Our Heritage
There is a lot more to Chinese culture than expedited online shopping and mass production. Despite its economic appearance, Drypond’s roots in Hantang, rural Shenzhen is very much a proud community of its growing heritage and history since 1960. At the heart of this pride in tradition is a diligence and disciplined approach to craftsmanship and the highly-skilled trades that were adopted from scratch. In this part of town, eyewear manufacturing is still very much done fully by hand and is made by small factories of 100 or less craft masters instead of one larger factory.
Drypond is confident to transparently present eyewear of Japan-made quality. Drypond frame making is a collective collaboration comprised of Hantang’s village experts with 40+ years of experience.
Tracing back to the 60’s, Shenzhen had become China’s biggest hub for production and eyewear. As technology continued to evolve, the Drypond factory stayed ahead of the curve by producing quality eyewear for global brands that are marketed today. Despite the economic collapse in 2016 in which 50 or more eyewear factories went under, Drypond’s traditional mindset of honesty and determination preserved past the hardships.
In present day, Hantang is home to eyewear companies and factories that work together collaboratively to specialize in specific and differing aspects of eyewear production. Taking pride in traditional artisanship isn’t just about looking to the past, it is also about looking forward too. That’s what really comes across when you receive a pair of frames made by Drypond. You can tell that care has been taken in producing them. The type of care that you don’t see as often these days and is worth to keep for the days to come.
Heritage Craft in the Present
Heritage Craft in the Present
The process of measuring, perfecting and mechanizing products creates an efficient and steam-lined flow yet lacks a spark of interest.
Most have probably never thought about which factory made the pair of glasses you’re wearing, because they’re more of less the same. The desire to have something handmade and resonates an interest might be better than what we’re used to.
As industries continue to grow faster, at Drypond we’re slowing things down to arrive at the present. We invite you to witness the variability of heritage and the immersion of culture.
The choice of interest is in the eye of the beholder. We are simply proud of our transparent timeline of then and now, technicality and modern craft.