At the wheel of the Ferrari 500, Alberto Ascari brought a classicist’s grace and a mystic’s regard for signs to Formula One’s first years. Through the fastest corners, Ascari moved with a lubricious certainty, each turn resolved in one seamless sweep as he claimed consecutive World Championships in 1952 and 1953. Beyond the circuit, his preparations followed an elaborate code of omens and observances. He avoided black cats and unlucky numbers and allowed nobody else to touch the briefcase containing his pale blue helmet, T-shirt, goggles, and gloves.

Ascari’s namesake spectacle, originally released in Summer 2019, sets the rectangular geometry of ’50s eyewear within the deep gleam of a boxy acetate front. A squared brow extends into substantial temples, carrying a calm, continuous line through the profile. As the spectacle turns, sharply cut bevels draw streaks and planes from the polished surface, every surrounding contour brought into the fine, fastidious order of ritual.