Short answer: Acetate gives you the richest colors and the most premium look but weighs more; TR90 is the lightest and most flexible, built for durability and all-day comfort; metal is the slimmest and most adjustable, best for a classic, minimal look. Most optical retailers stock all three, because each one serves a different customer rather than competing for the same shelf space.
Acetate is cellulose acetate — a plant-based plastic cut and polished from layered sheets rather than injection-molded, which is what lets it hold bold shapes, tortoiseshell patterns and rich two-tone color combinations that other materials can't easily match. It rests directly on the nose without pads, so the frame's own bridge does the fitting work. The tradeoff is weight and rigidity: acetate frames are heavier than TR90 or metal, and less forgiving if bent out of shape. It's the material behind most premium and designer eyewear collections. Salvador Eyewear currently stocks 121 active acetate models across Cat Eye, Square, Rectangle, Oval, Round, Geometric, Aviator and Wayfarer shapes.
TR90 is a nylon-based co-polymer developed for its memory — it flexes under pressure and returns to its original shape instead of snapping, which is exactly why it's the standard choice for kids' eyewear, sports frames and any customer who wants a frame they can forget they're wearing. Its color options are flatter than acetate's, usually solid or two-tone rather than richly patterned, but that's a fair tradeoff for the durability. It's currently our largest single material category — 202 active models.
Metal frames — stainless steel, titanium or monel alloy — are built from thin wire or sheet rather than a molded block, so they're the lightest option per unit of coverage and give the most minimal, low-profile look. They're also the easiest to physically adjust: nose pads and temple arms can be reshaped to fit a customer on the spot, something acetate and TR90 can't do. The color palette is limited to the metal's finish (gold, silver, gunmetal, rose gold, etc.) rather than acetate's near-unlimited range. We stock 103 active metal models.
Most successful optical retailers don't pick one — they build the shelf across all three, because the three materials sell to different reasons a customer walks in:
If you can only expand one category first, look at what's actually moving in your market: acetate for margin, TR90 for volume, metal for the customers who've been asking for something more minimal.
Salvador Eyewear (Prakaash Eyewear Pvt. Ltd.) manufactures and supplies all three materials, ready-stock with low minimum order quantities — most models can be ordered individually, so you can build a mixed assortment without a large upfront commitment. Browse the current ranges by material: acetate frames, TR90 frames, and metal frames.