W-bridge frames

[Bezza]

I had a patient come in today who presented me with an old Zeiss W-bridge frame (long time discontinued) that had broken and he wants something similar to replace it, now i am aware that there are plenty of this bridge type available but usually they are small half eye designs and after trawling through countless catalogues im beginning to lose hope.
The main difficulty is that it MUST be a W-bridge and ideally should be of a large enough eyesize to accomodate varis, the frame he presented me with was one of those wire metal frames (the ones where you have to groove the lenses) titanium and with sides very similar to the silhouette rimless flexi ones and he wants something as close as i can find to this.
Any ideas where i can find anything of this nature?
Thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.

[CME4SPECS]

I have never heard of a "W' bridge. Zeiss had a bayonet type bridge that I'm familiar with. Do you have a picture of the bridge?

[EyeFitWell]

I'd like to know what a W bridge is, just for my own info! I wonder if it's what I'm thinking of. If it is, I had a pt recently looking for a particular bridge (but I'm not sure there's an actual name for it). I'd love to see a pic of what you're talking about.

[Bezza]

A W-bridge is a padless bridge, its name comes from the shape it forms particularly when viewed from above, they were a common feature on early spectacle frames. heres a link to a picture of one (its the one in the centre) http://www.antiquespectacles.com/credits/credits.htm

I have managed to find a few Saville Row frames from Algha Works that have them and I have a gold Chanel frame in the practice but they all seem to be round or oval in eyeshape and the guys previous pair were fairly rectangular so i dont think hes gonna go for these. Also i was hoping for something a little more modern.

[CME4SPECS]

A W-bridge is a padless bridge, its name comes from the shape it forms particularly when viewed from above, they were a common feature on early spectacle frames. heres a link to a picture of one (its the one in the centre) http://www.antiquespectacles.com/credits/credits.htm

I have managed to find a few Saville Row frames from Algha Works that have them and I have a gold Chanel frame in the practice but they all seem to be round or oval in eyeshape and the guys previous pair were fairly rectangular so i dont think hes gonna go for these. Also i was hoping for something a little more modern.

Thanks, I had never heard of them refered to as a W bridge. I actually wear one for a reading glass.
Why does it have to be that type of bridge? Can he only tolerate weight across the top of his nose? Hilco makes a bridge that stradles just the top of the bridge, that you can use on frames that have screw on adjustable unifit bridges. If that is any help.

[EyeFitWell]

OH! Saddle Bridge! (or that's what I've always heard it called)
I had one made by Kyoto from the Mona-J line-ABSOLUTELY THE MOST COMFORTABLE THING I'VE EVER WORN IN MY LIFE!!
Word of warning-do not do it in anything other than titanium. I've seen a couple of those made from stainless steel and after sitting right on the skin for a couple years, they look NASTY. But, my titanium frame still looks brand new after having worn it for about two years. I swear, it was the best. Not very common now though.
Check out Kyoto, their stuff is pretty darn cool (brand new frames made in the style of antiques). I think Toki has a couple also (made by Masunaga). Both those frames will retail well above $350 though.

[EyeFitWell]

When I went from my saddle to nosepads again, it was a difficult adjustment. The nose pads both looked wierd and felt wierd for a couple days. Funny thing-I got my old pair out a couple weeks ago and after being used to nose pads again, the saddle felt odd.

[Bezza]

he needs that type of bridge as he says he has severe sinus problems and due to operations on his nose the area where a pad would normally rest is very soft tissue as opposed to the hard bone and cartilage that would normally be present. This means that pad bridge frames cause discomfort and makes his sinus problems worse, also he is a fussy git.

[Bezza]

OH! Saddle Bridge! (or that's what I've always heard it called)
I had one made by Kyoto from the Mona-J line-ABSOLUTELY THE MOST COMFORTABLE THING I'VE EVER WORN IN MY LIFE!!
Word of warning-do not do it in anything other than titanium. I've seen a couple of those made from stainless steel and after sitting right on the skin for a couple years, they look NASTY. But, my titanium frame still looks brand new after having worn it for about two years. I swear, it was the best. Not very common now though.
Check out Kyoto, their stuff is pretty darn cool (brand new frames made in the style of antiques). I think Toki has a couple also (made by Masunaga). Both those frames will retail well above $350 though.

yeah come to think of it I have heard of them called saddle bridges before too.
Makes sense about the titanium, but who are these brands? I have never heard of them and we are easily the number one in our area for designer frames. Do you have any links to websites so i can request catalogues etc?
I dont think he will care about the price if i can find him the right thing, he's been looking all over for a frame and i'm the first one who's actually made a proper effort to help him out.

[EyeFitWell]

I was actually looking for links but both websites are down for construction. They're both from Japan and definately high end.
I will pm you with more info.

[chip anderson]

Anybody notice that the K bridge frame is exactly the "origional" Georgio Armani design?

[CME4SPECS]

Anybody notice that the K bridge frame is exactly the "origional" Georgio Armani design?

geez... "w" bridges now "k" bridges! I grew up in a town with a "y" bridge!

[Jedi]

Try Oliver Peoples. Keats is one model they have with a saddle bridge.

[FVCCHRIS]

also he is a fussy git.

Now that we have the bridge ?? solved, tell me, what's a "fussy git"?:D

[Framebender]

had a few styles with this bridge. You might be able to pick them up cheap now that Safilo is losing them.

Good luck!

[LENNY]

Tura had a titanium square and octagon frame!

[ikon44]

The minima zero is a titanium 3 pce rimles with a padless bridge,they do plenty of square shapes in the range.

They are lighter than sil titans

The uk distributor is based in North London

[Bezza]

thanks for all the suggestions guys some great frames there to choose from, will definetly be looking into getting a few of those as i havent had much luck from e-mailing our other practices with frame requests.
Although having said that, I did have a major breakthrough today when I asked our frame buyer for the 2nd time if she knew of any good ones. Alain Mikli / Starck Eyes do some fantastic rimless ones with a bridge thats not quite a W-/ saddle bridge but very similar, i think its actually a C-bridge on these.......so for anyone thats interested check out the products section of http://www.mikli.com/mikli.html they are the Starck Eyes Biolight models.
Luckily we already stock the Mikli and Starck lines so should be nice an easy to get hold of, I think my patient is gonna faint when i tell him the price but they look like exactly what he is after. :D

[EyeFitWell]

Mikli's are wonderful frames! Don't forget to break out the smelling salts!

[Chris Ryser]

http://www.eyeglasseswarehouse.com/images/19thcent1.jpg

See at: http://www.eyeglasseswarehouse.com/19th-century-spectacles.html

[chip anderson]

Most Excellent site.

[Bezza]

Yarrrrr......he's sold on the mikli's, thankfully because his previous pair were damaged in an accident and are covered by his home and contents insurance he wont have to stump up all of the £££ for them. I bet he's so glad he took out that policy now because the frame retails at almost £500 and his Rx is something like -5.00DS with -3.00 cyls R+L so depending on the eyeshape he settles on i think i'm gonna have to use 1.74 index vari's, which don't come cheap either. (need to check what he had last time first though).
I think this has turned out to be my highest value dispense for a single pair of specs yet. :bbg: