All of my measurements are for farsightedness. I did some skulking around online last night, and this morning, had a informative chat with the optician, a man now in his sixties who has been an optician since the age of eighteen. This guy knows his stuff, takes pride in his work, and ISN’T paid on commission. Based on what I’m looking for, silhouette drill mounts fitted with high index progressive lenses and an anti-glare coating will provide extremely lightweight, very clear correction that virtually disappears. How can eyewear that virtually disappears on the face “age” you? In any case, lightweight comfort and day long wearability are my first and last priorities.
I don’t think I’ll trust this prescription to a mail order outfit, or even one of the large chain stores because, according to my research, Progressive lens prescriptions can be very tricky. if they aren’t precisely aligned to your eyes and placed in the frames correctly, you will more than likely have trouble seeing through them. One’s success with these lenses can very much depend upon the expertise of the optician measuring and fitting for the eyewear. I need an optical business that will stand behind its work, and be willing to make things right should I have a problem with fit or fabrication. I think the shop associated with my Opthamologist’s practice will be the way to go.
Unfortunately, we don’t have VSP even though H is a Federal civil servant. We have a vision “discount” rider on our dental insurance, and one through AAA, but such a prescription will still end up costing north of 700 dollars. Right now, that’s not financially feasible, so this will have to wait a bit. In the meanwhile, I will probably get some cheap readers to act as a stop-gap. Thanks for the insight, folks.
Poeysheart, go to Costco optical. Very skilled, very professional techs. If the glasses do not work out for you, they will remake them or refund the price. We paid $350 for Mr.'s glasses with the same options you listed in the post above (plus transition lens - so they can be worn in bright sunlight), and that included the pricy titanium top wire frame by Zegna.
poetsheart, you could probably get a pair of progressives from Zenni for under $80. Why don’t you give that a shot instead of spending more money on readers. If it works out, great. If it doesn’t, go to the optician and spend the big bucks.
I say this as a person who has been wearing progressives for years. At least go to the website and go through the process to see how much it would cost you.
I think rimless glasses don’t suit everyone aesthetically and can have a schoolmarm effect on women, Elizabeth Warren being a prime example (dying to find her new glasses!)
I have progressive lenses (very myopic with astigmatism, so not a simple prescription), and my plastic-framed glasses aren’t heavy at all. But I agree with a previous poster that discomfort and indentations are indicative of poor fit more than weight. There’s no reason to be limited to one look when there are so many interesting frame options out there.
I wear Silhouette, titanium minimal art.
Only glasses I have ever had that have stood up to being stepped on, sat on, and slammed by a softball catch to the eyes.
There is no hiding behind a frame and you actually see more of the world without frames blocking your view.
I feel, Your best option in Rimless.
I wonder if the heavy dark rims don’t appeal more to those who can alternate with contacts? Do people really want to look at those glasses all the time?
When I first had to stop wearing contacts, I felt that when I looked at my face, all I saw was glasses. Rimless just vanished.
But to each his own. I really don’t give a damn if I am on trend.
When I switched from rimless to rimmed I noticed the edges for a few hours. The main thing I learned was that for progressive lenses you should have enough vertical space. I got a pair of glasses that looked great, but there just wasn’t a large enough bottom area for comfortable reading for me.
The thick rimmed glasses are in with the younger, hipster crowd. For those of us parents who’ve worn glasses most of our life, we lived through those long ago before they became retro and ironic. I’m in my fifties so a pair of glasses isn’t going to make me suddenly look young.
DH is on his second pair of Silhouettes. He loves them because they are so light and it’s almost like he isn’t wearing glasses. The first pair lasted about 5 years. One arm broke in the middle Guess the titanium wasn’t all that strong. He has had this second pair at least 2 years and they look like new. He wears them all day long.
I can’t comment myself because I luckily only wear glasses for driving.
For years I had “crystal” frames which were almost as invisible as rimless–then they went completely out of style, and I couldn’t get them. I think they’re coming back, but now I think I’m hooked on rimless.
I’m late to this thread. I have had rimless glasses for many years. I think I was wearing the “Sarah Palin” brand of glasses (kazoo Kawasaki), before she made them popular. I’ve never had any problem with the rimless, but the pair I have now have chipped very slightly from being dropped. I’m about ready to get new glasses, but I have no idea what to get. What’s considered fashionable for us “50 somethings?” I have spent a fair amount on glasses, and don’t let the price be the deciding factor. I figure if I am going to wear them most every day, I want to be really happy with them.
I’ve also just started trying bifocal daily throw away contacts. They cost More than the ones you throw awy after two weeks, and I can’t read great with them, but they are nice to have sometimes when I don’t want to deal with glasses.
I like the Costco Titanium frames. I don’t have bifocals or progressives but recently got 2 titanium frame Rx glasses and 1 pair of Rx sunglasses for about $350 or so. The store is 5 minutes from our house and they’re happy to adjust, repair, replace nosepads and even replace frame or lenses if defective. We’ve been using them for our Rx glasses for decades!
Very good point, Consolation. I have worn rimless for 20 years, but again I wear contacts. I liked how my own features seemed to stand out instead of the frames. When they first came into fashion, I was thrilled, they just seemed to disappear compared to the huge frames that had been popular in the 80’s. . i just got a new pair of rimmed…first one I’ve ever liked, but it’s more a fashion statement, per se. I don’t have to wear them the majority of the time, I do actually feel more attractive in my rimless, but they are more aging. The glasses don’t make me look younger of course, but they are fashionable and have an up to date look. I keep my clothes and shoes up to date, so I have finally evolved with eyewear. I honestly think I would have done it sooner if I wore them all the time and they weren’t so darn expensive.
Insspired by this thread, I went into Lenscrafters the other day, and tried on a bunch of the “fashionable” rimmed glasses for the hell of it. Almost without exception, they looked terrible on me. There were a few that were at best tolerable. (One thing I noticed was that the ones where the top of the frame was closest to equal with my eyebrows were less awful.)
I do not keep my clothes and shoes “up to date,” either. Oh well.
Consolation, I got some really hip glasses last year … I had the opticians at my eye doctor’s office pick them out for me. At first, I worried that I was “trying too hard” to look young. I got over that quickly, though. They really look good on me, and I am glad I took the leap to update my face!
I’m so blind, it’s hard for me to pick out new frames for myself. Maybe I should just take a leap of faith and have the eye doctor’s staff choose for me, too.
Can’t speak to the rimless vs rimmed glasses part of this discussion but I just wanted to give another thumb’s up for zenni, You can upload your photo and then “try on” different frames.
I got one pair of progressives from my local optometrist and then used the rx to get a back up pair. They’re identical in terms of wearability and the first were close to $400 and the zenni were about $100. I also have “near” and a “far” rxs and paid about $50 each through zenni for back ups. Had a very good experience.
