Replacement lenses for old glasses frames.

[Brian Reay]

As I understand it, the places which fit the lenses carry (or make) a range of sizes of lenses and trim/fit to the frames. So, unless the 'old' frames are so special there isn't something which can be trimmed etc, it sounds like a fob off.

Some years back, for some reason I didn't have a spare pair and broke my only pair- which were all but new. A visit to optician and they spotted a fault in the frame* - I confess I had assumed it was my fault. The style was LARGE lenses. They managed to fit the lenses in some frames in the shop - how I don't know- and ordered me a new complete pair plus a spare pair, free for the inconvenience!

Senior Management always has two pairs (as I do now). She often likes to keep one of the old frames- not on cost grounds, the second pair is generally 'free' (supposedly)- she just seems to like the style. Likewise, once I've found a style I like, I tend to be reluctant to change it and prefer to keep the old frames. I've never had a problem.

Try Specsavers!

• they were supposedly unbreakable apparently!

[mm0fmf]

Well my branch specifically said they don't because "you can't get the new lenses to fit old frames." Whether that is true or not doesn't matter, they wont do it.

There are no independent opticians where I live, so it would be a trip to Edinburgh to find one. The big chains do fine for new prescriptions and I can get a lot of that cost covered by my employer as I have a monitor pair made as well as normal pair. (Bifocals optimised for monitor distance and reading, significantly more comfortable for long periods than my normal varifocals are when using monitors.)

[mm0fmf]

Fine by me, especially as a customer rates you and will continue to use you.

I had rather too many looseners last night and was quite slow to get going to day.

[PeterC]

Some of the best and most durable frames that I have are from pound-ish shops. I can see that an optician needs to cover costs - even an optometrist has several years of training to pay for. My last pairs were from Vision Express and when the initial ones were a bit iffy I was retested by another optometrists, the frames re-lensed and now they're good.

[Jonathan]

Interestingly when I broke my frame which cost over £100, they had the same frame in the shop and replaced it for £12. I guess profit margins on frames must be enormous.

Jonathan

[GB]

You can easily make amends by offering a suitable discount to NG users. I have suffered terribly from your post. Had I seen it last night, I'd undoubtedly have had nightmares.

How about 20%? :)

[ARW]

Must be the way they are driven. BTW I have broken every pair of glasses RDS has sold me. All work related accidents there was nothing wrong with the glasses in normal use.

[ARW]

Paying cash nudge nudge.

[R D S]

what, like a code "ukdiy20"

Don't have nightmares tonight.

[GB]

You're a sport. So, I won't stick it on HUKD. It's like a DDoS attack on your website, although you do get lots of business. :)

[Steve Walker]

I am a member of a couple of forums where businesses do offer a discount. They are nothing to do with the forums, but recognise that they've got a good way of free advertising to a group that are likely to be interested.

SteveW

[Chris J Dixon]

It is clearly not the same rule everywhere. I was having trouble finding a suitable new pair within the last month, and they specifically mentioned the option of a re-glaze as a potential solution.

Chris

[polygonum_on_google]

If you hadn't posted your link, I might have done so. :-) In the past few weeks you supplied a new pair of frameless glasses. For various reasons, my extremely old ones (which you supplied a long time ago) had been replaced with framed. But have gone back to you with a new prescription and gone frameless again.

Excellent service. The new glasses are just so much nicer to wear than framed - and incredibly light. Somehow the relationship of the lens to my eye is nicer. When I put my framed ones on it is like a lurch from no glasses to glasses. But with the frameless there is no lurch - I simply see better.

[ARW]

Certainly is. When I broke my glasses 3 days before a funeral I got replacement parts through the post with no questions asked about payment. I sorted that later when I was in Blackburn.

[jkn]

I have always been a bit curious about this aspect - how you determine the correct shape for the lens so that it will fit a given frame. I have seen the machines working and presume that for 'known' frames you get some sort of CAD file to work from. However it must also be possible to measure up a frame and create the CAD file from that.

I've occasionally had less than brilliant results for reglazing (not talking about you, Rick!) and wondered how much guesswork might be involved. Thicker prescriptions, and/or lenses with lower refractive index, seem to be more problematic. I imagine there is a Youtube video or two on the subject...

Glad the thread seems to be working out for you BTW!

jon N

[R D S]

Piece of piss these days, not a lot of skill required..

We've one of these,

And one of these, My first machines were these (and this was relatively high tech to many at the time!) ?v=eBNhT6ydm_E

[Brian Reay]

I remember seeing a shop, not unlike a Vision Express or Specsavers, in a city somewhere (not sure if it was Europe or the US, I suspect the former) where they had the lens fitting machines in the shop. You could see them from the front window. I assume you could have a test, pick the frames, and (assuming they had some lens in stock etc), they were made up more or less immediately.

Just how long it took from request to make to finish I don't know, I only watched for a few moments while Senior Management was looking at something or other (probably shoes!).

[bert]

There are quite a few "standard" sizes for lenses.