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while visiting frankfurt on a quick getaway trip from L.A., I thought I should get me some new cool glasses.

after a very disappointing experience at rainer brenner optik some friends told me about markus nikolai optic. I decided to give it another shot at finding some good glasses so I went.

the store is located in the center of frankfurt close to the main pedestrian area, on a side quiet street. the store doesn't look at all like an optometry / optician store. it's all white with clean lines, colored lamps hanging from the ceiling and very minimalistic in design.
on the front of the store there's only 3! frames in the window. once inside you cannot see the frames clearly, they're all behind frosted glass doors (later i found out, that it was designed by one of germany's leading contemporary artists tobias rehberger). the store had this great modernist vibe that tickled my curiosity. once inside, I was surprisingly greeted with a warm and open vibe. not the stuffy attitude you would expect from a place that looks as good as this store. i cannot describe it, but there's something special in that store. these guys understood my style immediately. I briefly described what i was looking in my new glasses and as soon as i finished i was offered an array of great looking glasses, next thing you know I'm wearing the coolest frames I've ever seen. and all of them were a great fit. This guys know their business. they presented me with so many choices it made it hard to pick only one. I wanted to buy all the frames they've showed me. it was obvious they really care about quality and design. Their selection was great and not limited to the popular "find everywhere" brands.
I was impressed to see that most of their frames were either German or Japanese, so the quality was on point. their design selection is just amazing. they also have their own frames, markus nikolai eyewear (of course made in germany) which were very nice and comfy. I was very surprised to even find some californian brands like blinde and dita (both made in japan.)

although the prices were at the top of my budget, the quality, service and friendly advice and selection made it well worth it. I was so in love with so many frames I decided to buy two pairs.

the eye exam was great it was like i never had one before. I will definitely get my next glasses again at markus nikolai optic - it's worth the trip!

i visited frankfurt for a few days and thought "while here I should get some nice glasses". I was hoping to find something unique and limited, something I can't get in L.A. I did some research, read some shopping guides and the biggest name in frankfurt is rainer brenner optik, so i went there.
first of all it was a very conservative, stiff and cold atmosphere when i entered the store. staff was overly friendly, but fake. the store was packed with all the big brands like prada, gucci, armani etc. - nothing special. most of what they had I had seen in L.A. and for cheaper. even for Frankfurt's standards this place was way overpriced. There were even some "who buys this" frames made of real gold and very average looking "mum and dad" frames. either the lady who helped me didn't understand what i like or she had bad taste. i didn't like anything she showed me. this store is totally overrated, and over-hyped in all the guides. makes you wonder, how much must they be paying to get into these guides?

after a very disappointing experience, some friends suggested to go to markus nikolai optic. there I was received with a warm and open vibe and found this great pair of mykita glasses which I was surprised to find out that they were made in germany. Their selection was ace and they had so many styles I loved I ended up buying two pairs.