The Persol PO3416V Persol and Olivetti Limited Edition is an optical frame that treats a typewriter as a design source. Its reference point is the Lettera 22, Olivetti's celebrated portable typewriter, and the collaboration translates that machine's character into eyewear: precise, tactile, unmistakably Italian, and finished with a red accent drawn from the typewriter's keyboard.
It made the cut because both halves of the partnership are doing real work. Persol brings its optical heritage and handmade-in-Italy construction, in an acetate and metal frame, while Olivetti supplies a design language that still reads as modern more than half a century later. The frame comes in a brown gradient finish, in a single 50-22 size described as best for most faces, with a 145mm temple length, adjustable nosepads and demo lenses ready for prescription fitting. It is presented in custom collector's packaging created for the partnership, which underlines that Persol sees this as a design object as much as a pair of glasses.
The details are simple to state and harder to act on. The price on Persol's Canadian store is CAD 698, and the model is marked exclusive and handmade in Italy. Availability, however, is the story: the frame showed as out of stock online in Canada at the time of checking, restock notifications are open, and any remaining pairs are most likely to surface in flagship stores. Verdict: as eyewear it is handsome and considered, but right now it is best filed as a design artefact worth hunting in person rather than a frame you can simply order.
