We make glasses, slowly, in one room.
Custom Lens Express is a five-person optical studio in Alfama, Lisbon. We design, cut, polish, and ship every frame from the same building. We don't run sales. We don't release fast collections. We make a few good things and stand behind them.
"My uncle taught me that a frame is finished when it disappears on the face."
I grew up in a small optical shop in Coimbra, threading screws and matching tortoiseshell scraps from the bin. After fifteen years apprenticing, I opened Custom Lens Express with my partner Marta in a converted bakery on Rua do Recolhimento.
We're not trying to grow fast. We're trying to make the next frame a little better than the last one.
The people who make your glasses.
The whole team works under one roof in Alfama. If you call us, you'll talk to one of them by name.
Apprenticed for 15 years at her uncle's shop. Started Custom Lens Express in 2019.
Cuts and polishes every house-line frame. Twelve years on the bench.
Reads your prescription, picks your lens index, gets your PD right.
Answers the phone. Books home try-ons. Knows your name.
Cuts lenses to thousandths. Operates the edger that hums in the back.
Four small things, written down.
We'd rather make 80 frames a year well than 80,000 frames quickly.
Designed in Lisbon, cut in Lisbon, polished in Lisbon, shipped from Lisbon.
Our prices are our prices, year round. We won't discount your trust.
Bring them back, anytime. We fix what we make for as long as we're around.
The door is open, Tuesday through Saturday.
Rua do Recolhimento 22, Alfama · Lisbon. Drop in for an adjustment, a coffee, or just to look.