Silhouette: authentic eyewear only

For yearsSilhouette, the company which specializes in the production of frames for sunglasses and prescription glasses, has been fighting against the counterfeiting of ultra-light titanium glasses Titan Minimal Art, created in 1999 and with worldwide sales to date totaling over 4 million pairs.

Immediately after the launch of this innovative product, a problem has arisen which is getting worse every year: counterfeiting.

Six years after the launch, Titan Minimal Art glasses are still the most sold, but the downside is that they are also the most copied. It is for this reason that Silhouette deems it appropriate to list the distinctive characteristics that differentiate TMA glasses from fakes.

Both the material - titanium - and the design of these glasses are copied with ever-increasing speed. 'We have noticed this at many international fairs, where we found we were competing with companies that presented models apparently identical to ours' said Tassilo Gruber, member of the Board of Directors of Silhouette International.

The last episode was at Mido 2005 - the International Fair held every year in Milan - where an exhibitor was selling counterfeit Titan Minimal Art glasses and was forced to close down the stand.

Despite the high number of fakes that flood the market - 'unfortunately, a problem that is regularly increasing' Gruber added 'the only original Titan Minimal Art frames in titanium are still the ones produced by Silhouette. Each model has the Silhouette logo stamped on the ends of the side pieces which are flat at the temples and rounded at the ends.

Confirming the absolute quality of each item produced by Silhouette, every Titan Minimal Art frame goes through 130 different processing stages, 80% of which are carried out manually and only 20% by machine. Totally artisan processing confirms the high standards of quality of a collection that deserves public recognition.

Silhouette frames are also sold exclusively at opticians' stores. 'Opticians are our exclusive partners as they are the only people who can explain the unique characteristics of Silhouette frames', is the company's attitude towards opticians as expressed by Gruber. 'Frames sold in discount stores which claim to be Titan Minimal Art are certainly fakes; only the best opticians receive Silhouette originals'.

Silhouette reiterated its commitment to the fight against fakes. 'It is our duty towards the partners we work with. Even they have confirmed that they want only Silhouette original frames, not low-cost copies. We will never stop fighting this problem which we consider to be absolutely unacceptable', Gruber concluded.