Monocle

A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens placed in front of the eye and held in place by the eye socket itself. Often, to avoid losing the monocle, a string or wire is connected to the wearer's clothing at one end and, at the other end, to either a hole in the lens or, more often, a wire ring around its circumference. The antiquarian Philipp von Stosch wore a monocle in Rome in the 1720s, in order to closely examine engravings and antique engraved gems, but the monocle did not become an article of gentlemen's apparel until the 19th century. The dandy's quizzing glass of the 1790s was an article of high fashion, which differs from the monocle in being held to one's eye with a handle in a fashion similar to a lorgnette, rather than being held in place by the eye socket itself. There are three additional styles of the monocle. The first style consists of a simple loop of metal with a lens that was slotted into the eye orbit. These were the first monocles worn in England and could be found from the 1830s onwards. The second style, which was developed in the 1890s, was the most elaborate, consisting of a frame with a raised edge-like extension known as the gallery. The gallery was designed to help secure the monocle in place by raising it out of the eye's orbit slightly so that the eyelashes would not jar it. Monocles with galleries were often the most expensive. The wealthy would have the frames custom-made to fit their eye sockets. A sub-category of the galleried monocle was the "sprung gallery", where the gallery was replaced by an incomplete circle of flattened, ridged wire supported by three posts. The ends were pulled together, the monocle was placed in the eye orbit, and the ends were released, causing the gallery to spring out and keep the monocle in place. The third style of monocle was frameless. This consisted of a cut piece of glass, with a serrated edge to provide a grip and sometimes a hole drilled into one side for a cord.