American Optical
Heritage American eyewear brand revived under new ownership. Makes the Original Pilot (first sunglasses worn on the moon, by the Apollo 11 crew) and the Saratoga (the JFK style). Currently US-made sunglasses and optical frames.
Status: Watchlist
- Founded
- 1833
- Website
- aoeyewear.com
- HQ
- USA
- Manufacturing
- USA
- Ownership type
- PE-owned
- Parent
- Europa Eyewear
- Acquired
- 2019
- Status since
- 2026-06-16
Ownership
The 1833 American Optical name has changed hands repeatedly; the sunglasses business was offshored to China, brought back to Massachusetts in 1998, then acquired by Europa Eyewear in 2019 and folded into Europa's Illinois factory. Europa itself was acquired by private equity firm Blue Point Capital Partners in April 2023. Sister brand under Europa is STATE Optical.
Why Watchlist
US-made under independent-eyewear ownership, which is a genuine positive. But it is a recently revived heritage name sitting two levels under private equity (AO under Europa under Blue Point since 2023), so it does not meet the Approved bar. Watchlist.
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