Rimless Glasses

[The Restorer]

Hi folks,

I need to get myself some new glasses and have visited a few opticians locally and quite like the look and low weight of the rimless type. I wear glasses all of the time so comfort is important.

However one of the opticians said steer clear of the rimless, flexi frame type as in her opinion they eventually broke (but they were still selling them!) None of the other opticians said anything like this.

Now bearing in mind these things are about £160 for a standard pair :shock: are they worth it? Does anyone have any experience of them? (good or bad).

Any advice much appreciated.

Stephen.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Stephen,

I have had rimless specs for two years and think they are great - but I don't have the flexi frames - didn't like the look of them at all, and I've heard several stories about them breaking. However, do go for rimless, I'm sure you won't regret it :wink:

Paul

 

[Mcluma]

I have a rimless, and i agree, i should have got a normal one,

the rimless are very flimsy and bend easy. and then they are broken

 

[ike]

If you go for rimless polycarbonate with hardcoat, they're plenty robust to last years. You have to be pretty clumsy to completely pipper them, much like ordinary frames.

 

[matt]

Lindberg specs are the best. I've got the Air Titanium rimless and they are the best and most comfortable specs I have ever owned (and I've owned a few...). They have no screws either.

http://www.lindberg.com/

You can purchase them in a number of places. I got mine from Dollond & Aitchinson, however, you have to go to their posh store 35 Wigmore St, London, W1.

Expect to pay a few bob though (but they are worth it if you were specs all the time).

PS. Also come with proper polycarbonate UV sunglasses lenses that slip on the front of the prescription lenses. They are also feather light so you don't even know they are there (other than it's a bit darker than usual!).
PPS . Dollond & Aitch inc my sunglasses lenses free (normally about £25)

 

[RogerM]

Stephen - there are great savings to be made by buying on-line.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bi ... 2921,56555

other useful sites include

http://www.spex4less.com/about_spex4less.shtml

http://glassesdirect.co.uk/release_000/ ... vision.htm

I don't have direct experience, but in view of the savings I am prepared to give it a try next time. The postings on this forum seem pretty positive about the experience.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sho ... post980721

 

[Tarkin]

Ah, if only you knew the mark up on glasses. My girlfriend is an optition, and the average frame costs about £1.50, or up to a tenner for the designer ones, and lenses start from about 30p each, and don't get that much more than a few pounds to buy (unless you get parabolic ones, which really do cost a fortune). This price is the same whether it be specsavers or D&A thats buying them.

That said, there is a very good reason for the mark up that I too was totally ignorant of, and thats the eye exam that you get. As woodworkers, you may sometimes think that tools can be a bit on the pricey side, well that is nothing compared to the cost of the gear in an optitions. An opthalmoscope (that mini magnifing glass with a built in light that they have) cost's over a grand alone, and thats one of the cheaper items. It really does cost a hell of a lot of money to set up an optitions, hence the prices. And if you wonder why D&A are so much more expensive than specsavers when they have the same cost prices and the same examination equipment, then it's down to time per patient. In specsavers, they have less time per patient than in the likes of D&A (but that not to say that sopecsavers isn't doinf a proper exam, they just chuck you out the door faster with less of the plesantries), so what your actually paying for there is quality of service, rather than beign treated like a hearded animal (and no, my girlfriend doesn't work for D&A...!)

I have also been informed by SWMBO that gettgin your glasses from a website like that is to be extremley discouraged (As is cheap contacts from ASDA etc). Peoples prescriptions can change very fast, so you really should go to an optitions and have a fresh eye exam to find out your actual prescription. Using your one from 6 years ago just to save £100 or so could very easilly leave you with the wrong prescription which could actually make your eyesight WORSE! Would you buy a Table Saw with a faulty crown guard just because it's got a few quid knoked off???

Sales pitch over... :lol:

 

[Alf]

I believe there's nothing to stop you going to the "proper" optician for your eye test and then taking your perscription elsewhere.

fwiw, the chap we have, who appears to know his stuff, seemed to put great emphasis on how often you take off your glasses as to what frames to suggest. I wear mine all day except when I take them off to clean, so he let me get away with thinner frames despite the bottom-of-a-bottle thickness of the left lens. Not sure about rimless ones - touch of the Svens there... :-k

Cheers, Alf

 

[Paul Chapman]

fwiw, the chap we have, who appears to know his stuff, seemed to put great emphasis on how often you take off your glasses as to what frames to suggest.

I think that is the important factor. If you take them on and off a lot, the spring-loaded frames which enable the arms to open wider are good. But if you wear them all day (like I do now) you can, as Alf says, get away with more delicate ones. When I bought my current specs (rimless with quite delicate arms) I was worried about their durability, but in two years of use I have had no problems at all. And I hardly know I've got them on 8)

Paul

 

[RogerM]

I have also been informed by SWMBO that gettgin your glasses from a website like that is to be extremley discouraged (As is cheap contacts from ASDA etc). Peoples prescriptions can change very fast, so you really should go to an optitions and have a fresh eye exam to find out your actual prescription. Using your one from 6 years ago just to save £100 or so could very easilly leave you with the wrong prescription which could actually make your eyesight WORSE! Would you buy a Table Saw with a faulty crown guard just because it's got a few quid knoked off???

Sales pitch over... :lol:

Tarkin - I don't disagree with the second part of this. The key is to get a proper eyetest done regularly. One could argue that getting cheap specs online is actually better. If you pay upwards of £200 from a highstreet optician, then for most of us mere mortals we will want to make them last as long as possible, and maybe even persevere with them when our prescription changes because of the cost of a replacement pair. However, if replacement can be achieved for £30 or so, then it's no big deal and I would be likely to buy a new pair straight away. Likewise, how often do you see people wearing poorly diy repaired specs? My guess it's because of the cost of replacement on the high street. At £30 it's not an issue. £230? Hmmmm!

Also how many people put up with scratched lenses, perhaps because they have been put down lens first, or they have fallen down the side of a chair etc. At over £200 you may be tempted to put up with the blurred result, but at £30 you simply buy a new pair.

As I said, I have no practical experience of buying specs on line because the distance glasses I bought 5 yrs ago still suit me fine, and I buy reading glasses off the shelf at boots/M&S etc. But reading the bulletin board here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/sho ... post980721

most people seem very satisfied with the result. And why not? If you've had a proper eyetest and prescription, the actual physical dimensions of the specs (both frames and lenses) can be specified precisely, so why shouldn't they be OK. Of course one would expect Opticians to come up with scare tactics to put us off - they want us to pay their prices. Have you seen an optician's payslip? I have! But protecting their perceived monopoly is not my problem!

 

[Argee]

I've worn glasses for a number of years, but I've never felt so comfortable with them since I went to frameless. I've got a pair similar to these, which I got from a "proper" optician. They're titanium flexible arms, so no hinges. Weird-shaped case, but so what?

They grip well enough that they won't come off even when you're hanging upside down (DAMHIKT!), but so light that you don't know you're wearing them. I wear mine all the time and when removing them at night I don't have the characteristic marks on either side of the bridge of my nose that I used to get with hinged frames.

They also have a clip-on sunglass accessory, worth every penny. Sometimes, especially when tired, I've wondered where I put my specs, only to find I'm wearing them - that's how unobtrusive they are.

The slight disadvantage is in cleaning them - you must only hold them by the bridge, or you risk straining the connection between the lenses - but I've never found this to be a problem.

Ray.

 

[Tarkin]

Roger, I think you may have missed my point (possibly...). There is nothing worng (in theory) with gettign a pair of glasses from an optition, and then immediatley using the same prescription get a spare pair on line. In fact, many optitions have spotted this and offer second pairs free or at reduced rates. What is to be discouraged is getting a replacment pair several years down the line using a prescription which is several years old. Also, most optitions will fix glasses bought from them for a nominal, and sometimes non-existant fee depending on where you go and what you've done to them... :lol:

Have you seen an optician's payslip?

Yes I have....SWMBO is an optition, and they do, eventually, earn quite a bit I grant you. But I fail to see how they have a monopoly, there are many, many optitipns, all compeating....thats not a monopoly.

Alf, you can have a test and get a prtescription and then walk away, but that is a bit unfair. It costs an optitions money to test your eyes, quite alot actually, and if you then walk away without buying glasses, you are effectivley making them pay for your eye test.

 

[Paul Chapman]

They also have a clip-on sunglass accessory, worth every penny.

Mine are Silhouette, like Ray's. The clip-on sunglasses are really good. They clip onto the bridge and therefore cannot damage the lenses, and are very light and, like the glasses themselves, you don't know you are wearing them 8) 8)

Paul

 

[The Restorer]

Thanks for all of the replies.

I've booked myself an appointment for an eye test with Specsavers and have tried a few of their rimless titanium flex arms, they are so light and comfy and thats before they've been set up for best fit!

Thanks again.

 

[ike]

Specsavers eye test might be fine. For anyone getting normal framed specs, I wouldn't buy their glasses again after two duff lots. A number of friends also had similar experience with poor quality glasses, specifically be prepared for lenses to fall out.

 

[RogerM]

Roger, I think you may have missed my point (possibly...).

I don't think so - your point about not relying on a prescription several years old is well made, and one with which I fully agree. And your SWMBO is in an exceptionally well informed position to discourage indiscriminate buying online. Clearly there are cases where specialist requirements would make it very unwise to buy online, and a fully qualified optician will be able to use their professional expertise to ensure you get precisley the right specs, and they fit as required. e.g. I understand prismatic lenses are critical in the way they are set up and should not be bought online.

My point is that for those of us with a simple, and non-extreme, short or long sighted condition, and who just need a simple prescription should be able to buy online without ill effect, and with considerable savings.

Have you seen an optician's payslip?

Yes I have....SWMBO is an optition, and they do, eventually, earn quite a bit I grant you. But I fail to see how they have a monopoly, there are many, many optitipns, all compeating....thats not a monopoly.

Just to clarify, I did not intend to imply that the substantial earnings of a fully qualified optician are not fully deserved - just that sometimes a simple set of specs to correct a simple condition may not require the services of a fully qualified optician throughout, in the same way that I may buy a packet of lemsip from the chemist when I have a cold rather than go to the doctor.

I hope that clarifies the thrust of my previous posts - just trying to add a different perspective to the debate.

 

[jaymar]

Tarkin
There is no reason why one can't have an eye test with a qualified optician then use the prescription elsewhere. I have no experience of one line specs but I am considering an extra pair just to use at the computer as my reading glasses mean I have to lean towards the screen.