How do you tell if you get what you are paying for when you buy eyewear these days? Is it worth it to pay extra at an doctor's office or are the internet cheapies just as good? Titanium frames? extra thin? Where are the blank lens made anyway, china?

The wife gets hers from Lenscrafters. Basically you pick out a frame there you like after you try it on or you bring in a frame you like and they stick the lens on. They grind it on the spot and get it done while you shop around. How you shop without your glasses if you need it is beyond me unless you have a 2nd pair or contacts. If you tip them, they actually use high quality duct tape otherwise you get the regular contact cement.

Problem with internet specials is that your selection of frames is limited to what they have and if you don't like it, well, the best case scenario is you have to return it via the mail service or UPS. That is a bunch of downtime.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

We use Lenscrafters, too. Great frame selection, and there's always a sale of some sort going on.

__________________
1989 300 SEL that mostly works, but needs TLC

Lenscrafters also gives some sort of AAA discount too, IIRC. I know I got a 30% off coupon in the mail from AAA for use at Lenscrafters. Besides, you have 30 days to see if you like it or not.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Most of the name brands (Prada, Gucci, Armani, etc), if not all, are made by normal eyewear companies such as Luxottica, Flexon, etc. You may be paying more for the name, but the quality is still the same.

If you have good insurance, you might check up with your optometrist. I recently got a nice pair brand name glasses at a good price.

Or if you had really good insurance, you could go to an opthamologist, which is an M.D.

In what way? I go to the East and West Towne ones and got good service from them. They do adjust her glasses for free and clean them on demand. Even repair the pieces on the nose that come off.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I've used LensCrafters for my glasses and my youngest daughter's contacts. Good service. AAA discount was nice.

Yes, there are actually only about 4 frame makers. Most "designer" frames are private label runs by the big 4. Hugely profitable business. In a former life I sold vision services (disease state management) to health plans and employer groups. Learned a lot about the eye industry from hardware through surgical interventions.

Ciao

__________________
KyGuy
'04 E500 Brilliant Silver/Ash (50K)
'01 ML320 Desert Silver/Parchment (67K)
'99 C230 Kompressor Black/Black (62K)
'93 Mitsubishi Montero (134K)(Home Depot Express)


'70 6.3 Gold/Tobacco (128K) (sold and now in Germany)
'94 E420 Silver/Blue (80K) - Sold
'97 E320 PearlBlack/Parchment (77K) - Sold
'66 300SE Coupe (owned 2002-2003)

The Lenscrafters were in the Malls. East or West Towne not on Odana.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

I buy mine in Europe...My latest set of frames and Optically coated Zies lenses cost me a cool 225 euros last august including an exam (doctor spent an hour with me). At any of the blood suckers here those same lenses alone cost $600 not counting the frames or exam. Top quality at half the cost of plastic here.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

I have worn glasses for almost my whole life. I can tell you that getting the correct Rx for your lenses is very important. I just went to the opthamologist I have used for over thirty years. His new Rx is so off that I can't read or use the computer with my glasses on. When I was being fitted, I mentioned that I had trouble reading close up. He mumbled that I wasn't the one to decide wether or not I needed bi-focals. Well, I guess he is just old and way past his prime, because my twenty year old "back up" pair works better than the new pair I just had made. This is from a opthamologist who was once the head of research at a local teaching hospital. I guess we all get old and grumpy, oh well.

Next time, I will go to Sears Roebuck and get the cheapest pair they have, it can't get any worse, right?