Reputable online lense maker for existing specs frame? Featured

I used 'Goggles4U' to supply a pair of rimless glasses with varifocal, photochromic and scratch resistant lenses for £160.

I tried Lensology as they were suggested here. Turns out their £20 with a voucher down to £10 was only indicative and they 'send you a quote' - £67. After I argued they reduced this to £21 (just wanted basic lenses), which is not what they offered originally but includes a fee for having a difficult prescription (not mentioned in the original listing) and delivery (also not mentioned) ICBA to ask for them back and try somewhere else, so have just paid the £21. Will see what turns up but would not recommend them for these pricing games.

Theo

Most of the headline prices for on-line glasses suppliers are for the most unfashionable or smaller frames and the most basic of lenses.

If you want frames that support larger lenses, multiple coatings, thinner lenses, tints or react to light etc. the price starts racking up. However, on my last foray on-line I got distance and reading glasses for around 60% of the price quoted by a well known high street retailer for just one distance glasses. In my experience with the high street retailers offering a free second pair mean "as long as you don't want something exotic" such as extra thin lenses and react to light.

You also have to pick a time when they are offering the greater discounts. Most seem to have at least 30% off offers or two for the price of one offers* but regularly will further offer an additional discount.

On 26/11/2024 22:22, alan_m mentioned:

According to my Wife, that well known high street retailer is now offering some sort of "Black Friday" event. Their usual 'buy one get one free' (or whatever it is) scheme is impenetrably confusing, so I expect this is no different.

The bill for her glasses last week showed special reductions for this, that, and the other thing - yet the final total still resembled the National Debt.

I'll have a look, thanks.

Lensology seems like a lot of hard work to deal with. From what you mention I think my prescription may be the cause of the surprisingly high price I've been quoted by my local optician.

Theo

Mike Halmarack snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Selectspecs[1] is another one to add to the list but if your prescription is a difficult one then it will inevitably bump the price. As others have suggested I think you'll find it cheaper to buy new than re-lens. You may also wish to get a cheaper pair to start with in case your 'new' eyes take a while to stabilise.

If your prescription looks 'funny' they'll likely ask you fo a copy before they accept the order.

Post back if you need clever ways to get your pupilary distance (PD) and don't have it already.

That wasn't my experience. I had a small plastic frame* and got a quote for my not straightforward prescription. It was single vision but I have astigmatism and also needed prism correction, a + up for one eye and a - down for the other which added £5 for each eye.

The first quote including all coatings and fancy stuff which I didn't need.

The final price was £24.25 including £4.35 tracked delivery.

Longer story: I am not comfortable playing golf with my (expensive) varifocal specs. The movement of the head is unsettling.

UV protection has been recommended because of early signs of cataracts. Additionally I had a rather disturbing incidence of night lights looking like exploding fireworks, apparently "dry eyes" after playing a round of golf on a breezy day.

For a cheap experiment I purchased:

As you'll see if you look closely at the description they came with a frame that slots on the inside of the glasses. It was this frame that Lensology made the lenses for.

So for the princely sum of £11.95 + £24.25 I have wrap around photochromatic sports glasses affording UV400 protection and with the option of slotting in my not-straightforward prescription.

They also work well for driving.

I'm now toying with the idea of seeing if they will do lenses for my old glasses used just for the computer but I suspect they will want a revised prescription.

It's worth going to more than one on-line retailer for pricing.

I found with one retailer the "upgrade path" limited you to what you could actually get. For instance, you couldn't get the cheaper basic coating on extra thin lenses or if you wanted react to light it wasn't available on the cheaper basic thicker lenses.

That comes over as most adventurous. I'll revise my searches accordingly.

Not wanting to be a cheapskate and in appreciation for an effective and well carried out Cataract op, I went for the quality of frame and lens suggested by my local optician. I picked the glasses up yesterday and their is certainly an enormous improvement in my ability to read small text and do close work.

Strangely though, now when I sit at the computer I get an image of the glasses arm and the right side of my head reflected back at me. No only this but in most light conditions I get an image of whatever is behind me in the right hand third of my new lense. There used to be a thing called a "seebackrasope" advertised in my comics as a kid. I was quite titillated at the time, but much less so these days. I'm more than happy to just see what is in front of me. My wife who never likes a fuss suggests that I'll probably get used to it in time, just like I got used to only having one eye. Not so the people approaching from the left who I often bump into.

Did you go for the anti-glare/reflective coatings?

Yes I did but I didnt realise that I'd have to spend so much time looking at myself. A grisly fate.