Cubitts Covent Garden

Cubitts Covent Garden is the British spectacle maker's shop on Monmouth Street, close to the sundial at the heart of Seven Dials. The store occupies a site that for much of the 1800s belonged to the funeral directors A. France and Son, whose commissions included the coffin for Admiral Nelson and the funerals of King George III and King George IV, and the interior references that history deliberately rather than hiding it.

Cubitts designs its own spectacles and sunglasses, and this branch is fitted with Spanish mahogany-clad walls, custom cabinetry and a coffin-shaped mirror that pay homage to the building's past. The forest green exterior was chosen as a hopeful contrast, the glass shelving takes its cue from the gnomon of the nearby sundial, and the wide windows and mirrored surfaces carry a theme of light and shadow. The simple window display echoes photographs of Monmouth Street as it looked between the 1940s and 1970s.

Cubitts Covent Garden: exclusive frames and eye examinations

Four frames are sold only at this shop, their silhouettes inspired by light and shadow, the coffins once produced here and the spectacles worn by the Covent Garden comic Michael Bentine. The wider range runs from extra small to extra large, with accessories and cleaning cloths alongside. Eye examinations are available for customers aged sixteen and over, including an enhanced OCT examination, though the shop does not offer NHS examinations or contact lens checks. Frame repairs, adjustments, lens changes and Made to Measure consultations are all handled in store.

What to expect on a visit

Expect a calm, dark-timbered shop where trying on frames is unhurried and staff can talk through sizing and bespoke options. The store is wheelchair accessible apart from the examination room, and it opens seven days a week. Cubitts sits within a close group of design-led opticians in Covent Garden; MONC, a few doors along Monmouth Street, is worth comparing for its sustainable materials and in-house eyecare.