COCO LENI JOURNAL · HANDMADE IN GOA

The next chapter

Ten years ago, Arjun and Aditi learned this craft at someone else’s bench. Today, in Goa, they’re making room for others to learn too.

Workshop maker working on a frame in Goa — In the Goa workshop.

A nearly finished frame can look perfect from across the room. Up close, an edge may still catch your thumb. So it returns to the bench: a little more filing, another careful look.

In Germany, eyewear maker Matthias taught Arjun and Aditi that a frame is shaped through hundreds of small decisions. The drawing matters. So does the maker’s hand.

Aditi and Arjun looking at work together at a table

Two makers working at the workshop bench

In our Goa workshop, frames move between people, benches, and machines. Someone watches, tries, shares the work and makes a correction. That is how the craft grows: through attention, practice and another pair of eyes.

These images bring us closer to the dust, noise and repetition behind each frame.

Hands refining a tortoiseshell eyewear front — A front being refined by hand. More work remains before it becomes a pair of glasses.

There are easier ways to fill a shelf. We chose a workshop where makers and designers can work side by side, learn from mistakes and pass the knowledge on.

Maker at a workshop polishing wheel — At the wheel.

Frame fronts among wooden polishing pegs — Another kind of patience.

Finished frame is just one result. What we learn from making it can last much longer.

A green frame held at a colour-filled workshop bench — Colour on the bench in Goa.

COMING NEXT

Naga Collection

Our next collection is taking shape. We’ll show you the frames soon. First, we wanted you to meet the place—and the hands—they come from.

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