Rimless eyeglasses

Rimless eyeglasses, are a type of eyeglasses in which the lenses are mounted directly to the bridge and/or temples. The style is divided into two subtypes: three-piece glasses are composed of lenses mounted to a bridge and two separate temple arms, while rimways (also called cortlands) feature a supporting arch that connects the temples to the bridge and provides extra stability for the lenses.

Rimless glasses were a popular style of eyeglasses from the 1880s until into the 1960s, and re-emerged in popularity in the latter part of the 20th century and early 21st century. Despite these shifts, they are unique amongst eyeglass styles in that they have never gone completely out of fashion, remaining an acceptable alternative through the years to more stylish designs.

Rimless glasses lenses are held in place (or "mounted") by way of a series of screws, or hollow plastic double rivets (called "bushings" or "compression plugs") that fit into two holes in the lens. When bushings are used, the temples and bridge have barbed metal pins that lock into the bushings, creating a pressure seal that holds the lenses in place. Although they are more cosmetically appealing, the bushing method is more fragile than the screw and nut method, and more difficult for laypersons to repair themselves in the event of loosening or breakage. Bushing based rimless mounts are, however, designed so that the pins can pull out of the lenses without causing damage, which reduces repair cost and duration.

The template for rimless eyeglasses date back to the 1820s, when an Austrian inventor named Johann Friedrich Voigtländer () marketed a rimless monocle. The design as it is known today arose in the 1880s as a means to alleviate the combined weight of metal frames with heavy glass lenses. The style also came about from a desire to make eyewear as inconspicuous as possible; at the time, eyeglasses were not considered an acceptable fashion statement and carried connotations of one being elderly or a member of the clergy; historically, most eyeglass wearers needed them to correct presbyopia, and only clergymen tended to be literate enough to require reading glasses.

Rimless glasses were first widely offered as pince-nez, with manufacturers arguing that the design was superior to extant eyeglasses because it secured the lenses directly to the nose and kept them in place. The style became popularized in the years prior to World War I by Theodore Roosevelt, whose popularity with the American people and public image as a frontiersman helped to eliminate some of the stigma associated with eyeglasses.

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