I just received a pair of Savile Row glasses in chestnut/rhodium which I've been thinking about for three years after I had issues with my blonde/gold pair. Just had to have them anyway as I love dark wood furniture with silver hardware. Anyway, what I'm wondering is if they've drastically changed the thickness of the cable temple as well as the shape of the acetate sleeve. My old ones are very thick metal with a nice taper to the front of the acetate. They are also missing the Savile Row logo which my old ones have/had. The new ones are MUCH thinner metal with no taper at all to the acetate, which gives it a less finished look. I've contacted Peter from Algha for advice who said all Savile Row temples should have the logo. I've also contacted Berkshire and the retailer, but they're both out for Labor Day. The biggest thing I'm worried about is that there are no returns because it was a special order, but it's hard to find anyone who will order these. Frames Direct doesn't carry the SR line anymore, just the regular Berkshires.
My suspicion is that because of the "odd" color, they may have put Berkshire "non rolled gold" temples on a Savile Row frame(the bridge is stamped 14K RG). I really hope I'm wrong. I'll let you guys know what turns up.
Here are some pics of the discrepancies.
Last edited by Kittlemeier on Fri Oct 08, 2010 12:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
Got a response from Berkshire that they don't stock the thicker cables in rhodium/chestnut. They're special ordering them and should be here at the end of this month. Good enough result I guess, but if I hadn't noticed...
Mine are like the thicker gold version you show in your photos.
A tip...don't get too close to heat wearing your glasses. The trim around the frames tend to pop off.
No big deal for me, as I think the 14k gold frame underneat is gorgous, so I just cleaned off the old glue and wear mine without....but they WILL pop due to exposure to heat.
I was cooking fish on my barbecue gas grill when mine gave way.
You gotta take the fish off the grill to smell it!
So the retailer contacted me and were none too happy with Berkshire's sending out a half premium frame. They were very apologetic and gave me the option of them handling the problem or me handling it myself without the middle man. They said they were going to check the invoice to see if they'd been charged full price. I'll probably just go through BC to save time. The whole thing is pretty annoying really. I'd much rather have just waited for a back order.
I would love to go straight to Peter but I use my FSA mastercard for this kind of stuff, so it's (ideally) easier to go through a US company. I doubt I could even get reimbursed if it was purchased through a British company.
Judging by what several retailers have said, Berkshire just seems like a pain to deal with on a regular basis, but to pull something like this? The more I think about it, just seems shady. Obviously they knew and didn't say anything to the retailer. Seems like they'd realize though that someone who would order this frame just might have ordered it before. The thing they should have done is lay out the options to take what they had and keep it, take what they had and exchange it, or just wait a couple of weeks for the right parts.
I'm sure I'll be somewhat less annoyed when I get the correct temples.
My frames and cables are marked 14k gold filled, so one can only wonder if they're trying to cut corners in order to keep the price under control, as if they had to factor in the price of gold, it would jack up the price a great deal.
Michaelson wrote: one can only wonder if they're trying to cut corners in order to keep the price under control, as if they had to factor in the price of gold, it would jack up the price a great deal.
That's what I'd put my money one...I guess I already have.
Well BC received my glasses on Monday and shipped them yesterday, so hopefully in a day or two I'll be able to report some good news...a month later. I went ahead and sent the frames with the new prescription lenses just in case anything crazy happens like the frame exploding or something.
I asked if they could send me one of the cool Savile Row cases I've seen people getting from Algha. They said they don't carry those because of the shipping charges to get them here. I understand that I guess. I'd like to have one but I don't really need it. I may contact Peter at Algha to see if he'll sell me a couple.
Alright, finally. I know it's not screen accurate but I really love this color combo. The new ones are silver/chestnut in size 45 and the older are gold/blonde in size 47. Love them both. Strangely I have no desire for the screen accurate gold/chestnut.
One strange thing I noticed on these is that the acetate on the sleeve is more of a solid brown, rather than flecked like the acetate around the eyewire. I looked at some of the other threads with chestnut frames and it seems to be the case on older ones as well. There was a bit of dark/less dark separation on the temples I returned but it's just not there on these. Not really noticeable unless one really looks them over but strange none the less.
Looks like the same is true of the brown temples on these. I don't see any separation of color on the temples.
Anyway, what I'm wondering is if they've drastically changed the thickness of the cable temple as well as the shape of the acetate sleeve. My old ones are very thick metal with a nice taper to the front of the acetate. They are also missing the Savile Row logo which my old ones have/had. The new ones are MUCH thinner metal with no taper at all to the acetate, which gives it a less finished look. I've contacted Peter from Algha for advice who said all Savile Row temples should have the logo. I've also contacted Berkshire and the retailer, but they're both out for Labor Day. The biggest thing I'm worried about is that there are no returns because it was a special order, but it's hard to find anyone who will order these. Frames Direct doesn't carry the SR line anymore, just the regular Berkshires.
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