Pince Nez Eyewear
Pince Nez are a form of antique eyeglasses worn from roughly 1870 through 1930. Pince Nez Glasses stayed on the face through various methods of spring tension securing the pince nez to the nose.
Glasses without arms, or glasses without temples, is a term many people unfamiliar with pince nez use. It is the easiest way of describing what they see if unfamiliar with what they are called. Not all glasses without arms are called pince nez.
The literal definition of pince-nez is “pinch nose”. They come from the french word nose and the latin word pinch. There were many vintage and antique eyeglasses that did not have temples yet did not stay on the face by pinching the nose. The frames are often mistakenly called pince nez but in reality do not fit the pince-nez glasses definition.
