Our Process & Materials

Most inexpensive sunglasses are injection-molded: plastic pellets are melted, shot into a mold, and colored on the surface. Ours start as a slab of cellulose acetate — a plant-derived material made from wood pulp and cotton — between 4 and 6 mm thick. Fronts and temples are cut from that slab, so the color runs all the way through the material instead of sitting on top of it. The thickness is what gives the frame its heft, and why a scuff doesn't reveal a different color underneath.

Cut acetate has sharp, dull edges. Each frame is tumbled to round them off, then buffed by hand. That's where the deep, glassy finish comes from — and why the edges feel smooth where the frame touches your temples and nose.

The hinge is where cheap sunglasses fail first. A molded plastic pivot, or a single metal barrel, puts all of the stress on one small point. Every Tide frame uses five interlocking metal barrels set into the acetate, so the load is spread across five contact points. The arm swings open with a firm, even motion, stays aligned, and holds its screw tension. If it ever loosens, it's a standard screw — a small screwdriver fixes it.

A metal wire runs through the length of each arm (you can see it through the clear temples on The Offshore). It stiffens the temple, and it lets an optician warm and bend the arm to fit your head — and it holds that shape afterward.

Tri-acetate cellulose (TAC) lenses with a polarizing film cut reflected glare off water, roads and snow, and block ultraviolet light up to 400 nm — 100% of UVA and UVB. TAC is light, which keeps the weight in the frame where it belongs.

A thin molded frame is light everywhere, so it flexes, slides down your nose and creaks at the hinge. A thick acetate front with metal-cored temples and five-barrel hinges carries its weight across the brow and along the arms. It sits evenly instead of tipping forward, and it feels solid when you fold it — which is the first thing most people notice when they pick up a pair.

Production runs arrive at our warehouse in Grand Rapids, where we count and inspect them before anything goes on the shelf. When you order, we pull your pair, check it again, pack it by hand with its case, pouch and cloth, and ship it from that building — usually within one to two business days.