Two totally different brands using one name.

Two totally different brands using one name.


Quite strange it is to say, however there are two different eyewear companies that use one brand name in common.

TheCraft co.,ltd has the right of exclusive use of the trademark "SAGAWAFUJII" Wooden Eyewear. This brand as this Blog mentioned before, has its origin in a Japanese designer Ichikawa Takahide and his leather workshop. His idea enabled wood patterned eyewear frames, and because of his preference for the mother nature, evolved SAGAWAFUJII to an eyewear brand that makes its eyewear pieces with rose wood and ebony.

The trademark SAGAWAFUJII is registered in about 20 countries all over the world including Japan, USA, European Union, South Korea and even in China. After a period of business cooperation the trademark came to be owned by Ichikawa Takahide's partner company TheCraft co.,ltd's CEO in South Korea.

And one other brand that uses SAGAWAFUJII is a company in China. I don't know who builds these eyeglasses and since when, but this brand seems to have been rampant in the market of China. You can easily find them out by typing in 佐川藤井 into the search box of www.taobao.com, one of the most famous on-line market in China. These eyeglasses have no trademark SAGAWAFUJII on them, but the Chinese characters 佐川藤井 on them. However they are introduced as SAGAWAFUJII. 

In fact the Chinese characters 佐川藤井 could be pronounced as SAGAWAFUJII in Japan. Nevertheless 佐川藤井 itself is not SAGAWAFUJII in its appearance. But they introduce the eyeglasses 佐川藤井 as SAGAWAFUJII in the internet. 

I happened to achieve one eyeglasses of 佐川藤井. And I have some pairs of real SAGAWAFUJIIs. So took some photos of them.

  


These two eyewears are SAGAWAFUJII and 佐川藤井.  Can you guess which one is SAGAWAFUJII, and which one is 佐川藤井?

Round framed one on the left is called 'maru b-1'. Made by TheCraft co.,ltd and have the trademark SAGAWAFUJII and the name of designer Ichikawa Takahide on its inner temple.

<maru b-2 of SAGAWAFUJII made by TheCraft co.,ltd>

The one on the right has the trademark 佐川藤井 on its temple and its model number 7113D on its temples.

<7113D of 佐川藤井 made by unknown company in China>

I can't rush into saying directly which one between SAGAWAFUJII and 佐川藤井 is better in designs and durability. Senses of beauty can not be same for people and I've never used 佐川藤井 yet. One thing I can say for sure is that 佐川藤井 is not SAGAWAFUJII and they try to introduce themselves as SAGAWAFUJII. 

Quite shallow it is.

History of Eye Glasses. Episode 1

The eye glasses are very common things besides of you these days. 

However, have you ever thought when humankind started using glasses for correcting vision? 

SAGAWAFUJII Maru BR-2

This is one of the disputing issues.

Some people say that 'The beginning of glasses is that Roger Bacon, the English philosopher and scientist had used lenses for the purpose of optical usage in 1268.'

However, this is just an insistence of some people without clear evidence. The most credible record is the story that is the rest of the inscription in a cemetery at Florence, Italy. This inscription contains the story about the beginning of the glasses like the following:

'Salvino D'armato degli Armati who lived in Florence rest in peace. God, forgive him.'

 

At the very first, this inscription mentioned the inventor of the glasses. Although there is not any clear evidences which support the above story, we can assume that the glasses were appeared around Florence area.

Anyway, we are able to get the idea that the invention of the glasses was in 13th century and the glasses were generalized in 14th century.

As the one of evidences, we could see the painting of 'Tommaso di Modena'.

Tommaso di Modena Painting, 14th Century

Thus, people now acknowledge tacitly that the glasses was developed in Italy at the end of 13th century based on these two evidences - The appearance of the word 'Glasses' and The painting of people who wear 'Glasses'.

Today, we end up here for this story.

Please, look forward to the next episode of 'History of the Glasses'

 

Since 2006

An interview with Ichikawa Takahide

White snows all over the world.

When we visited Ichikawa this December, the world was full of white snows. Nakashima Mika's famous song 'Yuki no Hana' (Flower of Snow) I might have been humming, yes definitely I was humming the song.  It was such a winter day that suited well heavy coats, winter boots, warm hands, hot coffee and the Yuki no Hana. We drove the snowy roads for several hours and reached a small town in Fukui Prefecture. A middle aged man with mustache was waiting for us. With full of white smile on his face, he slowly walked out when he found us. Childlike smiling eyes and calm voice were impressive. It was Ichikawa Takahide.

Sabae City in Fukui Prefecture, Japan

Fukui Prefecture is the core of  eyeglasses industry in Japan. The City Sabae in Fukui is known to produce 90% of Japanese domestic eyeglasses. Ichikawa introduced the City Sabae to us. We expected numerous machines, factories, workers in uniforms, however it was rather a fairy tale small town surrounded with magnificent mountains.    

He offered us some teas. And we asked him some questions. 

1. Why did you choose eyeglasses for your work? And he replied as below.

"Well, when someone has a conversation with you then he will glance your face... normally. Of course someone could see other parts of your body, but in many cases, people see each others face when they talk. On the other words, if you want to make yourself look better to others, then you should pay more attention to your face. Eyeglasses are the very suitable items for such purpose. They can make you look better literally and they can make you look better to the people around you at the same time. That's why I see the eyeglasses as fashion items, that why I chose the eyeglasses for my work."

2. What is the main characteristic of your eyeglasses? 

"The arms of eyeglasses get older, just like people. They change their colors when they are used for a long time. Old eyeglasses might seem ugly with stains of their surfaces. However under the surfaces of TIME, beautiful colors of tanned wood are hidden. The tanning effect is not so well known to many people. Only few customers becomes to know that their Sagawafujii eyeglasses have such beautiful colors. To see the tanned eyeglasses well, you should polish them well. And to polish the arms of eyeglasses, you need some equipment. That might be the reason that only few of our customers know the true colors of their eyeglasses. We provide such polishing services for our customers."

3.  Wooden Eyeglasses?

Ichikawa Takahide

 "Front parts of Sagawafujii are not made of Wood. Actually they are acetate sheets. All wooden eyeglasses including front parts, we are planning to work out in the next year. Acetate sheets are probably the most beautiful materials for producing eyeglasses. They are glossy, have beautiful and various colors. You might have seen the Sagawafujii Sunglasses f2757 103, f2757 105. Such colors are attainable only from acetate sheets."

f2757 103

 "Acetate sheets are hard to work with. Complicated building process demands skilled craftsmen's delicate handwork. So acetate eyeglasses are expensive than ordinary machine processed eyeglasses."

4. No commercials for Brand Sagawafujii?

 "We don't pay much money to commercial advertisement. I believe good items can advertise themselves. For us our customers are our the only ways to advertise our wooden eyewears. I don't think a good brand is the brand that is successful in making it's name known to many people. That is not the point. A brand that makes good products can make it's name known to many people. That is the point. 

Of course the Sagawafujii couldn't be said as a successful brand for now, it is still growing brand. But slowly it goes on it's way and proves itself to be worth of successful brand by it's goods, not by the commercials."

5. Your next items?

"Naturalism is one of our brand philosophies. Until now, we expressed it by wooden temples(arms of eyeglasses). And for coming 2015, Sagawafujii's main items would be Steel plate eyeglasses. Steel is more artificial material than wood. It represents human civilization. So we can say that by transferring from Wood to Steel, Sagwafujii come a little bit closer to the nature of Human from that of Nature. 

We've been always trying to do something unique, to make something special. This one would be the very turning point of Sagawafujii and be remembered as one of the most unique items ever among all Sagawafujiis."

Sagawafujii's Wooden Sunglasses

Sagawafujii is an Eyewear brand. 

And it builds all it's products by human hands. Someday I might have a chance of introducing the procedure of building eyeglasses frames, but it's not today. (Sagawafujii has never revealed the building procedure of it's items, so if you saw some photos or pictures of such a procedure then it's not from Sagawafujii) I want to show more of the Sagawafujii's Eyeglasses and Sunglasses first. With a few exception they are all named by numbers like 'f1703 201'. The first letter 'f' means that the Eyewear is made of wood and acetate. When a name begins with 's' instead of 'f', then it means the Eyewear is made of acetate only. Below is the f1703 201(s). 

                        

This is the f1703 201(s). The last letter (s) means Sunglasses. 

<a model wearing f1703 201(s). Guessing by his clothing it was winter or late autumn, when this photo was taken. It's not so surprising these days, that some people wear sunglasses regardless of the season>

  F1703 201(s) is one of the most favored Sunglasses items of Sagawafujii this season. Many people loved it's unique styles. Wooden temples (As I said before 'temples' mean 'legs of eyeglasses', not buildings for religious purpose.) of the Sunglasses make them look something more than just an ordinary Eyewear. However comparing with other Sagawafujii's Sunglasses, we can say that f1703 201(s) is little bit understated in colors.

This is another Sagawafujii, f3201 104. Bold temples (eyeglasses legs), splendid color patterns in frame characterize this masterpiece-like eyewear. The color patterns of the frame seem like universe I think. And with close look you can find twinkling little dots on the surface of the frame. They are not dust, of course. They are something like little pieces of pearls contained in the frame. When I first saw these Sunglasses, I thought that these Sunglasses resembled the Universe with tiny stars in it. 

<a side view of f3201 104. Strong hinges are attached.>

  The designer's name 'Ichikawa Takahide' is carved on the temple(eyeglasses leg) and we can see the beautiful grain patterns of natural ebony wood. All temples (eyeglasses legs) are not same with others. Like finger prints. If you have never experienced wooden glasses and want to look different, then I recommend you these Sagawafujii's wooden Eyeglasses. I bet this could be one of your best choices in fashion items. 

  If you want to know more about Sagawafujii's Wooden Eyeglasses and Sunglasses, visit it's website www.sagawafujii.com. 

Eyeglasses, Sunglasses Shop of Sagawafujii

Sagawafujii is an Eyewear Brand. 

It has it's own shops in several places over the world. Today I introduce you some of Sagawafujii's eyeglasses, sunglasses shops.

Sagawafujii's Exclusive Shop in 'Hong Dae'. By the Wood Rings Logo at the signboard, you will know that this is a genuine shop of Sagawafujii.

  Above is a Sagawafujii's Exclusive Shop in  Mapogu Seoul, Republic of Korea. 'Exclusive' means that it only deals with Sagawafujii's Eyeglasses and Sunglasses. In Korea it is quite hard to find an eyeglasses shop that treats just one brand. Absolutely many of them have various and large inventories of eyewear products from various brands. Those shops choose items for their sales by their own judgement. How well will the items they chose be selling is the only consideration for their choices. So, brands are many, but items of a brand introduced are limited.

 As the Hong Ik University is locating near, the store  is usually called as 'Sagawafujii Hong Dae Store' among people in that region. (The word 'Hong Dae' is an abbreviation of 'Hong Ik University' in Korean language, sometimes it means just the university, but in many cases when people say 'Hong Dae', it means the region near Hong Ik university)  The street is full of young people all the time everywhere, even when it is very late night time. You might easily see young people enjoying the night as if they will never meet the day called 'tomorrow'. Most of them are university students I think. They get dressed well and seem to know how to express themselves more stylish or fashionable. Koreans do think 'Hong Dae' as a street of fashion.

  This is the inside of Sagawafujii Hong Dae Store. The walls are covered with log woods, as wood represents the identity of Sagawafujii. The photo of Sagawafujii's model wearing f2901 401t is hanging on the wall. (at the left side of this picture above) She is not a professional, but an ordinary woman, who once came to Hong Dae with her friends, and became the famous model of Sagawafujii.  As I said, there are many people who know the fashion and styles in Hong Dae region.

The inside view of the same store. 

  As this is an Exclusive Shop of Sagawafujii, it deals all kind of Sagawafujii. You can find any of items listed at the website (www.sagawafujii.com) in the store. They are various, but not many in quantity. Sagawafujii's all products are handmade only, so there could be some limitation in stock. One of the customers of Sagawafujii waited for almost one year to get the item she wanted, and finally she did today. It is not a rare case for Sagawafujii, but what important is that Sagawafujiis are worth for such a waiting. 

Wooden eyewear of Sagawafujii

  Many of Sagawafujii's eyeglasses are made of Wood. So they are different from the ordinary eyeglasses made of plastics or metals.  Many of them are manufactured in factories. They look exactly same with each others as they are produced by machine.

  Sagawafujii's eyewears are not like that. They are all handmade, and no Sagawafujii in the world have the same appearance with others. In a word to speak, they are all unique.

  This is Sagawfujii's sunglasses numbered, f2757 105, with brownish color of frame that varies along with the lines of the frame and wooden temples(eyeglasses' legs).  Wooden temples are made of ebony. They are strong, beautiful and change their colors when used for a long period of time, just like old wooden furniture does.

 Hinges of f2757 105 are firmly fixed and connect the frame and the temples. Quintuple joints of the hinge enable eyewears to preserve their structural stability so long time. Brand name 'Sagawafujii' is engraved at the temple, so is the designer's name too.

  A japanese designer, Ichikawa Takahide is the beginning of Sagawafujii. He was inspired from old, used leather works while he was worked as a lead designer in Japan. He found that scratches of used leather were favored by his customers, and the work pieces made of such used leather pieces  sold better than those of new ones. He applied the scratches to the frames of eyeglasses. So began Sagawafujii's history.


  Back to f2757 105 again, here you can see the front image of f2757 105.

  Sagawafujii's brand name is printed on the edge of a lens. As to the lenses of f2757 105, they are CR39, almost completely opaque in ultra violet range, and show good durability against  frictions.  


  For more detailed information on Sagawafujii, visit Sagawafujii's website below.

www.sagawafujii.com

Harmony with Nature, Sagawafujii wishes always your best happiness and satisfaction in choices for fashion items.

Sagawafujii attended the Capsule!

  Capsule tradeshow is one of the most famous fashion shows in the world. Thousands of people all around the world gather to see the latest trends of fashion items. This time it opened it's venue at the Basketball city in New York. 

   Since the launch of the show in 2007 it provided many 'innovative fashion designers' of the world the channel  through that they can find the 'best retailers and influential fashion editors'. 

Capsule venue's entrance.  The Show began at 10:00 AM, and as it is before the opening it looks little bit quiet and calm. 

  

Sagawafujii's booth. About 80 kinds of glasses and sunglasses were displayed at the booth. It is still before the opening. Taking photos at the show was strictly forbidden, especially photography of another brands. So we had to take these pictures while there were no visitors not to make trouble or any inconvenience to the people of neighboring brands.

Did I said how many glasses we brought to the capsule show?  Oh, yes, about 80 kinds of glasses. 

Actually we had a big trouble at an airport, that is to say, we almost lost all our items at the airport. Our products were missing for 24 hours, we couldn't find them anywhere at the cargo of the airport. We found them at the end but some of our glasses were still missing.  We took the plane with exactly 80 items but we displayed them with some of the items missing. 

  Capsule introduced sagawafujii's sunglasses f2757 103, what a kind editor capsule is! However one thing to be corrected is the explanation under the photo. It says that sagawafujii's drawing inspiration was from ancient wooden temples, but there is no relationship between the ancient temples and our products. The legs of eyeglasses are usually called temples, and many of sagawafujii's temples are made of wood, so we emphasized sagawafujiis temples(glasses legs). There must be some misunderstanding between Capsule and Sagawafujii. Still it is a great pleasure to us that our glasses were indroduced at the main page of the capsule show.

This is an invitation file for the show. Sagawafujii's logo is put at the center.

We had a really nice experience at the Capsule show, nice people, various kinds of fashion items, we could get the information of latest fashion trends of the world. Next time capsule opens 4th venue of 2014 shows at Las Vegas through 12 - 14 september. Hope you join and see the latest trends of world fashion too!