I’m not convinced those expensive frames are any better than what you can get from Zenni. Maybe I just have no taste but the glasses I got online 4 years ago are just as light, look just as nice, and have been just as durable as anything I see in the optical stores.
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I agree with this. I have a pair of glasses i got from 39dollarglasses.com that I swear is identical to a pair i bought in an optometrists shop with my insurance.
I got sick of reading glasses and wanted to try progressives, even though my distance vision is still 20/20. My wife convinced me to get them from Warby Parker and they ended up being ~$400. I hated the progressives but liked the clear frames. So I returned the Warby Parker glasses and got some clear-framed reading glasses from Zenni. They might not be identical to the Warby Parkers, but it would take close study to differentiate them.
but what I’m saying is who makes the high-end shit? I’ve been getting normie luxottica shit from costco, I’m not worried about finding those for less, I want to know WHAT to google for to find the really top-notch stuff.
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yeah I went to a local optometrist who has a pretty big dispensary (and was even listed as “premier” by VSP) and it was mostly the same shit that costco has, but everything was going to cost like $300 more.
also the people who worked there were complete assholes
like, there are high-end mechanical keyboards that cost like $700 (and up), I can get a fountain pen machined out of really fucked up space age engineered materials like Ultem or Peek made by a guy who builds scientific instruments for his day job, surely there is some really niche community of EYEGLASS FRAME ENTHUSIASTS out there?
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there are some frames that are worth the price. i used to break the hinges pretty often until i went with a hingeless titanium mykita for like $500, and it lasted me for 9 or 10 years, and are still my backups. my next purchase was a hingeless icberlin for $600 which absorbed some expiring hsa/fsa cards.
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Also Luxottica. They’re massive.
Also, they have some higher end house brands like Ray-Ban and Oakley.
I got 2 pair from Zinni earlier this year and they’re perfectly fine. They were so inexpensive I got the same prescription as progressives and bifocals just to see which one I liked better.
2023 LC Thread #1 - The Optical-Industrial Complex
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these kind of frames are the goat. hinges should never break the way they do in some cheaper frames
ok this is what I’m talking about
ah this is the shit I’m talking about
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I wear glasses all day every day and my frames last 10+ years without ever needing anything done to them. Who are these people going through multiple frames a year???
It’s all part of the scam. For much of the American middle class you sign up for the vision plan through your employer and are encouraged to get a yearly exam and then the opticians give you a hard sell on marked up Luxxotica shit based on how much your insurance covers and you still end up paying a couple hundred out of pocket, but feel (accurately) like your benefit is a waste if you don’t use it for frames and lenses.
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When you really start paying attention it becomes apparent like 80% of the US economy is rent seeking horseshit like this
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The pro tip to all this is to wear contacts imo
I wish but my eyes are super sensitive. A couple days in a row of wearing contacts and I look like I’m completely stoned my eyes are so red and dried out.
I basically sign up for my employer’s vision plan once every 3 years. Use it to get an eye exam and then get a 90 day supply of one day contacts. I take the prescription and buy from Zenni or similar glasses, prescript sunglasses, etc. I use the contacts on beach days and ski / snowboard days because I hate wearing glasses either of those places, and bring them as backup on other trips in case my glasses somehow get lost, broken, or stolen.
This whole discussion makes me wonder, in countries with universal healthcare does the govt pay for Lasik or is that private only?
Have you tried the 2-3 week ones instead of daily? I know the daily supposed to be more comfortable but I find they dry my eyes out more so I wear the 2-3 week ones then just use daily ones for surfing/etc