Custom Eyewear Workshop in Sydney: The Experience of Crafting Glasses by Hand

The act of making something with your own hands is rare in today’s day and age. Even rarer when that something becomes part of your daily uniform; functional, personal, and entirely yours.

Upstairs at Lunettes Art Lab, inside a French-inspired cottage in Surry Hills, you’ll find something unexpected. A custom eyewear workshop in Sydney where you design, shape, and finish your own pair of glasses or sunglasses from start to finish.

Part optician, part artisan, founder Ricky Lim is Australia’s first French-certified Artisan Lunetier. It’s a title that speaks to both technical mastery and an old-world approach to craftsmanship. At Lunettes, every frame is made by hand. Each pair is one of a kind, built from the ground up to suit your face, your fit, and your style.

The process begins with a precise face measurement and a moodboard of inspiration. That could be reference photos, vintage frames, a film still, or a colour palette. Ricky takes it all in and sketches a design tailored to your features. You then select from a curated range of acetate colours, lens types, and refined details, including exclusive nose pads in custom shapes and fits.

Then the hands-on work begins.

You’re given a block of raw acetate and the tools to bring your frames to life. A saw, a file, your own two hands. The room is quiet, creative, focused. Coffee or matcha is on offer while you shape and smooth the frame into something sculptural, wearable, and entirely your own.

“After years of crafting custom frames and witnessing how a single pair of glasses could transform someone’s confidence, I realised the process itself — the care, the details, the craftsmanship — was something worth sharing,” says Ricky Lim. “I wanted to create a space where people could not only wear meaningful eyewear, but also be part of making it.”

When the carving is done, Ricky takes over. He fits your lenses, checks every line and angle, then finishes the frame with a final polish. What you leave with isn’t just eyewear. It’s a design object. A tool. A story.

We each made a pair. Cam chose lightweight optical frames. I made polarised sunglasses. Both were shaped for our faces and feel like a second skin, light, refined, comfortable.

Lunettes doesn’t do fast fashion. The silhouettes are timeless. The fit is exact. The intention is clear. And with an ongoing aftercare program, your frames are designed to last well beyond the season.

If you're looking for a custom eyewear workshop in Sydney that blends creativity,

craftsmanship, and design, this is it. You walk out not only seeing more clearly, but carrying something that’s truly yours.

Workshop Pricing: 1-Day DIY Eyewear Making ClassWorkshop Price: $450

Included in the workshop:

• All tools, materials, and lenses (valued at $140)

• Choice of non-prescription blue light lenses or polarised lenses

• Option to add prescription lenses at an additional cost (private health claimable)

• A bonus project using your leftover acetate — craft a ring, keyring, or pendant

• A complimentary coffee or tea to keep the creativity flowing

Book Workshop Here

Lunettes Art Lab

Address: 249 Riley Street, Surry Hills NSW