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This article studies the evolution of the market for spectacles in France between the 1880s and the eve of the Great War. It analyses how the perception of spectacles as both a fashion accessory and a medical device has been influenced by a combination of their adoption by the consumer market and the development of ophthalmology as a medical specialty. The article begins with details of the characteristics of the production and sale of spectacles since the Middle Ages and goes on to outline the terms that doctors used to describe them until the middle of the 19th century. At this point, doctors begin to recognize the utility of spectacles and they stake their claim by monopolizing their delivery as an aid to vision. The article then analyzes the changes that took place in the spectacle market during the second half of the century. These include increased demand, improved manufacturing techniques, internationalization of production and sales and the penetration of the mass consumption circuit as well as the developing relations between the different actors in the value chain (producers, sellers, customers).