An inexpensive frame does not fail because it is inexpensive. It fails in one of about four predictable ways, and three of them are avoidable with habits that cost nothing.
The one-handed removal
Taking glasses off with one hand pulls the frame diagonally, and every removal twists the hinge slightly. Do it twice a day for a year and the frame no longer sits level. Two hands, straight back along the temples, and the hinge never takes the strain.
Heat is the quiet one
A parked car in an Indian summer reaches temperatures that soften acetate and plastic frames. A pair left on a dashboard can come back subtly warped, and once the front has relaxed out of shape it does not fully return. The glovebox is not much better; the case in your bag is.
What actually scratches a lens
Not dust — dust is soft. What scratches a lens is dust that you rub across it. Rinsing under a tap before wiping removes the grit, and then the cloth is doing what it is designed to do. Shirt cuffs, paper towels and tissues are abrasive at the scale a lens coating cares about, and a mirrored or coated lens shows the result sooner than a plain one.
Rimless frames deserve a paragraph of their own
On a rimless pair there is no rim holding the lens — the mounting points carry everything. Folding one roughly or pushing it into a pocket puts the load exactly where the design is most delicate. Kept in a case, a rimless frame lasts as long as any other. Treated casually, it is the first to loosen.
Screws
Hinge screws work loose long before they fall out. A quarter turn with a small screwdriver every few months is the whole of the maintenance. Once a screw is gone, the arm is off and the frame is out of use for a week while you find a replacement.
What this means for what we sell
We stock frames in the ₹600 to ₹2,000 band. At that price a frame is a seasonal object treated carelessly and a multi-year object treated well — and the difference between those two outcomes is about five minutes of habit, not five hundred rupees of price.