(no subject)

[vyvyanx]

I broke my glasses frames last night, across the bridge, while cleaning them! I hope the temporary fix with sticking plaster holds up now while I go and try to get them repaired, or my lenses transferred into new frames... I am completely disabled without them and wouldn't be safe leaving the house. One could say I ought to have a spare pair, but the lenses cost a fortune and this failure mode has never occurred for me in nearly 30 years of glasses wearing.

Comments

[faithinfire.livejournal.com]

Oh, no! I remember losing a good pair of glasses to that exact same failure mode - I hope you can get them sorted out and it isn't too appallingly costly. :( Good luck...

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

I used to keep my old prescription glasses for emergencies as I couldn't see sod all without them. Good luck getting yours fixed!

Have you tried checking these guys (http://www.glasses2you.co.uk/prescription_glasses/glasses_direct.htm) or these guys (http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/?gclid=COqaq8HkqZoCFQ_yDAodhDvC1Q) or even these chaps (http://www.theinternetglassescompany.co.uk/) for cheap replacements? Online glasses companies are really cheap now (apparently) all you need is your prescription. And if you need a free eye test the Bar Hill tesco-mega-beast is doing free tests these days I think (call to check mind...)

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I really wouldn't trust an online service with something as finnicky as glasses. Even if you have a prescription, the prescription (focus points etc.) needs to be aligned to the frames properly etc.
It's probably OK if you're just a bit short sighted but as soon as you have a fancy prescription with lots of prisms etc. I'd be careful.
Similarly, getting a test from a tesco monkey would be the last on my mind.

[razornet.livejournal.com]

Tesco have a full opticians along actual, real, qualified opticians I believe.

[makyo.livejournal.com]

I've got a couple of degrees of prism in both lenses, and these people (http://www.optical4less.com/) coped fine with it. (I ordered two pairs of glasses, which came to about £20 each, including delivery - one pair had different frames to the ones I'd ordered, but the lenses were correct, and I decided I quite liked them anyway.)

[razornet.livejournal.com]

Yep that's who I got my last batch from. £80 for two pairs one ultra-thin rimless and the other bulletproof (literally apparently) sunglasses. The rimless ones have since perished but that can be ascribed to my massive clumsiness rather than anything else.

Again it took about 3 weeks for the glasses to arrive though.

[crazyscot.livejournal.com]

You need a pupillary distance measurement as well, opticians don't usually put this on the 'scrip but it's a trivial task (googlable) requiring a reliable friend and a ruler - or you can go with the "average" figure. However, dispensing opticians often can't or won't do complex or very high power lenses.

FTR I'm a satisfied customer of both Glasses Direct and http://www.glasses4less.net/.

[razornet.livejournal.com]

vyvyan has taken my PD before for similar purposes. What tends not to be mentioned about online opticians is the 2-4 week turnaround for glasses as they are produced in hongkong or mainland china normally and shipped to the distributor.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

Looks cheap; I've occasionally pondered buying glasses with blank lenses in just for the look, post lasering.

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was one of those online services that provided me with my current glasses (after getting my prescription from ARU following a very thorough free eye test in their Optometry Clinic). Ended up about £150 cheaper than the best high street deal at the time. Unfortunately the cheap frames turned out not to be especially sturdy!

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

I got my existing pair online, after getting a free prescription from ARU. They cost about £175, I think. Not all online places will even dispense glasses at my prescription, unfortunately.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Urk. I've been told I deliberately broke my glasses across the bridge once (when I was 5 or so), just to see if I could but it never happened accidentally in nearly 40 years of glasses wearing.

You look like a nerd now. ;o)

Good luck finding repair/replacement.

[razornet.livejournal.com]

Since (I think) your prescription is out of date you might want to book in with ARU's opticians as they are A) free for a really serious eye test b) very competitive on glasses.

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

and c) all booked up today and tomorrow and closing for the summer after that :-(

[razornet.livejournal.com]

Bum. Well as robinbloke says. Tescos are doing free eye tests, You can get a bus out there from the stop on Huntingdon road. £!.80 single fare. Not sure about return.

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

I'd rather wait until ARU reopen - I like their thorough eye tests. Other opticians have sometimes given me rather casual, scrappy tests which resulted in weird prescriptions, and I don't want to risk that. Also, my eyes haven't actually changed that much since my last prescription; I really don't want to get a new set of expensive lenses for no good reason.

[gerald_duck]

If it's the lenses that are expensive, would keeping a spare frame be an option?

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

If I thought I could safely transfer the lenses from one frame to another without breaking them or needing any adjustments, perhaps. Unfortunately my current frames were bought online in an end-of-line special offer, and even if I could obtain another pair, I don't know how I'd extract the lenses: these ones (half rimless) aren't held in with little screws, but crimped in place; I'd worry about breaking the lens if I meddled.

[aiwendel.livejournal.com]

specsavers often to a 'buy one get one free' service on glasses. I don't think I'd cope without a spare pair! Contact lenses are another option, if you bought a pack of disposable ones (about £15) for emergencies, but if you haven't worn them before you'd probably find them troublesome for occasional wear...

The lenses do cost, but in the grand scheme of things I think it's worth it!!
Glad you've managed a temporary fix though. :)

[lnr]

I think the B1G1F only applies on fairly standard lenses though. I could be wrong.

As a kid I always used to keep my last prescription pair as a spare in case the current pair got broken. They were never perfect, but a lot better than going without glasses completely.

Must get my eyes tested actually, as I've recently found I can't get away without wearing my old glasses any more.

[aiwendel.livejournal.com]

mmm I always keep my old ones too!
think you're right on standard, but it's better than nothing!

[lnr]

Not if a standard pair of lenses doesn't correct your vision enough to be able to see properly! Which I think is the case for Vyvyan, and is why their lenses are usually so expensive.

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

Opticians generally refuse to make glasses at my prescription using normal glass - they have to use high refractive index materials because they'd be completely impractical to assemble or wear otherwise. Looking at Specsavers' website, I'd probably have to pay £150 excess on *both* sets of lenses if I wanted to get a spare pair using this offer :-(

[aiwendel.livejournal.com]

really?! Mine are usually £30 extra for the high refractive index thin lens.

I sometimes go for the anti scratch too, which is another £30.

But in the grand scheme, compared to your surgery, surely it's worth it to know that you have a safe pair of working eyes?

(the contact lens option looks like the cheaper way to do it though if it is £150 more!)

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

There are several different levels of high refractive index, each more expensive than the last.

Certainly I'm happy to pay a lot for my glasses, I just don't feel it's worth it to pay a fortune for a spare pair I only need once or twice in a lifetime.