BEHIND THE FRAME / 02

01 / ORIGINS

Built in the mountains. Refined under one roof.

Blackfin is a titanium eyewear designer and manufacturer with roots that run deep. The story began in 1961, when Maria Pramaor became the 18th employee of Luxottica in Agordo. By 1971, her mastery had evolved into true independence when she founded her own company.

What followed was a story of enthusiasm, skill and mountain heritage in the heart of the Italian Dolomites. Today, Blackfin remains independent by nature and obsessive by method, with a strictly in-house production process and a shared company culture built around premium quality and extreme attention to detail.

02 / TITANIUM

A bold decision to work with titanium.

In 1990, Maria’s husband Primo intuited that the future lay in titanium. He looked to Japan for the purest material and technology - a bold move that established Blackfin as the first Italian company fully specialised in titanium.

That initial spark continues to fuel the brand’s ambition: to unite advanced technical engineering and micro-mechanics, pushing titanium and the design itself to their absolute limits.

03 / COLOUR

Colour, after control.

Blackfin’s initial approach to colour was instinctive and emotional, aimed simply at exciting the wearer. As the brand’s ambitions grew, that vision evolved into a broader philosophy of premium excellence.

Today, colour development is led by a Materials Engineer. The team understands colour down to the molecular level, resolving the tension between absolute technical control and radical freedom. The result is an expressive layer that appears only once everything else is in balance.

Across the business, Blackfin manages 183 active base colours and 644 colour combinations. In the last year alone, the team conducted 308 specific trials for new colours and created 163 new combinations.

04 / CRAFTSMANSHIP

Precision takes time.

Designing a new frame is never just about manufacturing a product. It is about translating a vision into a physical object, beginning with a holistic approach to form and colour from the very first sketch.

Eleven months can pass from the initial concept to the final product. Every model is prototyped, evaluated and modified countless times. Proportions are refined by tenths of a millimetre, curves are adjusted and titanium thicknesses recalibrated until the balance between technical rigour, chromatic expression and aesthetic elegance feels right.

05 / IN-HOUSE

What happens under one roof.

Working with titanium requires extreme expertise. Blackfin’s dedicated R&D team of six focuses solely on engineering new technical ideas and mechanical solutions, while the wider production team keeps the same obsession with premium quality and detail in view.

Total in-house control also extends into customer care. If a client needs support, Blackfin manages it directly from its headquarters in Italy with the same team that engineered and crafted the frame - a model built around reliability and long-term satisfaction.

06 / VITRA

Vitra changes the equation.

With its new Vitra family, Blackfin challenges the long-held idea that the brand is focused purely on titanium. The collection introduces an incredibly resistant, innovative polymer front, combined with Blackfin’s signature titanium components.

The R&D team applied the same rigorous mechanical approach used for titanium to the new polymer, ensuring there is no compromise on design or robustness.

07 / LOOKING FORWARD

The future is quieter, more considered and more exact.

Blackfin believes the industry will be shaped by a continuous elevation of premium perception, where true premium design speaks loudest through the purity of its most subtle details.

The team is also preparing two high-impact limited editions designed to raise the bar to the absolute top and showcase the ultimate expression of what Blackfin can achieve.