Renauld sunglasses - Johnny Depp - The Rum Diary

The sunglasses that Johnny Depp as Paul Kemp wears in The Rum Diary are vintage Renauld spectator sunglasses. 

It was suggested on a Johnny Depp fan forum (here) that these are french designer sunglasses from the 1950s by the name Renauld, model Spectaculars, of which a pair recently was for sale on eBay which looked very similar.

All we knew at the time of the release of the film was that the sunglasses were provided by Old Focals, a company that specializes in providing films and tv series with vintage frames.

Update 2021: the brand Renauld has been relaunched and once again produces an updated version of the vintage 1960s style glasses with the golden bar and arms, called the Renauld Sixty One. 

These new Renauld Sixty One sunglasses are an updated version of the classic Renauld design first introduced in 1961. The pair was worn by Elvis that same year. According to Renauld, Elvis spotted someone wearing the then brand new sunglasses in the crowd of autograph hunters during the filming of the movie Follow That Dream down in Ocala, Florida. His assistant ended up paying $100 on the spot for Elvis’ first pair of Renaulds, and he allegedly wore them all the time when he wasn’t filming.

The new version of the model is available as a very limited edition of only 200 Sixty One numbered frames, available for £650.00 (delivery in February 2021), see them at Renauld.

Other famous people who wore Renauld sunglasses include Jackie Onassis, Warren Beatty, Mick Jagger, The Velvet Underground and Le Mans racing driver Sir John Whitmore.

Renauld sunglasses were also worn in The Italian Job (opening sequence of the driver of the orange Lamborghini Miura). This Mustang model is now available as well, at Renauld and Mason & Sons for example.

Alternatives
Find the original vintage Renauld sunglasses on eBay.

Ray-Ban also has a model with a gold browline and temples, the Ray-Ban RB4109 Olympian.

Thanks to John Robison for the 2020 update alert