About us
Spex, hugs & Rock’n’Roll.
With over (but he’ll not tell you how many over) years in the optical industry, Jez realised his lifelong dream of having his own, fiercely independent, shop named “EYES on St Albans” in 2018.
MEET JEZ
Founder of EYES on St Albans, eyewear obsessive, style whisperer and all-round optical rockstar.
Jez Levy has been in the eyewear game for over 40 years – though you’d never know it to look at him (maybe it’s the specs?). He’s the brains, heart and effortlessly stylish hat behind EYES on St Albans, which opened in Marshalswick back in 2018 – but his journey into optics started a long time before that.
A proud product of St Albans (although his old head at Verulam School didn’t necessarily see the talent…), Jez began his career via a Saturday job on the market and a petrol pump gig on Holywell Hill.
A well-timed conversation and a lucky introduction led to his first role in an optical warehouse – though his dad famously thought he was going to be selling pub optics for booze, not bifocals. At just 16, Jez became the youngest frame rep on the road, dragging huge sample cases around Hertfordshire by bus, and quickly developed a sixth sense for what made a frame work – not just the shape and size, but the style, the feel, and the energy it gave someone when they wore it.
Since then, he’s worked in boutique opticians across the UK – from St Albans to Soho, Newcastle to Glasgow – with a few detours into the oil and gas world before the spectacle world lured him back in (thanks, MOSCOT). When he finally opened his own store – EYES on St Albans – it was the realisation of a decades-old dream.
EYES is Jez’s vision in every sense – a place where independent design, eyewear that lasts, and seriously good service come together. No deals. No gimmicks. Just beautiful frames, exceptional lenses, and a very warm welcome.
Then there’s the “magic trick”. Jez has an uncanny (he’d just say it’s practise) ability to help customers find the right frame – the one that makes them smile when they put them on, frequently followed up with a bit more swagger when they look in the mirror.
It’s part intuition, part experience, and part straight-up style sense.
People say he gets it right first time more often than not. They’re not wrong. And even if it is ‘wrong’, they often love the frames – they’re just not quite what they could get away with for work!
Music is always playing in the shop (except when he’s on the Vespa – that’s the one quiet zone), and he’s got a borderline(?) unreasonable number of hats, optical shirts and shoes – though the exact numbers are on a strictly need-to-know basis.
He lives locally, loves a pint at The Boot, and if he could host a dinner party, you’d find Bob Golding, Elvis and Jon Bon Jovi at the table.
Glasses may be his business – but for Jez, it’s always been about people, stories, community, and the way the right frames can change how you see the world.
