Gunnar’s The Witcher Collection Eyewear
If there’s one thing I associate with The Witcher’s iconic characters Geralt of Rivia and Ciri, it’s blue-blocking, UV-busting eyewear. As in, they really should be wearing some, because macular degeneration and cataracts are no joke. Well, it’s too late for them, but for the rest of us, there are two new options in Gunnar’s new White Wolf and Ciri-inspired glasses.
Witcher-Approved
Make no mistake, these CD Projekt Red-licensed glasses are not for Geralt and Ciri cosplayers, but gamers in search of stylish, quality eyewear with a bit of Witcher-inspired flair. From case to cloth to frames, the glasses have subtle Witcher iconography and a style that strongly suggests the energy of each character.
I had the chance to try both the White Wolf and Ciri styles and immediately came away impressed by the little details. These included stitched leather wraps for the temples, embossed etching on the temple tips, and on the temples themselves. Hinges on both models were robust, and overall build quality was good.
White Wolf and Ciri Style
The White Wolf/Geralt glasses feature brushed-nickel premium stainless steel in aviator-style frames. The Ciri-inspired glasses start with a brushed-gold round frame wrapped in leather, with sword-motif temples inspired by Zireael.
The lenses of both glasses feature Gunnar’s G-Shield lens coating and are anti-reflective and smudge-resistant. Both are blue-light and 100% UV blocking, so they’re important to gamers and keyboard warriors who spend hours in front of a monitor or occasionally outside in the unfamiliar, dreaded sunlight. The White Wolf glasses come in two lens options: an amber tint and a sunglasses tint. The Ciri glasses have the amber-tinted lenses only.
The lenses of both frames are quite large, which results in a noticeable increase in eye protection from the sides. Witcher branding, of course, extends to the extras, like the weathered-leather-look case, microfiber cleaning cloth, and microfiber pouch.
Getting Personal
Few things are more personal than the way glasses look, function, and feel. The alchemy of head size and shape, specific vision parameters, and fashion taste means that glasses are never literally one-size-fits-all. Those caveats aside, both the White Wolf and Ciri glasses should appeal to a pretty wide range of users.
Let’s start with the frames. Both the round Ciri glasses and White Wolf aviators are variations on classic designs and should look good on most people, though they are large and not especially lightweight. In particular, the White Wolf frames felt heavy, though not uncomfortably so. Hinges, frames, and lenses felt like they could handle the stress of frequent wear. On the other hand, if you like to bend the temples to adjust them to your outsized melon of a head, be warned that they don’t bend easily, if at all.
Both the glasses I tested had amber-tinted lenses, and combined with the blue-blocking aspect, dramatically changed my view of the world. Well, at least the way it looked. I could almost hear my eyeballs sigh with relief and appreciation.
With an MSRP of $99, the Witcher collection glasses are not inexpensive. They also lack a few of Gunnar’s top-tier extras, like titanium frames or additional lens options. Gamers who need corrective lenses aren’t really the target for these glasses, but for those folks with generally good eyesight, the blue-blocking lenses, classic style, and subtle Witcher branding should be very appealing.
***Glasses provided by Gunnar for this feature***