34-year-old luxury designer Anne Vanaken from Bree (Limburg province) is launching the world's first pair of glasses made from a meteorite that is billions of years old, Het Belang van Limburg reports.
Vanaken made the bespoke glasses for Haute Joaillerie designer Jochen Leën and prices start from €4,500 for custom-made pairs.
The 'Muonionalusta' glasses are made from the meteorite of the same name, which belongs to the group of iron meteorites and was found in 1906 in Kitkiojoki, Sweden, where it crashed one million years ago. "The last piece of this meteorite was found 16 years ago. It is a heavy meteorite, with a small piece weighing about 900 kg," the designer says.
The meteorite was formed while crashing to Earth and is 4.56 billion years old. From one fragment of this rock, Vanaken has now made a pair of luxury custom-made glasses for designer Jochen Leën, worth up to tens of thousands of euros.
"The frame and refined details are made of the same aluminium used in the construction of fighter jets. As a result, the glasses feel light when you wear them. The manufacturing took place in Sweden."
The glasses are also made up of high-quality diamonds. "I incorporated these because diamonds are a favourite of Jochen's. The frame consists of a thin slice of 0.4 mm meteorite and we also kept the original colour."
Credit: Anne Vanaken / Facebook
Vanaken has had a passion for eyes from a young age. In 2009, she graduated from the Hogeschool Brussel in Optics and Optometry, and in 2015 she obtained her Masters in Product Development from the University of Antwerp. When Vanaken started her studies, glasses were not yet considered fashionable accessories as they are now.
"I started my studies with the determined thought of selling contact lenses to everyone, so we wouldn't have to wear 'ugly' glasses anymore," she tells Het Belang van Limburg. But thanks to a student job in which she designed eyewear, she discovered her passion.
"After my studies, I worked for Belgian eyewear brands as a product and graphic designer for several years, which allowed me to gain a lot of experience. In 2019, I got the chance to work with Jochen Leën as a general designer. Together, we decided to create luxury eyewear. This year, I launched my own company: Haute Oculence Anne Vanaken."
Only Leën can wear the unique glasses, she says, and the starting price to have them custom-made is €4,500. Vanaken worked on this pair of glasses for almost five years, but is not considering taking a break any time soon: "Within two months I will unveil my new creation and it will be even better."
