Varifocal glasses

Author
Discussion

croyde

Original Poster:

22,697 posts

229 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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In my 50s and have been in denial for years so decided to go to a proper private opticians to have a pretty comprehensive eye test and order a pair of varifocal glasses.

I lost my last set of decent specs in a river last year. I think they were about 300 quid. The frames were about 100 and the lenses took up the rest. High index as my eyes are -6.5 and I didn't want to look like prof Farnsworth.

I did try some varifocals from Specsavers a while back but could not get on with them and they looked pig ugly.

My new optician spent a long time examining me and deciding how my new glasses should be made up due to my job as a cameraman. She deals with a lot of pilots, presumably as we are near to Gatwick.

I opted again for reasonable frames at £130 and highest indexed lenses to make them as thin as possible.

Lenses cost £470!!! Gulp. So including the sight test at £55, that's a pair of specs for £655!!!

Bang goes a new axle back for the Mustang.

Anyone else spend this much on glasses?

klmhcp

247 posts

91 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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anonymous said:
[redacted]
What.

caelite

4,273 posts

111 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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Honestly dont know anything about varifocals as I only use a weak set of -2.5s for my short sightedness but I have had great luck with GlassDirect.co.uk. just email them a copy of your prescription, I got a set of prescription sunglasses and a set of normal specs for just over £100 all in with one of the offers they had on, both lenses had anti-glare/UV etc both frames feel high quality.

Dont get conned into buying designer frames they are a complete rip off. Last set I ended up with cost the best part of £250 simply because oculeye didnt happen to mention the prices of there lenses until I was handing over my plastic, the only difference in the frame is the little brand name stamped on the side.

sparks_E39

12,738 posts

212 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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Just yesterday at the age of 29 I discovered that I needed glasses for being shortsighted.. £65 including anti glare film at Specsavers. Optician bloke reckons I'll be blown away by hdtv about a decade after everyone else was hehe

Benni

3,509 posts

210 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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470 is a bit of money, but these glasses are always more expensive.

I have to renew my glasses (after 12 years) and am going for top drawer,

Zeiss varifocals, double anti-reflex coating and adjusting to sunlight for the 70s look,

the glasses alone cost about 800 pound, the Randolph pilot frame is reasonably priced at 120.

But for something that I use every day and that is important for comfort and safety it´s worth it.

PurpleMoonlight

22,362 posts

156 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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My last pair, purchased about 3 years ago, was £1000.

Tag Heuer three way varifocals.

FiF

43,957 posts

250 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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As always on these threads I absolutely do not agree with buying specs online, especially if you have a strong or complicated prescription, and especially for varifocals.

The measurements are just too important and vital, easy to get wrong.

Secondly you don't have to pay a fortune, some places do like to charge. I got two pairs recently, very good quality from High St independent, both varifocals, one pair a set of sunnies, for less than half what the OP was quoted. Highest index and highest quality varifocals design too, none of your old style Navigators these days.

Yes I could have got them cheaper off the internet, but in my direct experience most issues come from problems with measurements and fitting.

Edited by FiF on Monday 24th October 10:36

Z4monster

1,440 posts

259 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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Yep - Last pair cost me about £650 . Varifocal, ultra thin lenses, coated and reactive, Tom Davies frames. But as I will wear them for two years constantly, I think it's an investment worth making.

A bit like decent tyres on a performance car. Maybe.

King Herald

23,501 posts

215 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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I tried varifocals for a few years, from Specsavers, but I simply could not get the hang of them. They are supposed to be universal, use them for everything, from reading a novel to flying a plane. But I found when trying to read I had to move my head around all he time, as I had a tiny little focal area that was usable. And reading a large newspaper, you've got to be joking, a real neck workout!

Several sets of new lenses, lots of trips back to Specsavers, different style lenses, better quality, over a three year period etc etc.

After three years Specsavers employed a new female optician, who told me bluntly: Varifocals are next to useless for proper reading. I'd been telling them that forever, but they refused to accept my point.

I then started do use standard bifocals, far better, I've found.

Riley Blue

20,906 posts

225 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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Interesting comments, especially about Specsavers. I first went there about eight years ago and came away with rimless varifocals with lightweight titanium arms, they cost £169 and are virtually invisible when worn - they're here: https://www.specsavers.co.uk/glasses/lite-48?sku=2...

I wear them non-stop, for everything from laptop use, reading, driving, walking, cycling, photography and flying - everything except for when I'm at my desk using my PC when I intentionally wear reading glasses as I have a twin monitor set up for photo retouching and page lay out.I have two pairs, one of which I'm wearing at the moment, the second has an older prescription and is my 'spare' (required when driving in France). How well you get on with them depends, I suppose, on how specific you are when you order. I listed all the activities I wanted to do, mainly so I wouldn't have to carry reading glasses around and keep swapping and I manage perfecty with what I have. We're all different though; my O/H wears contact lenses and also has about a dozen pairs of glasses all over the house and in handbags and is forever muttering that she has the wrong pair...

gus607

916 posts

135 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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I've used Asda three times & had good varidocals everytime !
https://opticians.asda.com/info/our-complete-price...

Iva Barchetta

44,044 posts

162 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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I've avoided varifocals so far, a bloke I talked to told me his made him feel sick so he binned them.

So I have specs for reading and specs for everything else.

Going by the prices mentioned above, maybe I should stick with this.

DamienB

1,189 posts

218 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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Nowt wrong with Asda varifocals, guaranteed money back if you don't get on with them, 2 pairs for 100 quid, lenses will no doubt be made in the same factory as the RobAMug £600 pair...

V8mate

45,899 posts

188 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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Iva Barchetta said:
I've avoided varifocals so far, a bloke I talked to told me his made him feel sick so he binned them.

So I have specs for reading and specs for everything else.

Going by the prices mentioned above, maybe I should stick with this.
I picked up my first pair of varifocals on Saturday. I feel like I've been mugged. Not just because they cost me £600, but because I have effectively bought 'reading glasses'. They are useless for anything else; they even struggle a bit with the PC monitor, despite the chap assuring me that the type of lens I had bought would give sharper, wider vision (essential with modern wide screen monitors). They simply don't.

And get up and wander about with them; pointless. Which makes using them a struggle in an open-plan office, where I want to look up from my monitor to talk to people 2-10m away.

I'm happy to switch glasses for driving, but I had expected varifocals to cover everything else. I even gave the optician examples of how my single vision lenses were letting me down: e.g. sometimes we'll eat supper in the living room (I know; how council!). Glasses off and I could see my meal but not the TV; glasses on and the TV is fine but my plate is out of focus.

The Hypno-Toad

12,246 posts

204 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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My experience is that people who have worn glasses for a long time and have a quite strong prescription, don't suffer from the seasick problem quite so much with varifocal. I have them and adjusted with no problem in about five minutes.

£790.00 for me. Not designer frames but good quality and the lenses were the best and thinnest I could afford. smile

Iva Barchetta

44,044 posts

162 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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V8mate said:
Iva Barchetta said:
I've avoided varifocals so far, a bloke I talked to told me his made him feel sick so he binned them.

So I have specs for reading and specs for everything else.

Going by the prices mentioned above, maybe I should stick with this.
I picked up my first pair of varifocals on Saturday. I feel like I've been mugged. Not just because they cost me £600, but because I have effectively bought 'reading glasses'. They are useless for anything else; they even struggle a bit with the PC monitor, despite the chap assuring me that the type of lens I had bought would give sharper, wider vision (essential with modern wide screen monitors). They simply don't.

And get up and wander about with them; pointless. Which makes using them a struggle in an open-plan office, where I want to look up from my monitor to talk to people 2-10m away.

I'm happy to switch glasses for driving, but I had expected varifocals to cover everything else. I even gave the optician examples of how my single vision lenses were letting me down: e.g. sometimes we'll eat supper in the living room (I know; how council!). Glasses off and I could see my meal but not the TV; glasses on and the TV is fine but my plate is out of focus.
Thanks, that confirms it for me ,stick with separate glasses for reading and distance.

Riley Blue

20,906 posts

225 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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Iva Barchetta said:
Thanks, that confirms it for me ,stick with separate glasses for reading and distance.
Which ones will you wear when driving when you need to check your speed and watch put for the little children crossing the road... wink

V8mate

45,899 posts

188 months

Monday 24th October 2016
quotequote all
Riley Blue said:
Iva Barchetta said:
Thanks, that confirms it for me ,stick with separate glasses for reading and distance.
Which ones will you wear when driving when you need to check your speed and watch put for the little children crossing the road... wink
It's not even funny though, is it? I can see other road users perfectly, but the little digital odometer etc isn't in focus. Just as well it's relatively unnecessary information.

And my eyes aren't even that bad! I dread to think the state of vision of a good swathe of drivers.

Iva Barchetta

44,044 posts

162 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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My Speedo is quite hard to read at night anyway,it's all a bit dark and I have had to get used to focusing on the needle and where it's pointing.

Rayy

126 posts

140 months

Monday 24th October 2016
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Just had my eyes retested. Pretty average prescription, but varifocals cost £520 for the lenses alone. That's top of three quality options using Zeiss lenses, plus a grey reactive tint. So they are like sunglasses except that, of course, they don't have that function while driving.

It is a lot of money, sure. But, as others have said, I do wear them all day, every day, so I consider the cost worthwhile. Can recall having the 'seasickness' feeling when I fist switched to varifocals some years ago. But it soon went away - I just wore them part-time at first.

Have tried contact lenses but couldn't get used to putting my fingers on my eyes and was also worried that they might somehow slip under my eyelids. I know this can't really happen but...