I have myopia — that means my eyes can focus close up, say for reading a book, but I can’t see clearly at a distance, say for reading a street sign. I’ve worn glasses fulltime since I was around 12.
My eyesight is important, so I have regular checks, and these days wear quality spectacles, with frames that appeal to me.
Silhouette spectacles screenshot.
A fortune on nothing
Several years ago I spent a small fortune on Silhouette frames.
There’s pretty well nothing to them: a couple of ‘temple’ pieces and a bridge across the nose, hold the actual lenses. They weigh nothing, and they sit very firmly in the correct position on my face. I love these frames.
I chose lenses with a special non-reflective coating and a high refractive index, so I can actually see without troublesome reflections. The lenses are also thin and lightweight.
Handled with care
As you can imagine, I take very good care of these glasses. They are a major investment and make it possible for me to go about my daily business and leisure.
On the rare occasions I’m not wearing them I rest them gently in a secure spot, and avoid allowing the lenses to be scratched.
A stress fracture
The other day though, in the course of normal events, I gave them quite a knock that skewed them a little, as it pulled them off my face. All seemed fine, until this morning they fell to bits. One ‘temple’ piece had clearly suffered metal fatigue and simply broke off where it was attached to the lens.
I could balance the remains on my nose, but couldn’t see correctly as they weren’t properly positioned. This would quickly lead to a headache, as well as frustration and annoyance.
My alternate choices were even older glasses that started giving me a headache within moments, and my slightly older very dark prescription sunglasses. With a lot of computer work to do, these were hardly ideal.
I went with the ’sunnies’ but set about looking for a way to get my real glasses fixed. Not an easy matter on the Saturday of a holiday weekend — my regular optometrist was closed until Tuesday.
The sunnies also made me look as if I were a blind person. On a sunny day they just look like sunglasses, but today was bleak and pouring with rain.
Me in my repaired glasses.
Saturday morning service with a smile
As it happened, my partner had some very similar Silhouette frames she no longer used. She suggested seeing if someone could take the ‘temple’ from hers and attach it to mine. We set off downtown.
Christine, at OPSM New Zealand in Willis Street, asked if I were a client of theirs. I replied that I was not, but that my problem was urgent. Making no promises, she offered to see if she could do the repair.
I left the glasses with her and went off for a hot chocolate.
When I returned Christine handed me my repaired spectacles, with a few tiny and unavoidable scratches that she pointed out to me around where the frame fixed to the lens. The scratches make no difference to my vision.
Now I can see again! What a relief!
My next question to Christine, of course, was How much?
The repair cost took my breath away
The answer came with a smile and quite astonished me: No charge.
I’ve had a busy couple of weeks, full of annoyance and irritation. Things that should have been as simple as 1, 2, 3 have ended up being 1, … extensive troubleshooting … 2, and hours or days later … 3.
For me, the broken glasses were a major disaster, with some heavy and unwelcome financial implications.
More than once on this blog I’ve complained about poor customer service from organisations I deal with. Now I can highlight excellence.
With one smile Christine restored joy to my week. Thanks OPSM.
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is jointly authored by Miraz Jordan and Maria Langer.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice. I was anticipating a disproportionate $$$.
I wear Silhouettes as well, and yes they are freaking expensive, but so worth it. My problem is that I now have graduated lenses and different astigmatisms (astigmata?) in each eye, so the lenses cost nearly as much as the frames
So glad for you. It’s awful when you spend a lot of money on what you think is a quality product and then wind up spending again on repairs. With such great customer service, I’m sure you’ll be back the next time you need new specs.
Mark: wear graduated lenses too. In fact my eyes have changed slightly since my last pair of lenses.
These are absolutely the best frames I’ve ever had.
Maria: these are quality frames. I’m guessing that whatever I did last week to snag them caused the metal to break. I can remember them snagging and can’t for the life of me remember what it was I did and how I snagged them.
It may be around 5 years that I’ve had this pair, so even if it were ‘normal’ wear and tear I can’t complain.
I adore stories like this. I had a similar (if lower value) experience last year and it was a nice reminder that some folk put people before profit.
Five years is a long time for any set of glasses. I’ve never used any main pair of mine for more than four.
I do find your choice of frames interesting, since it’s so opposite to mine. For the last ten years, I’ve always chosen relatively robust, rectangular, usually plastic frames, in part because they seem to survive the wear and tear of daily use better. Also, my myopic vision is bad enough that opticians have told me that frameless designs like the Silhouettes aren’t even feasible for me because the thick lenses I require (even with high-index) don’t really work physically in that setup. Maybe the Silhouettes are better, and thus pricier.
I just ordered two new sets of frames, both rectangular and fairly heavy, again similar in style to what I’ve been wearing for years. My daughter has come to prefer that type as well.
It only makes sense that something so important is a very personal choice for anyone.
I agree, Derek, glasses frames are an immensely personal choice. When I look back on some of my old ones….
One thing I love about the Silhouettes is that though my world is now fuzzy round the edges – where the lens stops – I don’t have a ‘frame’ around what I see. It’s fuzzy, but unbounded.
Mind you, now I write about it, I realise that there is an edge of ‘bright’.
I wore contact lenses for a decade or so, until my eyes rejected them. That was back in my twenties. I remember that thrill, and surprise, of being able to see *everything*, all the way to the edge of my vision. It was a bit overwhelming at first.
Hey Derek, Silhouettes are titanium frames (mine are anyway) and incredibly strong for their weight but, if you need Coke bottle bottoms, they’re not for you
@miraz Yeah, went through the contact phase twice (even to disposables) but, stopped wearing them because they get too dry in aircon. I believe they do graduated contacts but it’s not worth the expense to try them out.