Persol · Sunglasses
Thomas Crown in The Thomas Crown Affair, 1968 — as worn by Steve McQueen
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The scene
After the bank robbery in The Thomas Crown Affair, insurance investigator Vicki Anderson turns her attention to Thomas Crown. She attends his outdoor polo match and films him with a home movie camera, deliberately drawing his attention from the sidelines. Crown rides among the other players while Vicki observes the man she suspects of arranging the crime. The sequence was filmed at the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. Steve McQueen learned to play polo for the film, coached by experienced players and the production’s first assistant director.
Director Norman Jewison recalled that McQueen disliked horses but worked until his hands bled perfecting the backhand shot. Production designer Robert Boyle described the bright sun of the match as an expression of the freedom Crown seeks. Persol identifies the 714 as a model McQueen wore in The Thomas Crown Affair, but that film-wide association does not establish that Thomas Crown wears the sunglasses during this match. The documented character detail is his participation in the sport, not a verified close-up of the frames.
Jewison and cinematographer Haskell Wexler make the encounter a contest of looking: Vicki aims her camera at Crown, and the film divides attention between watcher and player. Some polo footage was captured with a camera mounted on a player’s chest harness. Split-screen passages multiply and rearrange the action; at points, repeated images fill the screen in a checkerboard pattern. Daylight defines the field, while shifting frames keep Crown’s movement and Vicki’s scrutiny in view.
After the bank robbery in The Thomas Crown Affair, insurance investigator Vicki Anderson turns her attention to Thomas Crown.
Persol traces its beginnings to Turin in 1917 and to founder Giuseppe Ratti, whose early eyewear was designed for protection as well as vision. The company introduced the 649 in 1957 for the city’s tram drivers, who needed broad coverage against air and dust. In the 1960s, Persol adapted that frame’s wide-lens shape into the folding 714, bringing a practical feature to a design already established in the company’s range. The Persol 714 has an acetate frame with a keyhole bridge and a jointed construction that folds small enough to slip into a pocket. Persol says the mechanism requires ten additional manufacturing steps compared with a standard frame.
Its Arrow detail recalls a symbol Ratti based on ancient warriors’ swords; the Meflecto system, patented in the 1930s, gives the temples flexibility to reduce pressure against the head. Current 714 listings specify crystal sun lenses, while a listed 54–21 size has 54 mm lenses, a 21 mm bridge and 140 mm temples. Those present-day specifications should not be assumed to describe a film-used pair. Persol says Steve McQueen brought his own 714 sunglasses to the set of The Thomas Crown Affair, where the decision was made to include the style in the film.
They thus became part of Thomas Crown’s wardrobe through the actor’s own eyewear rather than a documented commission for the production. The available account does not establish their exact configuration or verify their presence during the polo match. The film association continues in Persol’s 714SM Steve McQueen editions, sold alongside the original 714 in contemporary colors and lens options. Persol has also issued a limited edition with a collector’s box, plaque and strap, and a Series 001 with new colorways and a case shaped to hold the folded frame.
Production Notes
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