Materials & Craft

A hinge feels good when it opens and closes with a smooth, even resistance — no grinding, no sudden give, no floppy overshoot — and when it holds the temple exactly where you set it, pair after pair, for years. That feel comes from tolerances, spring behaviour and material choice, not from any one mechanism … Read more

Plating is a thin layer of metal — usually gold, palladium, rhodium or a coloured alloy — deposited electrochemically over a base frame metal to give it colour, shine or corrosion resistance. It wears through because it is genuinely thin, measured in microns, and every point where the frame touches skin, hair or a cleaning … Read more

Frames yellow and go brittle because the material they’re made from is slowly breaking down at a chemical level. Most plastics used in eyewear contain plasticisers and stabilisers that keep them flexible and clear. Over years, those additives migrate out, oxidise, or degrade under UV and heat — leaving a frame that looks amber and … Read more

Hand-polishing removes the last, fine layer of material left by milling and cutting, rounding every edge and corner until the acetate is smooth to the touch and glassy under light. It does not change the colour or structure of the material — it changes how the surface reflects light, how the frame feels against skin, … Read more

A frame is made by cutting a rough shape from flat sheet material or metal stock, machining it down to the finished silhouette, drilling and fitting the hinges and lens openings, then polishing and finishing by hand or machine. What separates a good frame from a poor one is how much of that process is … Read more

A rivet hinge is the plainest kind of hinge there is: a metal pin pushed through interlocking barrels on the temple and the front, then flattened or peened at both ends so it can never work loose. There’s no spring, no give, no cushioning. Some makers still use it because that rigidity is exactly the … Read more

A wooden frame is genuinely lighter and warmer against the skin than most acetate or metal, and no two pairs look quite the same because the grain runs differently through each one. The trade-off is that wood is less forgiving to adjust, more sensitive to moisture and sweat, and needs a specialist rather than a … Read more

Horn and buffalo horn frames are eyewear made from the keratin horn of water buffalo (or occasionally other cattle), cut, heated and pressed into shape rather than moulded from plastic. No two pieces look alike — the mottling, translucency and colour banding come from the animal itself, which is exactly the point for people who … Read more

Stainless steel in glasses is a durable, corrosion-resistant frame metal that sits between everyday alloys like Monel and premium options like titanium — stronger than most budget metals, heavier than titanium, and largely immune to the rust and skin discolouration that cheaper metal frames can develop over time. What exactly is stainless steel in a … Read more

Monel is a nickel-copper alloy, and it turns up in eyewear because it solders easily, holds a spring temper well, and resists corrosion better than plain steel — all at a manufacturing cost far below titanium. That combination is why so many metal frames, from budget to mid-range designer, use it somewhere, usually in the … Read more