The province of Belluno, in the Dolomites of northern Italy, is the heart of Italian eyewear. The industry began in the Cadore valley in 1878, when Angelo Frescura opened a workshop at Calalzo di Cadore. Today the Belluno and Cadore district accounts for roughly 70 percent of Italy's eyewear output, and the country's largest frame makers grew from its villages.

From a mountain workshop to an industry

Frescura, working with Giovanni Lozza, started making spectacles in Calalzo in a valley with little farmland and long winters, where small-scale crafts suited the local economy. Skills passed through families, and workshops spread through Pieve di Cadore, Domegge, Agordo and Longarone. In 1961 Leonardo Del Vecchio founded Luxottica in Agordo as a parts maker; it grew into the world's largest eyewear company. Safilo, another major maker, traces its roots to the Lozza firm.

What the district makes

Belluno's factories make metal and acetate frames and sunglasses, from mass-market lines to hand-finished luxury pieces sold under fashion labels. Acetate frames are cut from sheets, tumbled for days in wooden drums to polish them, and fitted with metal cores in the arms. Many small subcontractors specialise in one step, such as hinges or plating. The Museo dell'Occhiale in Pieve di Cadore tells the story of spectacles from the thirteenth century.