They're just too...

[opty4062]

For the Mom's who have to come in to your office to have their young son's metal frames realigned every 3-4 days, there are no better franes than TMA from Silhouette.

B

Very good point. Personally I love my various silhouette frames for their comfort and the clean look.

[jmainwar]

Ditto on Silhouette, we cleared the last three off the board from the previous owner and have not looked back. So many neat things out there to have all the eggs in one basket. I have one a month come back broken (the previous doc was there alone with a secretary and only saw an avg of 6 a day). The company has been a pain to deal with even when wanting to pay cash for parts. Still haven't heard from the rep and we have been here 8 months.

[Diopterman]

For the Mom's who have to come in to your office to have their young son's metal frames realigned every 3-4 days, there are no better franes than TMA from Silhouette.

B

I wonder how many Moms are willing to fork out the scratch to pay for one though!

Most of my local Moms cry and complain over the price of disco'ed Diplomat frames!*



*While having several pair of Whatever Uppitty Name brand is "In" frames for themselves. They also tend to be the Moms who would rather die than not have a pair of super expensive sunglasses but somehow think that little Jeremy and Jerilyn don't need sunglasses.

[anthonyf1509]

The ONLY line in Silhouette's collection, (and we carry 8 pieces in 5 styles + 2 crystals and 2 suns) that I've experienced breakage and patient dissatisfaction in my 3 years are the TMA. Not a single one of the many other styles we've sold have broken.
Not anyone else with the same temple breakage out there?
They are, or we're the #1 seller by far, but now the Dynamics or Impressions exceed those - mainly because I wear those and recommend them.
But still curious if others experience the same agony of patients annoyed at spending $99 18 months later, and then $99 more 9 months after that, then $99 more 6 months after that....
I know, they're better replacing the whole thing etc, but they have a choice.
ZERO breakage on my other styles...

[Johns]

It absolutely does help to wear the product.

Selling them is not an issue. Drill a 49mm in a dog bone, install demos, and I can sell it. What drives my loyalties is what happens after the sale.

Up until recently we could not emphasize enough how great the frames were. It seems like the quality has gone downhill in the last couple years and the customer service is no longer a high priority

Again, there are soooo many companies out there that really appreciate our business.

[NCspecs]

I do very well with Charmant Line Art in my office, as well as Tag Heuer. Both are made with exceptional materials in my opinion and I've never had a moments issue with manufacturer warranties.

We dealt with customer service issues with Silhouette as well so it's no longer an option for our office. I do stand behind the quality of Silhouette however, it is a very good product.

I will not work with the Marchon Air Lock frames or Pavi Optical. Nothing but heartache with those frames especially the Pavi *shudder*. I think cheap drills are an exceptionally bad idea. I buy what I can back up in quality and I tell our patients as much. A cheap drill will act cheap in my opinion.

When dealing with breakages (which is virtually never with the brands we carry) I just use a piece from a display frame if the patient is in a pinch. We don't typically use our board stock when we fit a drill.

As for patient's preferences- it doesn't bother me when someone doesn't care for the style. I'm not trying to bring them to Jesus, I'm just looking for a frame we can both agree on. More often than not, I have to talk people out of wearing them because of fit or asthetic issues! :)

[opty4062]

I'm not trying to bring them to Jesus, I'm just looking for a frame we can both agree on.

+1 This may be my new motto! :)

[tx11]

SOOO... Do you think that semi-rimless is favored more by people? Almost the same look but more durable. Usually less expensive (lower lab fee..no drill).

[CoolOptician]

Wow, interesting read, and all the different takes on rimless product. 1st question, #1 reason they think they don't want it, "it seems too fragile", but we show them the flexon hard case that was ran over on a highway, many times, and then a sheriff's deputy went and got it for the patient. She had the older select 1300 with Phoenix Trivex and Super Hi-Vision. Glasses were ran over several times in that case. It was flat as a pancake. But nothing was broken, and only needed some adjustment. Not our only 'success story' as we had a man run over his with a 29,000 pound bucket truck. Broke an endpiece, but nothing else. Lady ran over her's with her truck and horse trailer, same thing. We tell them, 'the strength is in the lenses and if you chose the right product you actually have stronger eyewear.' The lightweight comfort, and the ability to customize (shape and size) kept people coming back to us for those over and over again. We did mix it up with lots of the designer temples (we had no problem with Airlocks, I have three), plus we did very well with the Line Art line as well....and other Charmant Titaniums. We stayed away from the Silhouette line as well....for many of the same complaints listed here, and especially what Johns said. The SAS was a part of our life too. Nice lady, but no effort. I think people who are looking for the 'eye-jewelry' that rimless can be, are not going to be attracted to semi-rimless. The people (in our practice) that went there were the ones who just didn't want to spend the extra cost for the premium product. And there was no way we would have gotten the mom's to get the kids rimless. One lady was willing to 'splurge' for that for her daughter. She never came back again.

[Barry Santini]

I wonder how many Moms are willing to fork out the scratch to pay for one though!

Most of my local Moms cry and complain over the price of disco'ed Diplomat frames!*



*While having several pair of Whatever Uppitty Name brand is "In" frames for themselves. They also tend to be the Moms who would rather die than not have a pair of super expensive sunglasses but somehow think that little Jeremy and Jerilyn don't need sunglasses.

That's easy.

$299 complete with poly SR.
$399 complete with Trans SR.

No problem with pricing.

B

[Java99]

I carry Silhouette and my rep does her job. I had a client run her TMA through a front loading washing machine last week, no damage. I was in shock. Even the Crizal was in fine shape.

Of course, I had to reorder them for her today, because she lost them but that's a whole other story.

[TLG]

For the Mom's who have to come in to your office to have their young son's metal frames realigned every 3-4 days, there are no better franes than TMA from Silhouette.

B

Wow, not my experience at all. I quit selling TMA. About a week ago, I looked at my frame/parts reorder book and counted 11 of the previous 13 orders were for Silhouette parts - and I really don't sell that many. I don't return for credit right away either; I wait a couple weeks until they pile up and send a bunch back at a time. Worst product I've ever seen from a breakage standpoint...and I've never sold a single one to a child (can't imagine they're easier on them than adults).

[mal21]

1- They make you look 10 years older than you actually are.

I'm 22 and I rock a rimless frame every day at work and get positive feedback from my customers. My 82 year old grandmother actually told me tonight that I look so much more youthful in my rimless glasses. She claims my full frames make me look like "an old librarian"

[NCspecs]

I'm 22 and I rock a rimless frame every day at work and get positive feedback from my customers. My 82 year old grandmother actually told me tonight that I look so much more youthful in my rimless glasses. She claims my full frames make me look like "an old librarian"

With all due respect, it's hard to look like an old "anything" at 22 no matter what frame you are wearing. :)

[dave.fant.lab]

We don't even place orders for a drill mount unless the patient is willing to pay for a trivex upgrade. We've hard far too many problems with labs and drill mounts, even with poly lenses. We've yet to have to send back a drill mount with a trivex lens.

[Psychobablr7]

We don't even place orders for a drill mount unless the patient is willing to pay for a trivex upgrade. We've hard far too many problems with labs and drill mounts, even with poly lenses. We've yet to have to send back a drill mount with a trivex lens.

+1

[CoolOptician]

+1

+100 Hoya Phoenix is our 'trivex of choice!'

[Chris Ryser]

+100 Hoya Phoenix is our 'trivex of choice!'

According to "Vision Ease" your main OptiBoard sponsor and polycarbonate Lens Manufacturer, you can have safe, non ceazing rimless mountings with less expensive poly lenses, when you seal yourself or request your lab to seal the drill holes.

See: ---------------> http://www.vision-ease.com/Portals/V...lessMounts.pdf

You solve the problem of crazing drillholes, and there is no need to promote more expensive lenses because of breakages that do not have to happen if the work is done properly.

[CoolOptician]

According to "Vision Ease" your main OptiBoard sponsor and polycarbonate Lens Manufacturer, you can have safe, non ceazing rimless mountings with less expensive poly lenses, when you seal yourself or request your lab to seal the drill holes.

See: ---------------> http://www.vision-ease.com/Portals/V...lessMounts.pdf

You solve the problem of crazing drillholes, and there is no need to promote more expensive lenses because of breakages that do not have to happen if the work is done properly.

Thanks Chris, for the information. I'll check it out. I guess being able to 'assure' the patient no breakage (after some of our patient's experiences) was a definite plus for me. I do admit, though, to not being the 'manufacturing Optician' in our office. That was my husband, so I was unaware of that procedure.

[Psychobablr7]

Wow! Thanks Chris! That will definitely help if we use poly. What do we do about the chipping around the edges? Is there something like this we can put on the edges?

[tx11]

Thanks Chris, for the information. I'll check it out. I guess being able to 'assure' the patient no breakage (after some of our patient's experiences) was a definite plus for me. I do admit, though, to not being the 'manufacturing Optician' in our office. That was my husband, so I was unaware of that procedure.

+1

[Chris Ryser]

Wow! Thanks Chris! That will definitely help if we use poly. What do we do about the chipping around the edges? Is there something like this we can put on the edges?

Just think about the times when there was no plastic and only glass. Glass is very brittle and the high index glass (Flint) is super brittle and still rimless frames have been in fashion forever even then. There was always the occasional breakage and new lenses to be made because they did break. Also there was no warranty against breakage.......you broke it and you had to replace and pay for it.

There are no chemical solutions against chipping of the edges..............but there is something that we all did to the glass lenses, even more so to the rimless ones, we added a safety bevel were the lens bevel meets the lens surface, this would take of the sharpness of the edge, and buffer it from an impact that could develop into chipping. An old trick from old times but one that works.

[Psychobablr7]

Just think about the times when there was no plastic and only glass. Glass is very brittle and the high index glass (Flint) is super brittle and still rimless frames have been in fashion forever even then. There was always the occasional breakage and new lenses to be made because they did break. Also there was no warranty against breakage.......you broke it and you had to replace and pay for it.

There are no chemical solutions against chipping of the edges..............but there is something that we all did to the glass lenses, even more so to the rimless ones, we added a safety bevel were the lens bevel meets the lens surface, this would take of the sharpness of the edge, and buffer it from an impact that could develop into chipping. An old trick from old times but one that works.

Thanks for the info Chris. Sadly, even with this trick I still encounter cracking and chipping on the edges way too often in the poly lenses no matter what quality is used. We have switched our patients from poly to trivex because of this and have had much better results.

[Chris Ryser]

I still encounter cracking and chipping on the edges way too often in the poly lenses no matter what quality is used. We have switched our patients from poly to trivex because of this and have had much better results.

You are making the decisions for your own business and are doing the right thing by investigating what could help solving a problem and then following the trail thats best for you.

[wearegood]

They like to have another style or they need to consider the price.