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https://shopviu.com/en_int/viu-stores/
My partner previously also used VIU and recently had a good experience with Ace & Tate (who have been recommended already).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
More expensive lenses get you: * A material with a higher refractive index (-> thinner glasses) and higher Abbe number (-> less dispersion). Scroll down to the "Optical Glass Selection" in this article for a diagram: https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-no... - the stronger the prescription, the more it matters, but generally the step up from the cheapest material is much more significant than fr…
Is this your field or you just became a bit of an expert through frustration?
I am not an expert.
A mix of interest, a compulsion/obsession with learning the basics of anything to make optimal decisons, and get taken more seriously by experts (it turns out all it takes to get your optometrist to take you seriously is to use words like "autorefractor" and "phoroptor"), overconfidence ("I know RF, and light is an electromagnetic wave too, how different can it be?") and I guess also frustration (what do you mean, I need to renew the contact lens prescription every year, I can only be prescribed one type and I need your blessing to try 2-weeklies from the same brand, which you would have happily prescribed instead of the dailies? No thanks, I'll just import them then.)
But really, I've just worn glasses for a long time and nothing I wrote there is actually all that deep. I may have read a few papers.
What constitutes good quality glasses? Or rather: good quality lenses? The frames are mostly a matter of taste, but for the optical component, is a €150 piece of glass significantly better than a €100 piece of glass? Who has the lead in material science here? Japan, Germany? Any good sources on that topic?
Essilor 1.7 aspheric lenses cost me 235 euros each. An alternative is Japanese Seiko and German Zeiss. Essilor is probably the cheapest of them. Good lenses cost much more than a nice Luxottica frame and are covered by insurance in France. A frame is covered by up to 100 euros. Good lenses are not a piece of glass (very dangerous for eyes) or just a piece of plastic, they have multiple anti-reflection and protection…
However this only becomes important if you have a strong prescription and buying online is dangerous if you have a strong prescription, especially astigmatism. You can send them your horizontal PD but they have no way of knowing the vertical component without seeing how the frames sit on your face (which depends on your nose and ears).
Some of the better online specialists will send you the frame with dummy lenses for you to mark your pupils on with a marker, and you then send them back to be glazed.
What constitutes good quality glasses? Or rather: good quality lenses? The frames are mostly a matter of taste, but for the optical component, is a €150 piece of glass significantly better than a €100 piece of glass? Who has the lead in material science here? Japan, Germany? Any good sources on that topic?
More expensive lenses get you: * A material with a higher refractive index (-> thinner glasses) and higher Abbe number (-> less dispersion). Scroll down to the "Optical Glass Selection" in this article for a diagram: https://www.edmundoptics.com/knowledge-center/application-no... - the stronger the prescription, the more it matters, but generally the step up from the cheapest material is much more significant than fr…
>* Lighter, thinner frames and frameless options.
Your average person is not going to feel the extra 5g from a "cheaper frame". Most expensive frames are also hilariously cheap to make at the same factory.
>* Hinges that open a bit more than 90deg and flex back with a spring, so the temples will adapt to the head better. Better hinge materials (e.g. I've had hinges wear out).
That is buying undersized glasses. The "expensive frames" are just tailoring to people in denial of their head size. Though the other problem is, it's cheaper for a brand to make more of the same undersized frame, and add a spring hinge instead of offering frame designs in two sizes. Economy of scale for stamped process frames.
> * Titanium or memory metals instead of plastic of aluminum.
True titanium is a difficult metal to work with. The "Titanium frames" are largely a scam of some titanium alloy because it's actually usable to manufacture in such small frames. The end result is those frames break all the same.
The biggest problem is titanium work hardens. It is a strong metal but it essentially fatigues and snaps like copper. Make it thin like for glass frames and you allow it to start flexing and work hardening over time. Other applications of titanium don't make the metal thin enough to allow that to happen.
>* "Aesthetics" and minor add-ons like laser engraving.
Yea you pay for the "design". Laser engraving addons are sometimes available for cheap frames tho.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can I ask where it's so cheap? In Austria it's 2000/eye. Granted, my eyes are the one place where I'm the least likely to penny pinch so I'm definitely not gonna choose a place based on cost alone.
It can be that cheap, or same order of magnitude, if you have a good complementary health insurance. I got mine done for 1500 per eye, reimbursed 600 per eye, but you can probably find cheaper
Get laser eye surgery. No touch no pain procedure once, under 30 seconds in duration which will permanently improve your life. One eye for 400 eur.
What constitutes good quality glasses? Or rather: good quality lenses? The frames are mostly a matter of taste, but for the optical component, is a €150 piece of glass significantly better than a €100 piece of glass? Who has the lead in material science here? Japan, Germany? Any good sources on that topic?
After going to an expensive opticians for a good few years, I thought I'd get a "fun" second pair of glasses at one of the new optician chains, Ace & Tate. When they arrived the lenses were rubbish quality - I hadn't realised how lucky I was to have used a really good optician from the get-go. When I went back to him, tail between my legs, he explained a lot of what a sibling comment says about lightness, refractive…
I used Glasses Direct - https://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/ a few years ago and they were pretty good for the price. I bought them temporarily but ended up using one pair for 3 years.
To check the quality, I got good brand-name frames at what seemed like a low-markup price (exactly the same as my existing frames for half the price) and their cheapest lenses, and I'm really happy with the results. I'll probably put in another order with fancier lenses.