they’re tasked with protecting your eyesight. When you wear tinted sunglasses outdoors, your pupils dilate to let more light in – which effectively also exposes your eyes to more harmful rays… and while most lenses will block out UV rays, current sunglasses (even the expensive ones) aren’t designed to block infrared light from hitting your retina. It’s ironic that you can find IR-blocking lenses for your expensive cameras… but not for the most priceless camera we have: our eyes.

Enter Kolari Shades, a pair of sunglasses that is shaking up the market by bringing the highest-quality materials to a product you can actually afford. Harnessing more than a decade of experience in the photography space, Kolari brings a new kind of lens that is actually made of glass, providing the optical clarity that your eyes need all the time, whether you’re wearing sunglasses or not. But it’s not just plain glass, either, but the same ultra-strong Corning Gorilla Glass that has been protecting smartphone displays for years. And with 51 layers of anti-reflective and anti-smudge coating, your new premium specs are protected against scratches, dirt, dust, and more. Plus, it’s easy to clean the smudges off, too!

Kolari Shades are truly color-neutral and protect your eyes from all damaging wavelengths of light.

But while Kolari Shades’ glass lenses provide extra-clear vision, it doesn’t forget the protection that sunglasses are expected to bring. In fact, it levels up this aspect by blocking not only high-energy UV light but also low-energy infrared, both of which can be harmful to your sensitive eyes. It can even protect your privacy by blocking security cameras that use IR for face recognition. And it brings this superior protection without turning your world into a dreary shade of gray or brown. By using color-neutral coatings, you can stop worrying about those harmful and blinding rays and continue enjoying the world in full color.

Preserve your anonymity — Kolari Shades block infrared-based facial recognition systems.

Corning Gorilla Glass and titanium frames make the Kolari Shades extra tough.

The best part about the Kolari Shades is their affordable price tag, even though Kolari Shades are more costly to manufacture because of the premium materials used in the frames and lenses. It’s significantly less than luxury sunglasses that use plastic lenses, offer poorer optical quality, and strain your eyes in the long run. Why settle for plastic products that harm rather than protect your eyes when you can enjoy the optical quality that real glass lenses have to offer? With the Kolari Shades, you can enjoy durability, clarity, and protection in stylish sunglasses that don’t change the colors of your world.

Click Here to Buy Now: $169. Hurry, offer ends soon!

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This Colored Glass Holder With Its Refillable Candle Is The Prettiest Last-Minute Christmas Present

Christmas is right around the corner, and if you’re looking for a wonderful last-minute present, then we may be able to help you out. Italian architect Cristina Celestino designed an ethereal-looking colored glass candle holder for Diptyque’s first refillable candle. The holder features the brand’s signature oval shape and was created as a part of the Les Mondes de Diptyque collection. The stunning candle holder was created “to achieve a monolithic volume while maintaining a soft, tactile quality”.

Designer: Cristina Celestino for Diptyque

Designed as the brand’s first refillable candle, the candle can be utilized multiple times owing to the various replacement oval blocks that can perfectly fit into the holder’s glass form. The candle took almost three years to produce, as they needed to be sure that the wax would burn properly and evenly in the oval shape, and could be swiftly replaced if needed.

“It [pressed glass] is the most suitable for creating a compact object with highly precise and significant details, all while maintaining quality standards,” said Celestino. “I’ve always had a deep affinity for glass and consistently experimented with it in crafting small objects like flower vases and, in the case of my brand Attico Design, candle holders.”

The candle holder is made up of a trio of glass rings that have been stacked on top of each other, which makes a lovely reference to Diptyque’s three founders, and “subtly pays homage to their fruitful creative union”. It was built using a pressed glass technique which is also called molded glass – a process utilized to create intricately designed and detailed glassware. The method includes placing molten glass into a mold and then pressing the glass to the shape of choice via a plunger or pneumatic device.

The glass candle holder was designed to elevate the mood of a room, completely enhancing its ambiance, and adding a seductive charm to it. The colored holders come in shades of – blue, red, green, grey, and orange. They can be refilled with any of the five scented wax candles, that were created after drawing inspiration from five locations around the world – Nymphées Merveilles (Milan), La Forêt Rêve (Mexico), Temple des Mousses (Kyoto), La Vallée du Temps (China) and Terres Blondes (Colorado).

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This glass and marble lamp creates an air of mystery and harmony with contrasting materials

Think of a lamp and you will probably immediately imagine a bulb on a metal pole, a circular base, and a conical lampshade. More modern designs often involve simpler geometric shapes like bars with rotating arms. Of course, there’s a wide world of lamp designs that cater to an equally wide range of needs and tastes. Some even tell stories with their forms, materials, and production. This beautiful lamp, for example, exudes an ethereal character as well as a sense of timelessness, two different properties brought together in graceful harmony thanks to the interplay of contrasting elements made in very different ways.

Designer: Omar Godínez for Peca Estudio

Some materials carry a distinctive character simply by their very nature. Rock is hard and unmoving, wood is warm and tactile, and paper is light and flexible. Some materials even stand diametrically opposed to each other, but just like many things in nature, sometimes complement each other so perfectly that it almost feels like they were made for each other from the start.

The Talla Lamp is a gorgeous design born of that duality, combining the ethereal fragility of glass with the timeless memory of marble. One feels like it would break at the slightest force, while the other would break other things instead. And yet the spherical glass sits calmly and gracefully on top of the marble prism, fitting snugly in each other’s embrace. The small bulb inside creates an otherworldly light that shines through the tinted glass and casts eerie shadows on the marble stand, illuminating and mesmerizing at the same time.

The glass half of the lamp has its own story to tell. It is made using free-blown techniques that make each piece truly unique. That complements the marble base, made using more mechanical methods, whose patterns also differ from block to block. As such, each Talla lamp carries its own character and story, a subtle nod to the personal stories we ourselves make every day in our life’s journey.

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Gorgeous gem-like coffee tables might make you feel like grabbing a soda

It might not have been the original intention, but coffee tables have pretty much become more decorative than functional these days. Of course, they still serve as tables you put things on, including your coffee, but they are mostly designed to have more visual impact these days. It’s not unusual for this kind of table to have some eye-catching shape or color or both, acting as a center of attraction as well as a conversation starter. These glass-blown coffee tables are perfect examples of such furniture, capturing your visitors’ eyes, imaginations, and probably even appetites with their elegant forms, gem-like colors, and dynamic surfaces that may entice you to pour yourself a bubbly drink.

Designer: Yiannis Ghikas

A glass table might not be the most practical piece of furniture because of its fragility, especially if the entire table, including the legs, is made up of that material. Things get even more complicated if you’re attempting to make a sizable table out of a single piece of glass that is air-blown like traditional glass pieces. It’s that technical difficulty that makes the Soda coffee tables all the more impressive and mind-blowing, pretty much like a glass-blown art piece.

The production of such a masterpiece is no easy feat. It’s made upside-down, blown from a single glass volume, and shaped by no less than three master glassmakers. Complicating things further is that while the tabletop is a conventional circle, the stem is formed into three intersecting circles that resemble the petals of a flower. That unusual shape not only provides a beautiful form but also helps spread the weight around.

Unlike what you might expect from a glass table, the Soda coffee table isn’t completely smooth, at least not visually. The top has a hammered surface that seems to freeze ripples in time. It creates an impression of dynamism and almost literal vibrancy, almost like a colored drink that bubbles and ripples at the slightest movement. It reflects and refracts light in seemingly random and interesting ways as if the table is a gigantic drinking glass with soda trapped inside for eternity.

Soda is more than just an elegant coffee table. It’s also an exercise in pushing the envelope of a glass-blown design, especially when it comes to large proportions and complicated shapes. The result is a beautiful piece of furniture that’s no different from a piece of sculptural art that combines a play of light and colors that will surely make you the talk of the neighborhood.

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Odd planter concept lets you enjoy observing your plants grow in a fun way

Different people tried to cope with the pandemic quarantine in different and sometimes creative ways. While some were content to catch up with their TV shows and games, others took up new hobbies to while away the time. One of the more popular ones seems to have been growing plants indoors, which is not totally new but also not something adopted by the masses. Even here, there’s a variety of goals and purposes to indoor gardening, though a majority seems to have been focused on the more aesthetic benefits of having lush, green living things inside the home. Ironically, these people seldom go out of their way to grow those plants in equally aesthetic pots, something that this design concept tries to solve right from the start.

Designer: Adrian Min

You can’t just use any container to serve as a plant pot, of course, regardless of how pretty that container might be. There are a few factors to consider to allow a plant to thrive and survive, which is often what informs the design of a planter. These more functional planters, however, aren’t what you’d always call presentable, definitely nothing you’d proudly display on your table or shelf. That doesn’t have to be that way, though, and this “Odd Pot” concept marries form and function in a way that looks not only appealing but also playful.

It’s definitely an odd one for a pot, though mostly because of its unconventional shape. It comes as a tall bowl that stands on three short tapered legs. Instead of a typical brown clay, the pot seems to be made from some terrazzo material, probably ceramic. A removable disc knob juts out from the pot’s back and is the primary mechanism for its highlight feature.

This feature comes in the form of a half capsule that adds something interesting to the presentation while also giving the viewer a different way to look at the plant in the pot. This “cover” is made from glass but has different textures as well as transparencies. One is completely smooth and transparent, while another is smooth yet frosted. Perhaps the curious one is the ribbed clear glass that adds an interesting play of light with its reflections and refraction.

While the Odd Pot retains pretty much the exact same function of a regular planter, its form takes the presentation to the next level. With its stumps for legs and an “arm” that extends from its body, it almost looks like an anthropomorphic version of a planter. It might even remind some of the “sus” characters from a popular game from the past year or two. Granted, the pot’s design isn’t going to be conducive to all kinds of plants, particularly the ones that grow tall or wide. But for most succulents, it will do just fine and will even add a bit of character to your plant decoration.

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The most beautiful wireless mouse ever made has the allure and appeal of a luxury perfume bottle

Composed of multiple slats of carved acrylic stacked together, the Dune mouse is incredibly eye-catching… but is it ergonomic?

Designed by the Fabio Verdelli | Design Studio, the Dune wireless mouse takes its inspiration from the dunes that form on the sands of majestic deserts. Wind pushes the sand into ripples that stretch for miles, creating perfectly spaced lines that make the sand look like water. The Dune mouse mimics that too, with a set of laser-cut acrylic sheets connected together but spaced apart, creating the Gestalt of continuity that makes it look like a wireless mouse.

Designer: Fabio Verdelli | Design Studio

With an aesthetic that feels bordering on jewelry, the Dune mouse rejects convention with its luxurious design. The mouse is fairly monolithic, and doesn’t feature buttons or scroll wheels. Instead, it relies on touch-sensitive functionality, allowing you to both tap or scroll on the mouse’s slatted surface. There is, however, the gentlest bump where you’d expect a scroll wheel. This area intuitively has your finger scrolling on it, with the touch feature translating that into scrolls.

Visually, the Dune looks absolutely stunning. It’s designed to create visual drama with its frosted acrylic strips that are just ever so gently tinted with rose gold. The upper part of the mouse is fairly opaque, but it begins showing translucency at the edges and the base, creating an almost gemstone or perfume bottle-like effect.

Is the Dune as ergonomic as a more conventionally-designed ergonomic mouse? Well, instinctively, it feels like it isn’t, but then again, it’s possible that our hands could grow to love that slatted texture instead of being repulsed by it. The overall form still has curves in the right places, although the edges on the sides seem a little sharp, sort of like the way the Magic Mouse has cliffs around the edges.

There’s no soft surface on the mouse, which leads one to believe that prolonged use will have you struggling. There’s also no feedback in terms of clickable buttons or actual physical scroll wheels. One could easily make the point that the Magic Mouse doesn’t have those too (at least the clicking function isn’t as intuitive as actual left and right clickers), but the Magic Mouse makes up for it with a flat surface that you can perform gestures on – the Dune has no such functionality.

Where the Dune wireless mouse really shines is in its aesthetic department… however, everything else about the mouse feels like a bit of a drawback. The mouse doesn’t look too light, which means it requires a little more effort to move it around. It doesn’t feature soft grips or proper ergonomic surfaces, which puts it behind your average $20 ergonomic Logitech mouse. It doesn’t have buttons or scroll wheels too, nor does it have macro keys, or support for gestures, making it difficult to recommend to a graphic designer, gamer, or someone who needs a highly-functional precision machine. Most importantly, its transparent design makes it look fragile, and while most mice don’t really go through rough abusive use, there’s a tendency to think that this mouse is prone to cracking, snapping, or shattering – which isn’t a good look.

The mouse, however, is a wonderful vanity device. The kind that could easily sit on the executive’s desk, becoming almost one with the decor around it. It has a jewel/trophy-like quality that really allows it to stand out, and combined with that bronze-gold or blue colorway (shown above), the Dune really has the potential to completely uplift your desktop’s allure. For extra effect, pair it with lofree’s transparent mechanical keyboard!

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This delicate glass lamp invites you to touch and move it to actually use it

When faced with something fine and intricate, our initial and natural reaction would be to stay at a safe distance to look but not touch. Almost like snowflakes, these things of beauty risk being destroyed if not handled properly, which probably applies to the majority of us. There are, however, some rather seemingly fragile objects that do urge you to touch them, maybe even risk moving them, to fully enjoy and appreciate their design or even utilize their features. That is definitely the case with this rather creative and elegant glass lamp that is both beautiful to behold as well as to touch. In fact, you need to move it around if you actually want to dim or brighten the lamp.

Designer: kaschkasch

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Glass is a material that has attractive visual and tactile properties, usually depending on what it’s mixed with. It can be clear, opaque, smooth, or textured, all of which give it a rather sophisticated character. While there are more durable forms of glass that don’t shatter at the slightest drop, glass normally has this air of fragility and delicacy that would probably scare off most people from even coming close to it. In sharp contrast, Bolita makes forming a tactile relationship necessary to using this table lamp, encouraging an almost playful approach to using it.

Bolita is comprised of two equally striking minimalist pieces. The actual lamp itself is a disc with a hole in the middle where the LED light shines through. The more conspicuous of the duo, though, is the glass sphere that sits on top, diffusing the light going into it and acting as the kinetic interface to the table lamp. Even when turned off, the lamp is already an attractive decor for your coffee table or drawer. The real magical experience, however, happens when you start moving that glass sphere.

The lamp has no knob or slider to adjust the lamp’s intensity. Instead, you slide the glass sphere around the disc, rather carefully perhaps, to do that. The closer it is to the edges, the dimmer the light gets. Put it at the exact center, and you’ll get the brightest setting. In a way, the sphere acts like a cover, where the light aperture gets eclipsed by the glass’s body as it moves around.

Bolita’s unique interface is rather ingenious, not only in its technical implementation but also in its intention. It puts the light on the sense of touch, something that is often neglected and taken for granted in a visual-centric world. Rather than warning people to stay away, it invites a playful attitude that gets rewarded with the ability to set the light to your desired level.

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Orbital is an expanding dining table that shows off its beautiful complexity

When we buy dining tables, we often take into account how many people there are in the household, plus two more people just in case. That said, while we have more control over the size of our own family, we can’t always predict how many people might be coming over for a meal or a party. Expanding dining tables are pretty much the only flexible solution for that problem, but most designs for this kind of table are either cumbersome or unattractive. This elegant dining table, in contrast, is already beautiful on its own, especially with its class transparent tabletop. It also uses a seemingly smooth yet nontrivial mechanism to expand itself, and it’s not ashamed to put that on display, especially since it only adds to its appeal.

Designer: Pininfarina

Most expanding tables, whether for dining or for work, are made of wood, probably because it’s a material that lends itself well to moving parts. The most common designs involve either flap on one or both ends that can be raised to expand the available surface or sliding panels that may or may not involve moving the table’s legs as well. Either way, these tables require a bit of effort to expand or contract, making them inconvenient and discouraging to set up unless absolutely necessary.

The Orbital dining table makes that process effortless and even has some level of finesse that matches the table’s appearance. The tabletop and its extensions are made from clear tempered glass, which makes the aforementioned mechanisms impossible to use. Instead, the table has an automatic mechanism that moves the extensions from under the table using a smooth, circular movement. You don’t have to worry about lifting or pushing fragile glass since the complex mechanism takes care of that for you.

Better yet, the table makes this mechanism the visual centerpiece of the design as well; its metallic body and arms can be clearly seen from the top as well as the sides. It doesn’t hurt that this part of the table is as well-made as the rest, making it as much a work of art as a product of engineering. It definitely adds to the table’s charm, making it a great conversation starter for guests and friends alike.

The tabletop and mechanism are supported by a rigid polyurethane column that has a large central opening that makes it feel like the table is defying physics. It helps emphasize the Orbital’s character of transparency, both in the way it works as well as the way it looks. It is a minimalist design that belies the sophisticated mechanism that makes it work, yet at the same time, is unabashed in revealing its guts, albeit in a very classy way.

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This gorgeous desk will dominate any room with its mid-century design

Minimalism never meant small, though many products that espouse that design philosophy do tend to minimize the space they occupy. When it comes to desks and work tables, there has also been a trend to lean more towards space efficiency, especially since offices and homes often have limited space for large furniture. There are instances, however, when a desk does need to be the focal point of a room, especially in offices that are designed around a single person’s work or presence. If you have enough space for it, this wood and glass protractor desk will definitely be an eye-catching piece thanks to its clean, minimalist design that makes the desk seem to be magically floating on air.

Designer: Kardiel

Based on the original by Italian architect and designer Carlo Mollino, the 1949 Protractor Desk combines a mid-century aesthetic with modern design techniques to create a piece of architectural art worthy of becoming the centerpiece of any office or room. It uses very simple forms yet has an air of sophistication to it through its use of fine materials and organic lines.

Although it is literally the most minimal part of the piece, the mid-century Protractor Desk’s unbelievably thin legs immediately catch your attention, puzzling the mind on how it is able to hold the glass tabletop aloft at all. Shaped like a boomerang or an opened compass, the wooden beams form intersecting and contrasting lines that give the table a dynamic character. The horizontal beam has oblong cutouts that give the illusion of an invisible frame. There is very little to obscure your view beneath the desk, leaving ample room for a chair to slide into.

Of course, its airy appearance is just an illusion, and the desk’s fine legs on one side are balanced by a slatted wooden cube that is home to five drawers. Four stainless steel bolts connect the box to the end of the wooden beam. Its solid and simpler form provides a sharp contrast to the thin legs on the opposite side, providing both visual and structural balance to the desk. Opposite the box is an open-faced single pull-out drawer that seemingly floats in the air, supported only by two steel rods. This reinforces the table’s almost ethereal design, which complements and contrasts the earthy tones of its wooden body.

The 1949 Protractor Desk is definitely long by regular desk measures, about 98.4 inches long to be precise. You’ll need to reserve a lot of space for this piece of furniture, but given its dominating presence and eye-catching design, it’s one that you’ll want to really stand out anyway.

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Gravity Well transforms invisible science into an ethereal cosmic chandelier

Science is all around us, whether we see it or not, from the simple chemistry that turns carbon dioxide into oxygen to the invisible forces that push and pull to keep everything from falling apart. We can only imagine these forces at work, or at best, visualize them in diagrams and 3D models, but they will always remain alien to us and, to some extent, unimportant. Just like natural elements and phenomena can inspire magnificent works of art and designs, these invisible forces, too, can become wellsprings of inspiration in their own right. This chandelier, for example, offers a stunning representation of one of the most powerful forces in the universe that keeps planets and stars from flying away and bumping into each other.

Designer: Richard Clarkson

Unlike other forces like magnetism that can sometimes be visualized through magnetic fields, gravity isn’t easily represented other than through arrows and lines. Most of us probably think of graving as something like a string that pulls heavenly bodies toward another, depending on their mass. It’s an oversimplification of Newtonian gravity, of course, but it isn’t the only way to think about gravity.

The genius that was Albert Einstein describes gravity as a sort of distortion instead, specifically a warping not just of space but also of time. This “gravity well” moves along with a mass, and if it’s a large mass, it pulls smaller masses along the curves or distortions it creates, causing that same gravitational effect described earlier. This more dynamic representation of gravity is what this chandelier tries to make real, freezing the pull of planets in time and turning it into a lighting fixture that is easily a sculptural piece of art as well.

Three handblown glass spheres of different sizes represent planets and other heavenly bodies that cause the deformation of time-space. Made from borosilicate glass, the spheres are made to be resistant to thermal shock, a fitting analogy to the weathered planets they represent. And just like different planets have different compositions, these spheres can be any combination of clear or frosted glass, complementing each other with their contrasting transparencies.

A frosted acrylic disc serves as the sphere’s resting place, with grooves to hold the glass balls in place. This makes it look like the disc is being deformed by the mass of these objects, creating a visual representation of Einstein’s gravitational well. A single light source, which works with any standard E26-compatible bulb, can be placed anywhere above. Depending on its position, the chandelier can reflect, refract, or diffuse the light, creating an almost eerie yet mystical glow, also like the gentle lights of celestial bodies in the night sky.

The Gravity Well Chandelier offers a stunning visualization of abstract scientific theories that can accentuate any space. It’s a conversation starter for anyone, whether they’re immersed in modern physics, art, or anything in between. It’s almost like a science lesson wrapped in a beautiful lighting fixture, standing as a statement to the beauty of science and the natural world that remain untapped even today.

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