The J.F. Rey Fit Guide: Eye Sizes, Sub-Lines and How the Colour Works

J.F. Rey is a French eyewear brand based in Marseille. Its own site puts the date plainly: "In 1995, J.F. REY became a brand in its own right", and says that "for forty years, J.F. REY has been designing eyewear." The founder is Jean-François Rey, and the site describes him as having developed, in Marseille, "a personal language of graphic structures, contrasts and colour."

That last word is the one that matters when you open the box. Not one of the J.F. Rey frames here has a single-colour name. Every one carries at least two colours: Green / Purple, Purple Tortoise / Green, Tortoise / Azure Blue, Black / Orange, Striped Green / Khaki, Green Textile / Orange, Black Pixel / Red, Pink / Leopard. The Virginia in Gradient Blue / Green / Crystal and the JF3117 in Gradient Black / Brown / Purple carry three.

The brand's account of its own materials is short and useful. Of acetate it says: "For depth of colour, intricate cutting and the sculpting of volume." Of metal: "Titanium, stainless steel and aluminium allow for precise, refined and lightweight structures." And of the range as a whole: "Each collection explores a new relationship between the face, shape, material and colour." Read that against our shelf and it holds up. The acetate frames are thick and cut. The metal ones are thin and drawn.

What sets a J.F. Rey apart at this price is how the colour is used. The brand says colour emphasises a structure, reveals depth or creates tension, and is never treated as mere decoration, and on some of the acetate frames here the second colour is a layer of the plate rather than a finish on the front. That is the whole point of the material, and it is why the brand's own site talks about the depth of colour before it talks about shape.

The models here are either numbered — JF followed by four digits — or named: Madison, Virginia and Charlotte. The split is not cosmetic. The named models on our shelf are all acetate.

The numbers fall into three bands. JF1546, JF1567, JF1576 and JF1580 belong to the JF1 series, which is acetate throughout. JF2832, JF2935, JF2978 and JF2995 belong to the JF2 series, which mostly brings acetate and metal together. JF3007, JF3078, JF3117 and JF3121 belong to the JF3 series, which is mostly metal. It is a rough rule rather than a law, but it holds across everything we have.

After the model comes a four-digit colour code, and that is the part people miss when they search. The brand publishes the codes as numbers only; in our listings of the Virginia, 0060 is black and orange, 9882 is tortoise and fuchsia, and 2614 is the gradient blue, green and crystal. Same shape, same 53–18–143 measurements, entirely different frames on a face. The Virginia, the Charlotte, the JF2995, the JF3007 and the JF3117 are all here in more than one colour.

The brand's site is worth reading on individual models. It places Virginia in its 1985 collection and calls it an oversize butterfly frame in high-quality acetate, with translucent and gradient tones that let light pass through the frame. Madison it describes as a "full acetate frame, distinctive look and characterful design", with "exclusive bi-material colors, translucent hues and revisited scale colors". Of JF3117: "A graphic, contemporary silhouette where matte or satin shades mingle with brighter hues to create a vibrant palette." Of JF1580: "This model showcases the depth of acetate through a play of sculpted volumes and refined transparencies." Our own tag for the Virginia shape is cat-eye rather than butterfly. It is the same frame.

One further line. The brand runs a collection it calls Petite, "designed for slender faces, offering a comfortable fit and highlighting delicate features". None of the frames here is listed as a Petite, though a few are tagged Narrow in our own stock. The table below sorts everything by eye size, so you can find them.

Eye sizes run from 45mm to 54mm.

Eye size on its own is not what you feel on a face. Across the front is eye size twice plus the bridge, and it is approximate, so we say "about". On that measure the frames here run from about 112mm to about 126mm.

At the narrow end, the smallest eye we hold is 45mm, on the JF1580 (45-23-140) and JF2935 (45-22-144). Our narrow frames page has the narrow fronts from every brand.

Two frames can have different eye sizes and still come to the same width. A 52mm eye on a 22mm bridge is about 126mm across, and so is a 54mm eye on an 18mm bridge. That is the lesson of this chapter: if you know your numbers from a frame you already own, compare the whole front, not the first figure.

At the wide end, the largest eye we hold is 54mm, on the JF3078 (54-18-145) and Madison (54-16-143), and our wide frames page has the wide fronts from every brand. Almost everything in this brand is wearable by almost anyone; the shape is what decides it.

The frames here are acetate, metal, or the two combined.

On the acetate: the brand says it chooses acetate for depth of colour, intricate cutting and the sculpting of volume. Acetate has weight to it, and our listings note that it holds an adjustment once an optician has set it, and warms to the face as you wear it. The acetate frames are the JF1546, JF1567, JF1576, JF1580, the Madison, the Virginias and the Charlottes.

On the metal: the metal frames here are the JF3078, the JF3117s, the JF2832 and the JF3007s. The JF3007 in blue and orange is the clearest case of the type, a 47mm round on a 23mm bridge with 145mm temples; the brand's own page describes a metal face with acetate temples.

The combination frames — the JF2995s, the JF2978, the JF2935 and the JF3121 — bring acetate and metal together in one frame; the brand's own page for the JF3121 describes a metal front with bevelled circles and acetate temples.

Price does not track material here: an acetate frame can cost more than a metal one, or less. Buy the frame, not the material.

The shapes are unevenly spread, and round is the most common.

Round is the largest group and, usefully, the smallest sizes: the JF1580 and the JF2935 at 45mm, the JF3007s at 47mm, the JF1546 and the JF2978 at 49mm, and the JF1567 at 50mm. Nothing round here goes above 50mm. If you have a short face, or you have been told your frames sit too wide, the round group is where to start. A round eye also softens a square jaw, which is the oldest rule in the shop and still a fair one.

The geometric frames are the faceted ones: the JF3078 at 54mm, the JF3117s at 51mm and the JF2995s at 52mm. Faceted means the rim changes direction where a round frame would curve. They give a face angles it does not have, which is why they sit well on softer and rounder faces, and they read as a drawn line rather than a block.

Softly squared are the JF1576 at 46mm, the Madison at 54mm, and the Charlottes at 52mm — the yellow and orange one measures 52–21–143 with a 48mm lens. A squared front is the easiest kind to wear and the least particular about face shape.

The cat-eyes are the Virginias at 53mm and the JF2832 at 52mm. The Virginias are acetate, JF2832 is metal in navy and purple, and that changes the effect entirely — the same lift, half the presence.

The oval is the JF3121 in black and red, 50–21–140, acetate and metal. Its lens is 37mm from top to bottom, which makes it a low-profile frame, and one that asks little of a face.

Three numbers decide whether a frame sits: the bridge, the temple and the lens height.

Bridges here run from 16mm to 23mm. A bridge that is too narrow pinches and leaves a mark. Too wide and the frame slides. If you know the bridge that works on a frame you already own, that single number will rule out much of this list before you try anything on.

Temples run from 138mm to 145mm. Temple length is the most adjustable of the three, since an optician can set the drop to suit an ear, but it is still worth knowing: a 145mm temple on a small head will sit long until it has been adjusted.

Lens height runs from 37mm to 50mm. The deepest lens we hold is on the JF3117 (51-20-145), and the shallowest on the JF3121 (50-21-140). Height is what decides how much cheek a frame covers and how close the lower rim comes to the top of the nose. It is also the number that matters most if you wear a progressive lens, which is the next chapter.

We ship frames only. We do not sell prescription lenses online. Every frame here arrives new and unworn with demo lenses fitted, and a demo lens is a blank — it comes out when your lens goes in. Glazing happens at our Arlington or Dumfries shop, or at your own optician, who will take the measurements off your face with the frame on it.

Three things are worth checking with whoever will glaze it.

First, lens height. All of these are optical frames; none is a sunglass. Most have a lens 45mm deep or more, which gives a lens designer room to work. The shallower ones are the JF3121 at 37mm, the JF2935 at 39mm, and the JF1576, JF3078 and JF1580 at 41mm. Whether a shallow frame works with a particular progressive depends on the lens design and on how you sit in the frame, so ask rather than assume. We will not guess that for you.

Second, the width of the front. A 126mm front and a 112mm front do different things to the same prescription, because the further from centre a lens runs, the thicker its edge. If your prescription is a strong one, the smaller eyes here — the 45mm, 46mm and 47mm frames — are the ones to look at first.

Third, the build. Our listings note that acetate has weight and holds an adjustment once an optician has set it. Acetate and metal both take a prescription. Which one suits yours is a question for the person cutting the lens, not for a product page.

Buy from us and bring it in, or bring in the frame you already have and compare. Either way the fitting is done on a face, not on a screen.

The table on this page gives each frame's price, and so does its product page. Nothing here is marked down, and nothing here is second-hand: every one is listed new and unworn, with demo lenses in place.

When the last of a colour code sells, it is gone. That is true of everything in the shop, and it is more visibly true of a brand that puts two or three colours into a single front.

The table above lists everything in stock, sorted by eye size, and it keeps itself current. If a frame is on it, we have it. The sensible way in is to start from a number you already trust — the bridge of the frame on your face right now is the most useful figure you own — then narrow by shape, then look at colour last, because colour is the part you will change your mind about.

If you are near either shop, come and try them. Colour on this brand does not photograph honestly. The gradients, the cut edges and the second colour on the inside of a temple are exactly what a screen flattens, and a pixel frame or a leopard inlay looks like a different object in the hand. We ship across the US, and the frame arrives ready for your optician.