I've been slightly careless, the damage seen in the photo was not caused by cleaning my lenses this time but from knocking my swissflex glasses off a low table onto the floor - a drop of about two foot. The floor is carpeted with a good underlay so the resulting break was disappointing and unexpected.
The optician said they would not replace just the one broken lens now as the spectacles are over two years old and apparently the transition / photo-chromatic coating on the current lenses would not react exactly the same as that of a brand new lens, so I'd have to have both lenses replaced at a cost of around £300.
I will say that after some initial adjustments and slight smoothing along the sharp edges of the plastic stems my swissflex were a very lightweight and comfortable eye-wear choice. Looks wise these specs are second to none but the one thing I didn't like about swissflex is their fragility and ultimately that became the deciding factor when it came to replacing them or just the lenses. I've now replaced my swissflex rimless frames with Titanium full frames because to me substance is more important than style.
I will say that after some initial adjustments and slight smoothing along the sharp edges of the plastic stems my swissflex were a very lightweight and comfortable eye-wear choice. Looks wise these specs are second to none but the one thing I didn't like about swissflex is their fragility and ultimately that became the deciding factor when it came to replacing them or just the lenses. I've now replaced my swissflex rimless frames with Titanium full frames because to me substance is more important than style.
Not sure why your pair is so fragile, I had my swissflex classic pair of glasses for 3 years now and it never broke no matter how rough I got with it.
ReplyDeleteI even got punched in the face and it just flew right off my face, unscathed, although the lens did cut into my eyelid and gave me a black eye.
You must just be lucky I guess, except for getting punched in the face of course ;)
ReplyDeleteOut of interest are you short sighted? I think that type of lens which is thickest around its edge would be much better suited to rimless frames than my lenses which have to be quite thin at the edge...
Hello, how is your swissflex now? Is it available for sale?
ReplyDeleteHello my name is Cynthia I am a Swissflex dealer in Richmond Virginia . My shoppe is Carytown Optical. It is very likely that your optician or optical store did not choose the proper material. It is recommended by Swissflex to have the lenses made of Trivex or High Index and not Poly Carbonate. Also, swissflex rarely break while wearing them. It is usually when they are off of the face. The stories I hear are that they are sat on or rolled over on or stepped on because they are almost invisible !! Repairs should only take days. Orders with custom lenses should only take days ( aprox 5 to 7 ) don't let a swissflex dealer hold your eyewear hostage for weeks. Something is wrong with their relationship with Swissflex/Italee(distributor in U.S) such as their finances. Overall, my Swissflex customers are thrilled with the comfort and flexibility. I recommend the comfort cable temples.
ReplyDeleteAfter having purchased Swissflex frames over the past 4 years, the amount of repairs to both temples and the nose piece are sufficient information that the frames are absolutely too fragile to sustain normal usage. Suggesting these frames for children is absolutely irresponsible.
ReplyDeleteI just ordered this brand of glasses. I sure hope that mine stay together. I ordered the sunglass piece and I will cancel that. Why spend the money when the frames are questionable? They were the most comfortable of all I tried on when I was in the shop and this is important to me. I work with someone who has a pair of these and she loves hers. So, fingers crossed! If they break then they will definitely be my last pair though.
ReplyDeleteI am so surprised to read what happened to you. I agree that your lens may not have been the proper kind. My daughter has always had a pair of Swissflex from the time she was 2. Granted she doesn't wear rimless yet, but she and I have always loved them for the light weight and flexibility. She has never broke any of them. We have never had any trouble at all other than having the nose piece replaced from time to time and that was always super easy as the store always had extras. Sorry you had problems. I'm a bit worried now as her next pair will mostly likely have to be rimless as that is all I see here in the US, we've just moved here from Italy.
ReplyDeleteI was sooo disappointed with my swissflex, too. I wish I could post the pics here for u to see. The optical shop where I bought it said swissflex are flexible and won't break easily. But just yesterday, the right temple of my eyeglasses broke after it was bumped by my 4-year old son while kissing my cheeks. I was so disappointed. And replacing the temple costs like buying a new one. It was not worth the cost I paid for it.
ReplyDeleteI bought a pair of Swissflex Rimless (clear) glasses (sort of by accident) in 2006. Basically, I went to the eye doctor, saw them, and loved the look. They were quite a bit more expensive than any I ever had before. But then, I never got the compliments before that I got on these. And mine were lineless bifocals and the optics were excellent!
ReplyDeleteI'm a little shocked to hear about all of the problems others have had with Swissflex. I never had any problem with mine, and I handled them relatively roughly (cleaned them with toilet paper, etc.).
One time my wife got mad and smacked them off my face. They flew across the room. When I picked them up the nose piece was missing but the frames were intact. I had moved to a different city so I found an optician who carried Swissflex and he installed a new nose piece (on the spot) for free.
A few years later I took them off one day sitting outside in the grass. And I (stupidly) laid them down on the ground. Later I got up and walked off and left them laying there. When I came back to look for them they had been hit by a lawnmower. Needless to say, that was the end of that pair! And I have been wearing "cheapies" ever since.
Now, a few years later, I really miss those Swissflex glasses. Besides the excellent comfort and appearance, I think the optics were better than anything I have had since. But it is very distressing to read about all of the problems people have with these glasses. Maybe I was just really lucky? At $500+ a pair, the $250 rimless glasses you can get elsewhere (with warranties and solid companies behind them) is pretty tempting.
In my understanding after quite a bit of research, Swissflex and Italee (their American lab and distributor) are parting ways. Not good!
If Swissflex isn't any more durable than that (or the company any more stable than that), it seems to me like some Chinese or Japanese company should jump out there selling "knockoffs" for a fraction of the price. They pretty much have to be pure profit. After all, there isn't 2 bucks worth of plastic in the frames. (And you should be able to tie them in knots without them breaking.)
The bottom line is, if anyone hears of a good alternative to Swissflex/Eyephorics rimless glasses please let me know!