Eye glasses, how much?

Kritchlow said:
Sorry. Just googled "1950's cateye glasses". Everything looked modern day, and truly nothing like the original.
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Thats why you go with the Shurons. They're the originals and have been for decades. All the rest of the manufacturers (including Ray-Ban) are just knocking them off.
 
Kritchlow said:
This was far, far before black ray bans. They were black and thick, but no style.
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Most all the glasses issued by the military in the 50's, 60's, and 70's were manufactured by Shuron. Look at all the Vietnam pics of soldiers wearing the thick black glasses. Those were Shurons. Now they're coming back in style.
 
Keeping it aviation related - what brand of frames did Buddy Holly wear?
 
I tend to wear Oakleys for regular glasses, and Ray Ban for sunglasses.
 
Matthew said:
Keeping it aviation related - what brand of frames did Buddy Holly wear?
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"If Armistead could not get the Faiosa frames, he supplied Holly with similar Sidewinder or Freeway frames, made by an American company called Shuron"
 
azblackbird said:
Most all the glasses issued by the military in the 50's, 60's, and 70's were manufactured by Shuron. Look at all the Vietnam pics of soldiers wearing the thick black glasses. Those were Shurons. Now they're coming back in style.
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I don't know who made them, but my first pair of glasses were those ugly things back in '74 or '75 when I started wearing glasses. Force issued them free so had that working for me.
 
mscard88 said:
I don't know who made them, but my first pair of glasses were those ugly things back in '74 or '75 when I started wearing glasses. Force issued them free so had that working for me.
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Maybe back then they were considered ugly looking, but these days that's the style. A lot of the hollywood gang are wearing them or similar type derivatives. I'm old school, so I like all that old crap. Heck, my sausage grinder is from the 20's. I still have my Zero Halliburton briefcase from when I was in the 5th grade and use it to carry my laptop around now.
 
mscard88 said:
Whew, wondering what a good pair of woman's eye glasses cost these days. Had a quote north of $800 but it's been awhile since my wife had a new pair. She really wants 'em too. Last time went to Costco but not 100% happy w/ the service and warranty. This was at a local eye Dr's business. These have the "sunglass thing" that clamps or sticks on to them, forget what they're called.
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Welcome to the Luxottica near-monopoly. They’ve bought up nearly everyone.

There’s been some competitors pop up but if it’s a name brand you recognize in eyewear, eyeglasses chain store brands, etc... it’s likely owned by Luxottica.

Cheap glasses moved to the online space. Most docs only sell the Luxottica brands at four times the price of online ordering. More profit in it for them.

Whatever you do, when you get your prescription, demand your prescription AND the appropriate pupil and facial measurements on paper before you leave. Many docs their schtick is they’ll hand you the optical prescription but won’t do measurements without purchase of their frames or paying an extra fee. The extra fee is still cheaper than buying frames from them.

That said, my doc is one of those pushing the Luxottica stuff. I put up with it because I trust him a whole lot and know him personally. But it costs me. A lot.

My wife also uses the same Doc. And likes the fancy frames. Just kills me when I get the glasses bill each year or two.

I do the transitions lenses done up with the fancy (read: still patented - so not cheap) faster switching chemistry and in a darker than normal tint. And progressives done in the special cut that adds a little distortion but makes the Center section taller for working at a computer with a big pair of monitors all day. Those oddball lenses aren’t real cheap either.

Most places won’t order weird stuff like that for you and he will. (Or they won’t without a speech about it warning you you won’t like it and you’re paying for them even if they have to take them out and order something else. Blah blah blah.) I already know what I want and like and his staff doesn’t argue with me. One big plus for them.

Wife does the magnetic clip on sunglasses frames that she can just pop the sunglasses part on and off.

I’m pretty sure just the taxes on our glasses over the years probably built at least one elementary school. It hurts.

I used to love Oakley frames before Luxottica bought them. Built heavy, handled lots of abuse. They cheaped-up the frames quite a bit and trashed that brand. Oakley was one of the last Independant frame maker holdouts from being acquired by the Borg, too. Government even let them off early on the anti-trust limitations imposed on them after buying them.

The online places and direct from China stuff sure is tempting instead of paying for the Doc’s luxury car. Been to his house. Damn nice place. Lots nicer than mine.

Maybe next pair I’ll give the slave labor in China a shot at it.
 
Yeah, progressives. $400 a pop for me. I really need them every year too.

So I'm looking online. The cheap horrid glasses I have right now will get me through an eye test, so I suffer with them. We'll see what I get next year. The thought of doing all the facial measurements is a good one, I did those myself and I suspect I bolluxed it. Then again, I could have gotten ti right and they bolluxed it, which I suspect a little more. The whole measure twice cut once thing.
 
When I got my glasses a couple weeks ago I started looking online. Frames can be found more cheaply than at an optician, but progressive lenses start to eat up most of those savings quickly. By the time I got the lenses, whatever grind I wanted, whatever material I wanted, and whatever a/r or scratch coating I wanted, the costs quickly rose to nearly what I found locally (after my coupon). I like having a local, in person, measurement of the lenses and pupil distances (my nose is about 1 mm off center) for placement of the prescription, and the followup adjustments and any warranty work. That's worth something to me. But the frames were not the big expense, it was the lenses.
 
Matthew said:
I like having a local, in person, measurement of the lenses and pupil distances (my nose is about 1 mm off center) for placement of the prescription, and the followup adjustments and any warranty work. That's worth something to me. But the frames were not the big expense, it was the lenses.
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That’s why we settled on WalMart - hands on fitting and any issue almost anywhere in the country can get attended to quickly.

And, again, no problems to date with the cheapest line of $9 frames
 
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Pro tip - Walmart will do free adjustments and repairs, even if you don't buy your glasses from them (I have been stuck out in the middle of nowhere missing a screw before).
 
^^^ I'm often told I have a screw loose. But I don't wear glasses! ;)
 
FastEddieB said:
... no problems to date with the cheapest line of $9 frames
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Yes. The old "you get what you pay for" rule is pretty much out the window with this industry in turmoil.

Luxottica is frantically trying to save its monopoly business model, including extending the monopoly to lenses (http://www.foxbusiness.com/features...estigation-into-essilor-luxottica-merger.html). IMO it is is inevitable that they will fail.

In five years I think we will have seen the death of most local optician shops as margins collapse. That will leave us with the Costcos, Targets, and Walmarts who can survive on more traditional/competitive margins. Probably we will also see the chain specialty shops like Pearle Vision either bankrupt or becoming subsidiaries of Chinese manufacturers. I think we will end up with the same or more choice in frames and lenses, but at much lower price points overall.
 
For simple, single vision lenses, get them anywhere. For more complex prescriptions, with astigmatism, prisms, etc., find a long (and well) established mom and pop - the chains hire (and marginally train) goofs off the streets. No harm, no foul for single vision glasses. Not so good for anything else. So, for more complex prescriptions, you want the optical centers correct. Get them fitted by someone who can read without moving their lips. . .same with progressive lenses, also. Go somewhere competent, get fitted in person.

Sunglasses - have an optician dye an older pair of lenses from a frame you have and like - they can dye glass or plastic. Just a few bucks usually, and avoid the 2,000% mark-up on name-brand sunglasses, which are generally so-so quality, in materials and lenses.

Opticians can make a decent buck still, particularly if they do well in delivery, like for kids with special needs, or adults with complex prescriptions. The nearby Costsco and Walmart send their "tough to fit" customer's to my step-son's shop.

Depending on your state, either the optometrists or the ophthalmologists run the industry; example, Maryland: Optometrists own the legislature, so there is no licensing available for opticians (the folks who make/assemble/fit glasses) - optometrists don't want the pretty license and on the optician's wall, and the credibility that engenders. So, MD ophthalmologists often give you your script, and recommend an optician they like. MD optometrists usually do the exam and sell the glasses in one location. Little bit of tension there. . .

Across the river, it's the opposite in VA - opticians are/are licensed licensed, etc., and the ophthalmologists hold sway. Variations on the theme abound, of course. And every now and then, see an ophthalmologist; nothing lilke have a doctor of medicine exam your eyes occasionally.
 
Costco. I always put all kinds of anti glare, anti matter and anti god stuff on them and still under 250. My insurance covers Upton 275. However, I am wearing the same frame style for 6 years

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Well I hope the local optometrist/ optician doesn't go out of business because of Walmart and cheap online glasses. I'm an hour away in good traffic to the closest ophthalmologist and this small town optometrist is now my first line eye doc to go to in an emergency.
 
Glasses ordered yesterday from our local Walmart.

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$9 frames and that middle "Enhanced" grade of progressive bifocal, which appears could end up being Nikon or Zeiss.

$249 all in, with no sales tax on glasses in GA. Will report back once I get them.
 
Sac Arrow said:
At those prices, consider Lasik surgery possibly?
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I wish I could get laser surgery but I am too farsighted so the technology does not exist. I have to wait and see if ai get cataracts to get corrective lenses installed. They won't do it electively which I think is understandable. So it is about $1100 per pair of glasses for me.
 
Rushie said:
Well I hope the local optometrist/ optician doesn't go out of business because of Walmart and cheap online glasses. I'm an hour away in good traffic to the closest ophthalmologist and this small town optometrist is now my first line eye doc to go to in an emergency.
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Walmart's lab repeatedly messed up my prescription so I got a refund, 3 tries on their part and two months later.
 
steingar said:
Yeah, progressives. $400 a pop for me. I really need them every year too.

So I'm looking online. The cheap horrid glasses I have right now will get me through an eye test, so I suffer with them. We'll see what I get next year. The thought of doing all the facial measurements is a good one, I did those myself and I suspect I bolluxed it. Then again, I could have gotten ti right and they bolluxed it, which I suspect a little more. The whole measure twice cut once thing.
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I wear progressives, presbyopia and a pretty steep astigmatism. Last go-round I went with Costco. Service was good and the lenses were sufficient. This year I went with Varilux comfort 2 lenses from my opto. Peripheral vision is much improved, as is overall comfort. The lenses weren't cheap, about $350, but the improvement in vision is worth it imho.
 
flhrci said:
I wish I could get laser surgery but I am too farsighted so the technology does not exist. I have to wait and see if ai get cataracts to get corrective lenses installed. They won't do it electively which I think is understandable. So it is about $1100 per pair of glasses for me.
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Farsightedness is a special problem. It's easy to remove material from the center of the lens to correct nearsightedness, but taking it off the edges not so much.
 
flhrci said:
I wish I could get laser surgery but I am too farsighted so the technology does not exist. I have to wait and see if ai get cataracts to get corrective lenses installed. They won't do it electively which I think is understandable. So it is about $1100 per pair of glasses for me.
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I wear glasses - no way I let someone use a knife, laser, cuttng tool, charged particle beam, or death ray, on my healthy eye. . .
 
I thought about LASIK once after seeing an ad in the paper. I wear glasses, but don't much like them (can't wear contacts, long story). They guy doing the lasering was a DO. Mrs. Steingar pointed out quite sharply and succinctly that there are no bones in the eye.
 
My wife had 20/600 vision or something rediculous like that. When she got her first medical, the AME told her that he suggests people who need glasses carry an extra set when flying but she should carry two pairs. She had LASIK in the early days of it by one of our prominent local ophthalmologic surgeons (I had been seeing him because I had high IOPs and he's the local glaucoma expert, though he's now achieved some local notoriety by having himself and his wife do his own commercials for the LASIK service).

Despite Margy having several complications from the surgery, she is overall happy with the results (it's been about twenty years now).
She never understood the point of my alarm clock that projected the time on the ceiling before she had it done.
 
[QUOTE="steingar, post: 2378160, member: 1960" They guy doing the lasering was a DO. Mrs. Steingar pointed out quite sharply and succinctly that there are no bones in the eye.[/QUOTE]

And what do bones have to do with this?
 
NoHeat said:
[QUOTE="steingar, post: 2378160, member: 1960" They guy doing the lasering was a DO. Mrs. Steingar pointed out quite sharply and succinctly that there are no bones in the eye.
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And what do bones have to do with this?[/QUOTE]

A DO is an osteopath...
 
NoHeat said:
And what do bones have to do with this?
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Chip Sylverne said:
A DO is an osteopath...
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I wasn't totally clear on the distinction between an MD and a DO, so I looked it up:

D.O. - Doctor of Osteopathy

"A professional doctoral degree offered by medical schools, and is founded on philosophy of treating people, not just symptoms. Osteopathic physicians and have the same rights, privileges, and responsibilities as an MD. They are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine and can perform surgery in sixty countries, including all 50 states in the United States."​

http://www.vitaparkeye.com/beaverdam/what-is-an-m-d-o-d-or-d-o.htm

"One notable difference between D.O. and M.D. training is that D.O. training adds 300 – 500 hours studying techniques for hands-on manipulation of the human musculoskeletal system." [emphasis added]
​
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Osteopathic_Medicine
 
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flhrci said:
I wish I could get laser surgery but I am too farsighted so the technology does not exist. I have to wait and see if ai get cataracts to get corrective lenses installed. They won't do it electively which I think is understandable. So it is about $1100 per pair of glasses for me.
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I just had cataract surgery on one eye. I had a pretty bad astigmatism. I elected to have the corrective lens for astigmatism plus the laser surgery that also helps correct the astigmatism. The elective stuff was $2k. The total bill was $4k for everything. I have 20/20 in that eye now.
If you are willing to pay for it out of pocket, I would bet they would do it.
 
Jim_CAK said:
I just had cataract surgery on one eye. I had a pretty bad astigmatism. I elected to have the corrective lens for astigmatism plus the laser surgery that also helps correct the astigmatism. The elective stuff was $2k. The total bill was $4k for everything. I have 20/20 in that eye now.
If you are willing to pay for it out of pocket, I would bet they would do it.
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No can afford and vision insurance will say no medical need.


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