At Urban Optiques, we’re always looking for the new and unusual to add to our eyewear collections.

We’re partial to small, exclusive independent boutique eyewear brands — especially those that show a high-level of commitment to producing not only exceptionally-designed eyeglasses and sunglasses, but also understand the value of quality over quantity.

So when we ran across RVS by V Eyewear, we were instantly enamored with not only the bold colors and distinctive retro-inspired shapes of the frames, but also the philosophy of RVS by V Eyewear and its owner Vidal Erkohen.

RVS Eyewear’s claim-to-fame is that they hand-make and assemble each frame from the ground up.  Based in Istanbul Turkey, Vidal Erkohen and RVS Eyewear produce their eyeglasses and sunglasses from the highest-quality Mazzuchelli acetate.  The acetate is left unpolished, producing a truly bold, unique matte finish that we simply haven’t seen on other frames of this quality in the marketplace.

When we contacted Vidal Erkohen to ask him about the possibility of stocking RVS Eyewear, he explained the company philosophy very succinctly:

“We believe it’s very important to produce eyewear for people who value quality over quantity. Each piece we manufacture is truly HANDMADE.  This does not mean they were “hand-placed in a case.”  Everything is truly made from hand:  From our hand painted-red screws, brand prints inside the temples made one-by-one, and hand-sewn satin cases;  all of our pieces are made with the goal to bring back the originality and quality that was put into eyewear of the past.”

RVS produces its eyewear like small batches of fine wine — their collection is relatively small compared to most eyewear lines, comprising 10 opthalmic frames and 11 sunglass models for a total of 21 frames.  Each model is typically available in five to six different colors.

Each RVS eyeglass and sunglass is limited to 1,500 pieces, making it extra-exclusive and ensuring that you’ll be only one of 1,000 people in the world to own any given RVS by V Eyewear piece.

While the collection has a definite vintage vibe to it when it comes to shape and production philosophy, the use of matte acetate and bold coloration puts a decidedly modern twist on the vintage shapes that Vidal employs. These are truly unique, bold and funky frames that only a few select eyewear boutiques worldwide carry. For that reason alone, we love them.

And apparently Nike, Footlocker and Amare Stoudemire love them as well:

A pair of the RVS by V “Noah” Eyeglasses in Grey were featured on NBA star (and avowed eyewear lover) Amare Stoudemire in the new Nike/Footlocker “The Educators” ad, thanks to the enterprising efforts of fellow opticans and eyewear lovers Silver Lining Optical in NYC.

Check it out, and then check out the photos of the RVS frames below the video and give us your opinion.

Last month Candace Dickow at 944 Detroit approached us with a very cool opportunity: 944 was looking for 10 of Metro-Detroit’s leading Independent  Trendsetters to participate in a special two-page feature in 944’s September Fashion Issue on what we thought would be hot this season in terms of fashion, style and accessories.

What we especially loved about the concept was that unlike many of the other major local, upscale lifestyle magazines in Metro-Detroit, 944 chose to focus on smaller, independent businesses, versus simply falling back on the big, upscale department stores that seem to be featured over-and-over again in other local magazines’ fashion spreads and pictorials.

At Urban Optiques, we’ve always scratched our heads when we see the local glossies turn to the giant department stores for product and insight on style trends.

We have scores of fantastic, smaller, independent boutiques and retailers right here in Metro-Detroit that have deep expertise in their industries and are blazing fashion and style trails at a pace that the more conservative department store buyers simply aren’t willing to commit to.  And many of these featured businesses are offering deeper, more unique and exclusive collections than the corporate giants at Somerset Mall. In fact, in the case of Urban Optiques, most of our eyeglasses and sunglass brands simply can’t be purchased

Last month Urban Optiques sponsored the 2nd Annual “Buy Michigan First Festival” in Northville, and based on attendance and response, there is a tremendous amount of demand in Metro-Detroit for supporting the types of businesses featured in the “Independent Trendsetters” spread in 944.  These smaller businesses create jobs, keep a large portion of their profits in the local economy, tend to reinvest into the community and are quickly putting Detroit back on the map as as an up-and-coming center of creativity, entrepreneurship — and yes — style.

So take a few minutes to check out what 944’s Independent Trendsetters have to say about the fall trends you need to watch for and most of all, consider supporting them with your business.

Featured Trendsetters:

• Sandi Dabish & Sahrob Jabero (Sway – Commerce Township)
• Jovan Kassab (JovanJane)
• Anita Sabri (Kiss & Tell – shopkissandtell.com)
• Tawny Theiu (Pink Pump –  Ann Arbor, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills)
• Leslie Binno (Royal Dutchess - West Bloomfield)
• Chantell Bacall & Nicole Nona (Nikalet.com)
• Sheryl Freedland (Ruby’s Balm – West Bloomfield)
• Bethany Shorb (Cyberoptix.com)
• Dr. Michelle Calder Cardwell (Urban Optiques Vision & Couture Eyewear – Downtown Northville)
• Amanda Kalasho & Natasha Robin (Adam & Eve – West Bloomfield)

Regardless of what you think (or if you even care) about Lindsay Lohan’s personal-problems, run-ins with the law, probation violations and occasional crimes of fashion, Lilo has always had great taste in eyewear and sunglasses.

She’s been a die-hard fan of the Sama and Badgley Mischka lines for years — frequently shopping for eyewear at Sama’s West Hollywood and Beverly Hills boutiques.  Loree Rodkin and Sama’s Sheila Vance even created a giant, oversized sunglass –  “The Lindsay” — specifically for Lohan.

So we were kind of tickled when Lohan was spotted over the weekend shopping for eyeglasses and sunglasses at the West Hollywood Destination: Sama boutique. According to Just Jared, Lindsay had just reported to the courthouse for her probation check-in and then headed over to Destination: Sama to shop for sunnies.

Now, I’ve never had to report to a probation officer (and intend to keep it that way), but I can’t think of any better activity to do after meeting with local law enforcement than to go shopping for some new sunglasses. In fact, I can’t think of any better activity to do anytime than shop for eyewear. But then again, it’s my business.

After trying on the Badgley Mischka Boyds in Crystal, Lindsay settled on a pair of Badgley Mischka Perry aviators with Sama’s new triple gradient lenses.  But while shopping, she also was caught modeling a pair of cool, oversized black eyeglasses.

Ever since the pictures of Lindsay in the black eyeglass frames hit the Internet yesterday, we’ve had several inquiries by e-mail asking what model of frames Lohan was wearing. After careful inspection of the photos, we’ve IDed the frames as the Badgley Mischka “Grant” in either “Jet” or “Smoke.”

While the Grant is a men’s frame (Badgley Mischka was one of the first eyewear lines to have distinct collections for men and women), the Grant works surprisingly well on Lohan. Big, bold, oversized frames (especially in black) continue to be very popular with both men and women this season, and the Grant definitely fits the whole “geek chic” trend in eyewear.

No word on whether Lohan actually purchased a pair of the “Grant” eyeglasses, but we thought they looked adorable on her. You tell us: Hit or Miss?

Just in time for the Fall eyewear buying season, we just received the first shipment of the latest and hottest Chrome Hearts eyeglasses and sunglasses.

Big, bold, retro-inspired acetate frames continue to be hot, hot, hot … and the first selections of the season that we received from luxury eyewear maker Chrome Hearts provide you with some amazing new eyewear options that just can’t be found anywhere else in Metro-Detroit.

We were so excited about these new 2010 Chrome Hearts models that we snapped a few pictures to get you as fired up about these designs as we are.  We’ll be adding another 15-20 additional pieces over the next few weeks, so if you don’t see something in here yet that makes your heart skip a beat (which we think is unlikely) –  keep checking back … you will.

Check them out …

Chrome Hearts 2010 Collection at Urban Optiques

Tags: Chrome Hearts, Chrome Hearts 2010 Collection, Chrome Hearts 2011 Collection, Chrome Hearts Eyeglasses, Chrome Hearts Eyewear, Chrome Hearts Metro Detroit, Chrome Hearts Sunglasses, High End Eyewear, High End Sunglasses, Leather Eyewear, Luxury Eyeglasses, Luxury Eyewear, Luxury Sunglasses, Rockstar Eyewear, Rockstar Sunglasses, Sterling Silver Eyewear, Urban Optiques Chrome Hearts Collection]]> http://www.urbanoptiques.com/6337/new-2010-chrome-hearts-arrive-at-urban-optiques/feed 0 http://www.urbanoptiques.com/6326/dr-michelle-joins-vsp-envision-newsletter-resident-vision-expert http://www.urbanoptiques.com/6326/dr-michelle-joins-vsp-envision-newsletter-resident-vision-expert#comments Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:56:40 +0000 Matt Ask the Eye DoctorDr Michelle Calder CardwellUrban OptiquesVision CareVision Care AdviceVision Care TipsVision Services PlanVSPVSP EnVisionVSP Newsletter http://www.urbanoptiques.com/?p=6326 VSP Taps Dr. Michelle to Answer Member and Reader Vision Care Questions in New Monthly National e-Mail Newsletter

This month, VSP, the largest not-for-profit vision benefits and services company in the U.S. with more than 55 million members, debuted its newly redesigned EnVision e-mail newsletter.

Aside from an entirely new look and feel, the newsletter also features a new monthly “Ask the Eye Doc” column written by Urban Optique’s own Dr. Michelle Calder Cardwell.

Dr. Michelle will be a regular, ongoing monthly contributor to EnVision — which goes out to nearly 5 million subscribers nationally — answering questions from members and the general public around vision care.  Not only are we honored and thrilled that VSP chose Dr. Michelle as its resident vision expert, but we also love the new newsletter format and design.

To sign-up for the VSP EnVision e-mail newsletter which features articles on vision care and eyewear fashion and trends, visit the VSP website.  If you want to ask Dr. Michelle a question, you can submit your questions for the “Ask The Eye Doc” monthly feature here.

August 2010 VSP EnVision Newsletter

In late July, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a report that found over a two year period, emergency rooms treated more than 33,000 injuries due to contact lenses — making the eye the most frequently injured body part among children due to medical device complications.

When we saw the report and the headlines, we weren’t entirely surprised.  Children are one of the fastest growing segments of new contact lens wearers, representing more than 10% of the total population of contact lens wearers.  The growing popularity of contacts among children makes sense: Today’s new breed of soft contact lenses are more comfortable than ever and contacts are often an attractive alternative to glasses, especially for active children, ‘tweens and teens.

On the other hand, as the report from The American Academy of Pediatric’s demonstrates, contact lenses and children can also be a recipe for injury, and possibly permanent eye damage or vision loss, if parents aren’t monitoring and supervising the wear, care and replacement of lenses in their children.

According to the data, the most-frequently reported injury diagnoses due to contact lenses were corneal contusions/abrasions, conjunctivitis and hemorrhage.  The study also showed that most contact lens complications were the result of non-compliance with the  recommended wear and care regimens, as well as replacement schedules.

Misuse of contact lenses in both adults and children can lead to problems such as eye pain, bacterial infections, corneal ulcers, and even permanent vision loss or blindness.

Are Contacts and Kids a Good Mix?

Why so many problems?

Much of it has to do with patients forgetting (or not knowing) that contact lenses are categorized by the Food and Drug Administration as medical devices.  This includes “plano” or non-correcting “cosmetic” contact lenses as well.  In other words, because of the potential for eye injury and infection posed by non-compliant contact lens use, it’s illegal to purchase any type of contact lenses without a prescription from a licensed eye care professional.

While contacts are a safe alternative to glasses for most children, the report reinforces that contact lenses do require extra attention from both the parents and the child.  While a parent should play a role in reinforcing proper care and wear of contacts, it’s ultimately up to the child to understand how to take care of their contacts, the need for regular cleaning and disinfecting, and any special instructions from their eye doctor around wear and replacement schedules. If the child is not mature enough to be responsible for the day-to-day care and maintenance of the contact lenses, then they should stick to glasses until that changes.

Tips for Helping Your Children Successfully Wear Contacts Without Complications

There are some simple tips to share with your child if they are a contact lens wearer (they apply to adults as well) that can help ensure that your child is able to successfully wear contacts without putting their vision at risk:

1. Wear the contact lenses as prescribed. Your child’s eye doctor will recommend a wearing schedule specific to the type of contact lens you prescribed. Only wear the contact lenses for the time recommended.
2. See your eye doctor annually to check your child’s contact lens prescription, and be sure they attend all follow-up eye exams.
3. Always wash hands with warm water and soap before handling contact lenses or before touching the eyes. Residue from lotions, soaps, or chemicals may stick to the contact lens, causing pain, irritation, or blurred vision.  Dry hands with a clean towel.
4. Clean and store contact lenses as prescribed (in a clean case in fresh solution). Different types of contact lenses require special care and certain types of products. Always use the eye care products recommended by your child’s eye doctor. Some eye products or eye drops are not safe for contact lens wearers. If you’re not sure, contact your eye doctor.
5. Clean the contact lens case after each use with either sterile solution or hot tap water and let air dry.
6. Never use plain water directly on contact lenses, and never put contact lenses in the mouth to “rinse” them. Microorganisms can live in even distilled water, causing infection or sight damage.
7. Clean contact lens by rubbing it gently with the index finger in the palm of the hand.  Even newer “No Rub” solutions can be made more effective with some gentle rubbing.
8. If your child develops an eye infection (signs include redness, burning, or excessive tearing), remove their contact lenses and discontinue use until you talk with the eye doctor. Wearing a contaminated pair of contact lenses will invite the infection to remain. After resuming contact lens use, closely follow your doctor’s instructions to help prevent future eye infections.
9. Never wear another person’s contact lenses, especially if they have been worn before. Using other people’s contact lenses can spread any infection or particles from their eyes to yours.
10. Wearing contact lenses may cause the eyes to become more sensitive to sunlight. Wear sunglasses with total UV protection and/or a wide brim hat when in the sun.
11. To keep the eyes lubricated, use a rewetting solution or plain saline solution.
12. Do not sleep with contact lenses in the eyes unless your child is prescribed “Extended Wear” contacts. Even then, follow your eye doctor’s recommendations around wear schedules. In some cases, your child’s eye doctor may want him or her to remove even extended wear contacts while sleeping.
13. If your child accidently falls asleep with his or her contact lenses in, be sure they put eye drops in their eyes and wait a few minutes before trying to remove the contact lenses.  Removing contacts immediately after waking (when the eyes are dry) can cause abrasion and injury to the eye.
14. Visit the eye doctor immediately if your child experiences any sudden vision loss, persistent blurred vision, light flashes, eye pain, infection, swelling, unusual redness, or irritation.
15. Don’t let the tip of solution bottles touch other surfaces, including fingers, eyes, or contact lenses. The solution can become contaminated.

Please Note: The content of this article is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your eye doctor, physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.  And remember, never disregard individual professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Internet! – Dr. Michelle

Deep down inside, we really do love Yelp at Urban Optiques. 

It’s such a great concept:  Allow people to write reviews and share their experiences at local businesses with the rest of the world. We’ve used Yelp reviews repeatedly ourselves over the years to choose everything from salons to restaurants, and not just here in Metro-Detroit, but in cities all across the country.

But over the past year, Yelp has lost its way.

And if you are a business owner or occasional “Yelper” (the term for people who write reviews on Yelp), Yelp has demonstrated that your opinion doesn’t really matter much.

We’ll set aside the allegations (and pending lawsuit) that claims Yelp “extorts” small businesses for money to remediate negative reviews. We just don’t know enough about the details of this to know if this is true or not.

But we do know that Yelp is regularly filtering real, legitimate reviews of businesses and not publishing them to a businesses Yelp profile. We know this because right now there are four of our client’s reviews that are not being shown with our listing.

Yelp: It’s Not Our Fault! It’s the Machine That Does It All!

Why does Yelp do this?

Well, they claim that they have developed an algorithm that can sort out real reviews from fake ones.

They claim this is done to protect businesses from nasty competitors writing nasty, negative reviews of you on Yelp. But they also openly admit that the algorithm filters legitimate Yelp reviews in the process. And they also admit that there is nothing that they can do about it (we have the e-mails from Yelp to prove this.)

In other words: It’s the machine that does it all (never mind that they wrote the “machine”) and Yelp takes no responsibility for the flawed monster we created.  Sorry Mr. or Mrs. small business … You might have all kinds of fans out there writing reviews on Yelp about you, but our machine knows better than anyone else who is real and who should see them or not see them.

We have written and spoke with Yelp repeatedly at Urban Optiques about the volume of reviews that are being filtered on our listing.  The answer is always the same: “Sorry, it’s the machine doing this. Can’t do anything about it. You can buy advertising with us, however.”

Must be very fulfilling for all of those young people in San Francisco to know they work for H.A.L..

I can only empathize with the hundreds of inquiries they must receive from small businesses each day saying “Why aren’t our legit reviews showing?” Good thing they have a nice, canned response ready in Outlook.

And to rub it in even more, Yelp loves to regularly send us emails telling us how we can make Yelp work for our small business.  Whenever we receive one, I always forward it to Yelp and mention to them the best way they can help us is to start showing our reviews.

I don’t get many replies back to that one.

“Hello H.A.L.”  We Are Run By A Machine of Our Own Creation At Yelp and We Can’t Do Anything About It!

No one knows how the algorithm at Yelp works (and based on Yelp’s public response to the problem, I’m not even sure Yelp understands it)  but it is clear that it’s broken.  We can prove that each client on Yelp who has written a review of Urban Optiques is real.  If Yelp would like us to produce the names and telephone numbers (with the client’s permission of course), we’d be glad to put the “algorithm programmers” in touch with the human beings the machine is saying are “fake.”

There is also some evidence that Yelp just doesn’t really like you people that don’t spend all your waking days writing reviews.  The majority of the filtered reviews of Urban Optiques are from people who have only written one review.  So the frequency and volume of a Yelper’s reviews seems to somehow play into the determination of whether it’s “real” or not.

The irony in all of this is that Yelp would not exist as a business or website were it not for the new users joining the Yelp community.

All of Yelp’s content is written by non-Yelp employees … In other words, written by you, the client or customer. Without those reviews, Yelp would have no content and no revenue model.

Zero. Zip. Zilch.

Unfortunately, new members of Yelp don’t have much incentive to write additional reviews when their first review never shows up for the business they are reviewing. Why would you want to write additional reviews when Yelp’s algorithm more or less says you don’t exist?

Fortunately, Yelp does provide business owners with the ability to see the filtered reviews.

It’s a bit like pouring salt in an open wound when you see that only two of the six reviews people have written about you are actually appearing with your listing. However, it does at least let you find the reviews on the Yelper’s individual profile page and thank them for taking the time to write a review that Yelp will probably never show.

Are You A Small Business Being Shorted By Yelp’s Filter? Post Your Filtered Reviews On Your Site!

Because we appreciate our clients taking the time to write a review of us, we think it’s only fair to do what Yelp won’t do: Which is to acknowledge your contribution and allow the public to see what you have written. So we grabbed some screen shots of the reviews Yelp won’t let you see about Urban Optiques and placed them on our “Raves and Reviews” page. You can see all of our Yelp reviews (both filtered and unfiltered) there.

We encourage every small business to claim their listing and see exactly who and what Yelp is filtering. And then we encourage you to post those filtered — but probably completely legitimate reviews — to your website.

If “The Machine” at Yelp won’t display them, then you should.

See the Urban Optiques “Filtered” Yelp Reviews

Just for fun, we’ve included a couple legit — but filtered — Yelp reviews below as well.

So to all of the clients who made the time to create a Yelp account and take a few minutes to review us, we say “thanks” even if Yelp says “No Thanks.”

Thank you for taking the time to express your feedback.  We do appreciate it.

Read on ….

In April we teased all of you with a promise that the “Maria Sherapova” Sunglasses from Tag Heuer were about to arrive at Urban Optiques.

Okay, it took a little longer than expected, but we just received the first Maria Sherapova signature sunglass in from Tag Heuer and it’s amazing:

Sporty ladies are going to love everything about this fab slightly-oversized acetate frame from Tag Heuer.  To us it whispers drinks courtside after a hard doubles match or top-down in the convertible with the wind in your hair on a Sunday afternoon.  A cute tennis outfit can’t hurt. While it’s definitely a sporty frame — it’s not a sports-frame — meaning we’d advise against wearing it during your tennis match (unless you want to see your precious suns in pieces.) This piece is all about the pre-and-after game.

Maria herself helped design this sunglass and it’s the first piece to be released in the new Maria Sherapova Eyewear Collection from Tag Heuer — the luxury watch brand’s first collection of eyewear specifically designed for  women. Look for a full optical line of women’s eyewear from Tag Heuer to debut later this year.

The Maria Sherapova sunglass comes in black or tortoise and can be fitted with prescription lenses.

Children and eyeglasses can either be a match made in heaven, or pure hell, depending on your child’s attitude toward his or her eyeglasses.

Some kids love glasses.  For example, we’ve had plenty of kids come into the boutique that put the same amount of attention into choosing their eyewear that they would place on picking out a new pair of basketball shoes or their back-to-school wardrobe. One of them even knew his brands, and had a Prada frame all picked out until mom reminded him that his active lifestyle probably wasn’t the best fit for a fashion frame.

On the other hand, there are those children who despise their glasses and would rather never see the chalk board or TV than wear them. Often, it’s just a matter of finding the right frames for them, but if they’ve had a bad experience with eyeglasses in the past, you’ll have a bit of work to do convincing them to give it another shot.

Regardless of which group your child in glasses falls into, we recently came across a fantastic website for the families and friends of toddlers and children in glasses: www.LittleFourEyes.com

LittleFourEyes was started by blogger Ann Zawistoski, who began the site while getting glasses to correct Strabismus in her 14 month old daughter Zoe.  Ann is just one of nearly a dozen regular contributors to the blog.  Little Four Eyes is geared toward parents with children under five who wear glasses or are about to begin wearing glasses. However, the site has all kinds of great information and resources that can apply to older-children in glasses as well.

What we really love about Little Four Eyes is all of the practical advice being shared by other parents as they learn how to help their children embrace their eyeglasses. There is an entire page of links to external resources and articles about vision care for children, tutorials on understanding the different lens options available, personal stories, information for people who need financial aid to help correct their child’s vision, book reviews and even special coloring books with thicker lines for children who are undergoing patching!

There are also lots of great pictures from members of the site of their toddlers and little ones in some very adorable eyewear.

Browsing the site, we found all kinds of links to resources that even we didn’t know existed around children, eyewear and pediatric vision care.

While we can’t vouch for the accuracy of all of the information on the site (a lot of it is use generated), we can tell you that it’s one of the best overall resources we’ve seen on the web for parents and families with small children in eyeglasses.

Check it out when you get a chance!

Just in time for the Fall eyewear season, we picked up a 3/4 page Q&A in the Northville Record!

Not only were we thrilled with the coverage, but we are also extremely pleased with how well it represents who we are, what we do and what we believe sets us apart from nearly every other Metro-Detroit eyewear boutique and optometrist.

Check it out (click on the image for larger version):