Birch Wood Surf Style Sunglasses
We were inspired by the surf style frame because of it's long, stylish history and the ability to remain a timeless fashion trend. Tower introduces the Malibu, a sleek, subtle silhouette that captures the beach vibes and makes any average customer instantly appear like a fashion icon. Made out of Birch material, with polarized lenses and the ability to float, these belong in the hands of anyone looking to make a fashionable splash.
On Point Fashion: Handmade Birch frames hand sanded and polished with a beautiful wax finish.
Flotation: Yes, a dry pair floats!
Finest Polarized Lenses: Polaroid Ultrasight, scratch-resistant lenses with UV 400 protection.
About Birch Wood
Pale in color, and very fine grained, Birch grows widespread all over the Northern Hemisphere. It has distinctively white bark. It's an extremely hard wood, and is even difficult to work with using tools other than power tools. Birch is known as a tone wood as it has a natural resonance that peaks in the high and low frequencies. Historically, it has been used in speakers, drums, and guitars for these reasons.
Polaroid Ultrasight Polarized Lenses
Made by the company that invented the polarized lens, Polaroid Ultrasight lenses are the best lenses on the market. They employ nine functional layers to make an amazing lens. An internal polarizing core that eliminates glare is sandwiched by 4 UV filters that block all harmful UVA, UVB, and UVC light rays. A shock absorbing layer for impact resistance encases this core, followed by an outer top and bottom scratch resistant layer for optimal durability.
The History of Wood in Surfing
Early surfboards in Hawaii, the birthplace of surfing, were carved out of local trees like Koa wood. Wood is not only beautiful, it floats. In the 1950s and 60s, Surf style sunglasses were all the rage in Southern California and surfing was taking off. Surfboards were made of balsa wood at that time, but would soon transition to foam and fiberglass construction. All of these new fiberglass boards would use wood stringers for rigidity (most still do today), and many had carved blocks of layered wood on the nose and tail. As fins came the scene, they too were made of wood at first. Wood craftsmanship and surfing went hand in hand.
To this day in our San Diego based surf factory, our shapers still play around making fiberglass encased wood fins, wood nose and tail blocks, and even entire balsa wood surfboards. It's in their blood. It's in the roots of the sport they love. Unmistakably, there is a nostalgic connection between handcrafted wood work and surfers, and really all watermen. Tower's handcrafted wood sunglasses are a nod to this rich tradition.
About Malibu
Described by surf journalist Paul Gross as, "the exact spot on earth where ancient surfing became modern surfing," Malibu was widely considered the West Coast's best surf break for Los Angeles residents in the 1960s. In the early days of American surfing, innovative surfers around Malibu started experimenting with materials and went from using heavy redwood-lined boards without any fins to using what was called the "Malibu Chip" a fiberglass covered, balsa wood board with a stabilizing fin. With separate waves suited for longboarders and shortboarders, Malibu became very popular with high-performance Californian surfers, what we think of today as the beach-blond, tanned bodied, Californian teeny boppers. Hollywood, just to the south, took notice of emerging culture and starting cranking out surf movies and surf music.
The blonde wood look of our Malibu wood surf style sunglasses acknowledges how California, Hollywood, and the bleach-blonde surfer archetype, took surfing into the cultural mainstream and introduced the sport to millions around the globe.