What's hot and what's not (Frames)

Member Name: adamdavid

Product:	Frames
Date:	06/08/00 (269 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Rimless/supras are the frames to be seen in

Disadvantages: quality can cost

Rimless and supra (half frames with the lens held in by a nylon wire) are going to be the trend in the next year or so. I have two pairs of glasses that I wear. One is a conventional trendy Police frame and the other is a rimless titanium Police frame. The fashion at the moment is for small, shallow square or oval frames. When people come in to the opticians where I work with enourmous frames that are a few years old, it is hard to keep a straight face.
We have been selling quite a few rimless and supra frames and on the continent, rimless frames are THE frames to have. Rimless are ideal if you want to wear glasses, but don't want them to be that obvious. Subtle and classy is a good way of describing them. Supras are a compromise. They are subtle, but not as subtle as the full rimless.
The ultimate rimless frames are made by a company called Hoya. Hoya's Pinfel range are the Rolls Royce of rimless spectacles. The sides and bridge are not held on to the lenses by screws through the lenses. Instead they are held on by pins that are bonded into the side of the lenses. These frames are only available with Hoya's own high index lenses, but if you are paying £200+ for a quality frame then you will probably want the best lenses as well and Hoya's Eyas lenses are very, very good.

Designer frames worth looking out for (if names matter) are Police, Ice, Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Silhouette and Hoya. If you are young(ish) and trendy then unisex frames will be the ones you'll go for.

The downside with supras and especially rimless specs is that you do need to be a little more carfeul with them. It's not a good idea to sit or stand on them (you'd be amazed how many people come in to have their glasses fixed after sitting on them). The quality ones will be made of stainless steel or titanium but you should be careful anyway. They aren't all that less robust than standard frames but they might well be more ex
pensive to replace.

Summary: