Kingsland 2.0

A Spaceship for your face

Available in Four Distinct Styles 

Silver Anodized With Grey Sunglasses lenses

Black Anodized with Grey Sunglasses Lenses

Gold Plated with Gray Sunglasses lenses

Rhodium Plated with Grey Sunglasses Lenses

Beautiful all paper packaging.

Designed in Solidworks every detail was engineered and engineered again

Made A Diffrent Way

Most glasses are injection molded plastic a few are cut plastic or stamped metal. Kingsland's are the only fully CNC machined glasses on the market. Made like aerospace parts, these glasses have no equal.

Cut from solid 6061 aluminum

Kingsland Origin Story

When I needed a new set of glasses, I went to a few stores and found a vast selection of essentially the same thing. A few different shapes and different colors but basically similar in their construction techniques and feel. Nothing felt unique, nothing felt individual. They were all made the same way, in the same factories. A few had famous names. I did not want a famous name on my face, I wanted an awesome pair of glasses. I wanted something unique, something that reflected my personal values, my personal style, something that would last. I decided there was nothing in the stores for me.

Fortunately, I had another option. I was in possession of a state of the art 3d CNC milling machine. So I decided to build my own. I decided to use a classic shape and combine it with aerospace aesthetics and quality. I wanted to build a spaceship for my face. I went to a few optometrists to discuss my project and they all said this was completely impossible. This is when I knew I had to make them!

A modern CNC machine is a wonder. It produces beautiful objects with precision measured in microns. The process is subtractive, much like that of the sculptor carving away stone to reveal the sculpture within. One starts with a solid piece of billet 6061 Aluminum and then cuts away material until the object, in this case, glasses, emerge. Carbide helical cutters spinning at 24 thousand RPM replace the chisel and thousands of pounds of cast iron controlled by a computer replaces the sculptor.

Historically metal CNC has been too expensive of a process to use for something like a pair of fulling machined glasses. But in the last few years, the speed and availability of CNC have greatly increased combined with robotic automation has brought the cost of objects made this way down to attainable levels.

I designed the glasses in Solidworks. This is the premier mechanical design software made for engineers. The design process was extremely involved, taking months of effort. I wanted everything perfect. We built the design around a 6D lens so that these glasses can have lenses put in at any optometrist’s office. The front surface of the frames matches the curve of the glasses perfectly. Every detail has been examined, thought out, revised, and tweaked until a perfect balance was achieved.

Once I was satisfied with the design, it was time to make the glasses. The process of programming the CNC uses a type of software called CAM, an acronym for Computer-Aided Manufacturing. Each surface, hole, thread, and pocket is evaluated before a tool is picked to make the cut and programmed into the machine. Before the glasses can be cut, the tooling that holds the raw material needs to be designed and made. Since the Kingsland glasses shapes are complex, they cannot be held in standard vices and custom fixtures that mirror the shape of the glasses need to be made. The time required to make the cutting programs and fixturing equaled the time it took to make the initial design. In the end, over five hundred thousand lines of code, sixteen individual cutting tools, and six fixtures were required.

The complex surfaces of the frames are cut by small spherical-shaped cutters called ball end mills. They follow the surface making parallel cutting paths similar to how one might mow a lawn however these paths are about one hundred microns apart. These cut paths leave a beautiful pattern that is visible in the end product and unique to the EXOvault Kingsland frames.

Aluminum needs to have its surface treated to provide durability and color. We have chosen two methods. The first method is anodizing. This is an environmentally friendly process where a thin layer of aluminum is transformed into aluminum oxide providing a very durable, beautiful, colored surface that will never peel. We will also be offering silver and black anodized frames as well. The second surface is Gold or Rhodium plating, providing the beauty and luster that only precious metals endow.

We are offering two case options for the Kingsland frame. A premium hardwood clamshell case that is CNC’d and is almost as stunning as the glasses themselves, as well as a beautiful leather pouch style case for a more streamlined option.

We feel the Kingsland glasses offer unique beauty and durability that no other glasses on the market can equal. These are truly something special and we thank you for supporting our Kickstarter.

Enviermental Commitments

Long-lasting Design

Drop them, pour goo on them, bury them, yell at them... They will take it and still look great. No other glasses have ever equaled the durability of the EXOvault Kingsland frames.

Reusability And Recyclability

Made primarily of aluminum. Infinitely recyclable and highly durable, nearly 75 percent of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today. Aluminum is 100 percent recyclable and retains its properties indefinitely.

Sustainable Materials

Packing is made of paper