Designed 40 years ago with clean straight-forward simplicity, the ULTRA GOLIATH has never gone out of style and never out of production. It has been worn by “A-listers” in entertainment, sports, business, politics, and fashion and remains instantly recognizable anywhere in the world. Very few eyeglasses have the authentic history and impact of the ULTRA GOLIATH, so it is not surprising that it is a favorite of collectors and that it has an entire new generation of fans. Copied by many brands and worn by many iconic figures like DMC from Run DMC, Robert De Niro as Ace Rothstein in the cult movie "Casino" , Elliott Gould as Reuben Tishkoff in Ocean's Eleven, Michael Caine and more recently by the Weeknd in his single Blinding lights. The Ultra Golliath has an amazing story before achieving its cult status. The original model, made in Holland by a company called Preciosa with the code 940, was brought to USA In 1977 by Stan Besner from Ultra Palm Optical Co. From the first edition in a dirty blonde coloured acetate to the classic black and tortoise the Preciosa 940, got much bigger, re-named Ultra Golliath and was adopted by many figures that made it famous. Take yours, if you dare to use it...
It is fair to say that in 1947, when Fred and Kate Besner founded Palm Optical Company, they never would have imagined it would be among the leaders in high-end optical fashions six decades later. “In 1975, my parents took over the daily operations of the business and added the word ‘Ultra’ to our name as a way of indicating our focus on high fashion,” Brad Besner said. “It was important to them to lead rather than follow. They have never been concerned with what others are doing, but rather focused their attention on what is new and different.” Brad and his brother-in-law Leonard Cohen joined the business in the mid 1980’s. With the third generation of the business in place, new energy helped fuel continued growth. Stan and Joanne retired in the late 1990’s (they still attend conventions today), and Brad and Lenny embarked on a path of their own as they created a high-end specialty line of frames known as Caviar. “Caviars are a stunning, private collection made exclusively for us,” Cohen said. “We design, produce and distribute these glamorous frames worldwide.” The vintage models of Ultra Caviar are very rare and sought after by collectors due to their history, design and statement.
