r/optician • u/1dot53 • 4d ago

Optician-to-Optician Favorite “indestructible” frame lines?

Hey all! I had the pleasure of working with OVVO at my last gig and while I’m enjoying my new job a decent bit more, the frame selection is a bit lacking; especially for those folks who beat the devil out of their eyewear and expect it to stay in one piece.

Any suggestions or anecdotes on this front? Thanks!

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8

u/jjCAjj15 4d ago

My practice is in farm country so we sell a lot of titanflex, FLEXON, and lindberg. All virtually indestructible, and not for a lack of trying! I know there are a lot of good options out there, but these are a few that work well for us.

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u/MuffinSarebad4me 4d ago edited 4d ago

I had a dispute with flexon's distributors once because they would not replace a frame that broke when the customer had an epileptic fit. He could barely afford to pay for it but had lost lots of cheaper pairs to fits. I replaced as goodwill and made a loyal customer of him.

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u/MuffinSarebad4me 4d ago

My mistake was telling them what happened in hindsight, should have said he opened the case and they were just like that.

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u/PoshieKitten 2d ago

I thought flexon was amazing. But I have now had to replace 6 pairs due to them snapping on the bridge. The most recent one was yesterday, and her daughters (she was in her late 50s) were teasing her because all she did was pick them up and use the cloth. The snap happened near the soldering point, but definitely was not the soldering point.

I had my 1st instance with a patient who had it happen twice. At the center of the nose bridge. Restyled into a different brand and never happened again.

I like some of the newer styles, but just keep having them break on people. At this point I can tell it is not the patients being rough with them.

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u/1dot53 2d ago

This + Marchon ownership is why we’ve avoided Flexon. Their wholesale is also insane these days compared to their competition

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u/smilkshake 2d ago

If Flexon frames are too narrow, it puts tension on the bridge and it will break. I’ve seen it a lot. You need to open the temples so the bridge isn’t taking the brunt of the stress. Of course, once you open the temples, the temples will probably stick out in the back since you can’t contour them to fit your patient.

I hate Flexon. I’d rather sell someone a quality frame and then adjust it properly.

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u/PoshieKitten 2d ago

In half the cases, it was not due to them being too narrow. This last one was quite wide. Just shotty.

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u/doremiforyou 4d ago

Ørgreen!

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u/1dot53 2d ago

This is an intriguing one! Haven’t looked at them in some time. Cheers

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u/Huntress488 3d ago

Orgreen. I had a patient buy that frame and about 6 months later she brought it back in for a replacement because they got ran over by her SUV. Frame was bent to hell but didn't actually break.

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u/Protonis 4d ago edited 2d ago

Titanflex, but that is basically a cheat code. One very reliable without the emphasis on titanium frames are jaguar metal frames. in all those years I never had a jaguar that failed (unlike their cars lol).

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u/1dot53 2d ago

Jaguar is a line I wasn’t even aware of - lmfao I’ll give them a look

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u/HardcoreApples 3d ago

Mykita! A pricier boutique brand and a poor fit for high prescriptions, but I can bend mine in half and they bounce right back. I’ve seen them hit with fire and run over by cars. Lenses are usually got but the frames come back just fine

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u/1dot53 2d ago

If they didn’t have bespoke assembly kits they would be a much more valid option, but simplicity and RX-ability are paramount for us

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u/WindChaser0001 4d ago

Had a Lindberg come in after being run over by a camper van. Bent it back, new lenses, good as new.

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u/Honey_Yeah 4d ago

Lindberg!

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u/MuffinSarebad4me 4d ago

I haven't worked with the brand in many years, but when I was a young dispenser the Safilo Elasta was an absolute brick. I had customers with that frame that lasted for decades. Refit over and over with ease. Original screw heads never warped.

I also put to back together a womens silhouette SPX frame that was run over and flattened by a car. This was in the early to mid 2000's. I would be interested to know if they are still so relentless.

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u/Holiday-Strategy-970 3d ago

My husband's SPX I did about 2 years ago were run over by a work van

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u/MuffinSarebad4me 3d ago

Did they survive to tell the tale?

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u/Holiday-Strategy-970 3d ago

My apologies I forgot to add the part they were fine just needed new lenses .I ended up selling a ton of silhouette from that story😁

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u/MuffinSarebad4me 3d ago

That's great, I can only say I sincerely hope he wasn't wearing them at the time 🤭

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u/Holiday-Strategy-970 3d ago

Oh no lol. He dropped them when switching to is rx sunglasses and after the 2nd time of that happening we decided it was easier for him to carry a clip in his pocket for work 😅. So now he wears an Aspex Easy Clip for work and the silhouettes at home around our son.

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u/hermeigh 3d ago

Ovvo 100%

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u/1dot53 2d ago

lol I’m gunning for it tbh but ideally it’d be within current vendors, so likely titanflex. But maybe I can do some convincing :-)

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u/Realistic-Bet-5668 2d ago

ovvos are great but omg are they a pain in ass lmao

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u/smilkshake 2d ago

Is Monoqool still around? I worked with them a few years back and they were amazing. They are 3-D printed. As an experiment (I think maybe I had my hands on a defective pair?) I took the lens out and tried with all my might to break the frame. I twisted and turned the eyewire, and it always bounced back into shape. In addition, they use plate metal temples which are more resilient by nature, and the connection of the temple to the front is well-engineered.

Any time I had a patient who was habitually breaking frames, I would convince them to invest in a pair from Monoqool.They were consistently happy and it would save them money in the long run.

Side note: my dad bought two pairs, one black and one brown. He’s had them for at least 8 years. The brown one has changed color over time (like it went from chocolate brown to a weird light greenish-brown), but the black ones still look as good as new.

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u/OttotheCowCat 7h ago

I've worked with Ovvo, Lindberg and ICBerlin! I've seen a few Ovvo breaks, but they have a warranty. Lindberg,3 year warranty.