Clare 117

My praise to Rodenstock for their design of this Bettina frame is sincere. They manage to give the viewer the impression that the glasses are not all that strong. But that's only half the story. Much credit goes to lovely Clare for her cheerful, natural way of posing. Needless to say that I gave her tons of compliments. Her own prescription is minus five and the glasses are minus eleven. Yet there is no sign of any strain, not the slightest visible discomfort in her expression and direct eye contact. There is no way of telling that these are not her own glasses and that all she saw was a massive blur. All her posing was excellent but this series in the Bettina glasses stands out. Clare fulfills the perfect ambassador role for my project, showing in a convincing manner that a young woman can look gorgeous in glasses, even when the lenses are quite strong. Thank you, Clare, for this fantastic series!

Clare 116

Minus eleven is quite a strong prescription. No argument there. Yet somehow this Bettina pair does not give one the impression of strong glasses. The frame design plays a key role here, absorbing the lenses in a discrete way. Major German brands like Rodenstock, Metzler and Menrad were experts at this and it explains their popularity among many clients. There was rarely anything striking, let alone flashy, about their glasses and it is my belief that they deliberately left those aspects to other brands.

Clare 115

The Bettina series by Rodenstock was highly popular among German girls and women during the 1980's. Slightly airier than the previous glasses shown by Clare, the Bettina frame is ideally designed to be fitted with strong lenses.

Clare 114

Glasses: Rodenstock (Bettina), early / mid 1980's
[L: -10.50; c-1.00 o / R: -11.00; c-1.00 v]

Clare 113

Cheerful Clare in Dita glasses made 35 years ago by Rodenstock. She is the seventh model posing in these glasses, being preceded by Clarine (087), Caroline (098), Douce (025), Claudine (015), daughter Esther (0720 and mother Sjoukje (028).

Clare 112

Rodenstock continued giving names of girls and women to new collections of frames outside their new Exclusiv series. The red glasses shown here by Clare are called "Dita" and they are a good example of the "standard" Rodenstock design. The Dita frame was designed for ladies with a smaller than average PD. An advantage of solid frames like this is that they neatly hide the lens thickness in higher minus prescriptions.

Clare 111

Glasses: Rodenstock (Dita), made circa 1980
[L=R: -6.50]