Regardless of whether eyeglass plastic frames, metal frames, or combination frames are marketed, eyeglass frame manufacturers incorporate diverse nose pad shapes into their eyewear designs to provide optimum wearer comfort and overall spectacle frame attractiveness.
The shape of replacement nose pads usually matches the shape of the nose pads that originally came with the eyeglasses. Using a different nose pad shape may adversely alter the visual properties of the glasses as a different shape may cause an eyeglass frame to sit or be oriented in a different position than the glasses or sunglasses originally were in.
Nose pads come in a diverse array of shapes ranging from button, tear drop, D-shape, oval, symmetric, softwing, strap-bridge, and many others! This section details the most common nose pad shapes.
Symmetric - Symmetrical Nose Pads
Symmetrical: Symmetric nose pads have the characteristic that when viewed from either the front-to-back or back-to-front, the nose pad shape is identical Another way to illustrate this is that symmetric eyeglass nose pads are nose pads where both the left and right side of a nose pad are identical mirror images of each other. A common example of a symmetrical nose pad is a round nosepad. Round nose pads are also referred to as button nose pads or mushroom nose pads.
Opticians and optical eyeglass repair shops generally prefer symmetrical nosepads over asymmetric nose pads such as the D-Shape nose pad since a left or right symmetrical nose pad is interchangeable with each other. Stocking an inventory of symmetrical nose pads thus results in a smaller inventory of optical accessories and parts since matching pairs or sets of left and right glasses nose pads are not needed.
Symmetrical nose pads are incorporated into most types of glasses and sunglasses as they generally provide good wearer comfort and consistent weight distribution in the nasal area.
Many varieties of nose pads including button and oval nose pads fall under the classification of symmetric nose pads. Typical symmetric nose pad sizes range from 9mm to 19mm, although smaller and larger sizes are also available.
Mushroom - Button - Round Nose Pads
Round: Round nose pads are also referred to in the optical trade as button nose pads or mushroom nose pads. Round nose pads are a subclass of the symmetric or symmetrical nose pads category since both right and left nose pads can be interchanged with each other.
Eyeglasses manufacturers often select button nose pads for their glasses and sunglasses designs because they are compact and provide additional room in the bridge area for the spectacle frame itself. Round nose pads for sunglasses are often found in lightweight eyeglass frame designs.
Typical sizes for round or button nose pads range from 9mm-13mm, although other sizes are also available.
D-Shape Nose Pad
D-Shaped: D-shape nose pads are used on most types of eyeglasses ranging from light plastic glasses, super light titanium designer eyeglasses, standard metal eyeglass styles, and a wide range of sunglasses.
D-shaped replacement eyeglass nose pads are similar in shape to the letter "D". As each nose pad of a left and right pair is the mirror image of each other, each nose pad of a pair is not a replacement of the other; therefore, opticians and eyeglasses repair stores that stock D-shape nose pads need to stock them in pairs. This is in contrast to symmetrical or symmetric glasses nose pads where a right nose pad is completely interchangeable with a left nose pad.
"D" shaped nose pads are popular and their shape affords excellent weight distribution of a pair of glasses on the eyeglass wearer's nasal area.
Typical d-shape nose pad sizes range from 9mm to 19mm, although other "D"-shape nose pad dimensions are also readily available.
Oval Nose Pads
Oval: A subclass of the symmetric or symmetrical nose pad category is the oval nose pad. Like other symmetric nose pads, compatibility between right and left nasal pads is inherent.
Oval nose pads provide good comfort and weight distribution of the glasses frame as the upper and lower portions of each nose pad reach into the extremities of the wearer's nasal area.
Most types of eyeglasses and sunglasses use oval nosepads to provide comfort to the optical frame wearer.
Typical sizes for oval nose pads are 9mm to 19mm, with additional nose pad sizes available.
Soft-wing Unifit Nose Pads
Soft-wing, Softwing, Unifit, Uni-fit, Saddle Bridge Nose Pads: The shape of a softwing nose pad resembles an upside down letter "U" whereby each side of the "U" conforms to each side of the eyeglass wearer's nose. Some versions of the unifit bridge enable the sides, arms, or "wings" of the bridge strap nose pad to be adjusted or flexed, while other versions are firmly molded allowing no adjustment or flexing at all.
Since the shape of the strap bridge nose pad conforms to the glasses wearer's nose on the sides as well as on the top nasal area, excellent continuous contact is provided between the unifit nose pad and the nasal area. This contact confers excellent weight distribution of the eyeglass spectacle frame over the nasal area resulting in maximum comfort to the eyeglass, sunglass, or reading glasses wearer. Saddle bridge nose pads are often referred to as strap bridge nose pads.
The silicone or vinyl material comprising the softwing nose pad is often molded over a firm inner core of various materials or metal. In the latter case, the metal "wings" are often bendable so that the bridge-strap nosepad may be adjusted and fine tuned to the contours of the glasses wearer's nasal area. Since the silicone or vinyl strap nose pads are often transparent or semi-transparent, the metal inner core is usually visible. As such, the metal inner core wings usually are manufactured of either a silver or gold color so that they may be purchased to match a particular optical frame or sunglass coloration.
Unifit bridges are similar to strap bridge nose pads in that they both afford significant contact between the nose pad and nasal area which results in an optimum weight distribution of the sunglass or glasses frame over the underlying nasal area of the eyeglasses wearer.
Softwing nose pads often mount to an eyeglass frame by either snapping into place on the frame or by attachment using one or more small recessed nose pad screws.
Typical soft-wing or unifit bridge sizes range from 11mm to 21mm, although many other sizes are also available.
Strap or Strap-Bridge Nose Pads
Strap, Strap Bridge, Bridge Strap Nose Pads: Bridge strap, strap-bridge, or strap nose pads are flat pliable strips of material with a left and right nose pad imbedded into each end of the strap. The strap bridge is bent to conform to the shape of both the eyeglass bridge and the wearer's nasal area whereby the strap bridge makes complete contact with the wearer's nose.
Strap-bridge nose pads contrast to standard nose pads in that standard nose pad pairs simply make contact only with the left and right side of the eyeglass wearer's nose, and not the topmost nasal area. The increased points of contact that the strap-bridge provides results in greater weight distribution of the eyeglass frame on the wearer's face and a higher comfort level than that can be afforded by the use of standard individual nose pads. In this manner, strap-bridge nose pads closely resemble unifit, uni-fit, softwing, or soft-wing nose pads. The primary difference is that the unifit or softwing nose pads are provided in an essentially pre-molded and pre-formed configuration providing only limited movement of the softwing arms or pads.
The pliable material used in the construction of bridge-strap nose pads is usually soft silicone or soft vinyl.
Soft silicone strap bridge nose pads and vinyl strap-bridge nose pads are commonly used by eyeglasses repair companies and sold by eyeglass repair parts suppliers and manufacturers.
Typical bridge-strap nose pad sizes range from 12mm to 36mm, although additional sizes are also available.
Additional Nose Pad Shapes!
There is a myriad of additional nosepad shapes that compliment particular eyeglass frame designs including bohemian, rectangle, primadonna, wave, and teardrop.