I need glasses…
I remember thinking. When I was a kid my sister and I would annually visit our family Optometrist, Dr. Yeh, and he would patiently test our vision. (little better this way… little better that way…) My parents had a simple calculation: Better Eyeglasses = Better Reading = Better Grades. Now I pretty much use glasses for driving/biking, and I prefer to take off glasses when I can.
Well my last pair had been made in 2005, so this year it was finally time for some new glasses. The old pair cost me a fortune with the special-order titanium Flexon/Nike frames with long-temples, with the high-index lenses with Anti-reflective, Anti-static and Anti-fingerprint coatings to help eat up a flex spending plan that I had overestimated.
This time around I decided to be a bit more frugal this time and order from someplace that might save me a few bucks and then get a second pair online once I had the correct prescription in-hand. An eyeglass prescription and a PD (pupillary distance) are generally what is required to orderglasses, and there are a bunch of things that a good optometrist will check for in terms of eye health at the same time.
WebMD has a nice link about how to read a prescription. To simplify things, I’ll try to explain this with my prescription:
-1.75 -2.50 x 180
-1.75 -2.25 x 175
The top set of numbers is the right eye, and the bottom set is the left eye. So each eye has a set of three numbers.
The first number is the “SPHERE” which designates how farsighted (positive) or nearsighted (negative) I am. For both eyes I’m nearsighted at -1.75 diopters (a diopter is a unit of measure)
The second number is the “CYLINDER” which is related to Astigmatism (warped eye shape) meaning that I have it at -2.5 and -2.25 (diopters)
The third number is the “AXIS” relates to the angle or orientation of the Astigmatism so that they can rotate the lenses on the glasses to match imperfections. Mine are 180 and 175.
I’ve been told that I’m actually not bad in terms of nearsighted-ness, but I have a big astigmatism.
Now you should try on a few pairs of glasses and note the measurements of the frames. There are usually three numbers. On one of my new pairs it’s 54 20-150. The 54 is the width across each of the lenses in mm’s. 20 is the width of the nose of the glasses and the 150 is the length of the temple going back to your ears. That means total width of the glasses would be 54 x 2 (two lenses) + 20 = 128mm’s. Much like pants-sizing and inseam length, these are the numbers you can use to gauge whether you think a pair of glasses are going to fit, and it’s important to understand this before you order frames that are too big or too small for your head.
Wal-Mart screwed-up multiple times
The Optomotrist and Vision Department at Wal-Mart are separate. The independent Optometrist will do the measurements, then the “techs” will do the PD and help order glasses. This was a FAIL. Why? Apparently my prescription is so weak that even through we placed the order, my first set of frames were too-wide to support the lenses because the lenses were too thin! We chose the alternate pair, and the same issue happened again, and that seemed so ridiculous that I went back in to get this all fixed. I asked them to remeasure my face, and it turns out that they had the PD incorrect! I would have been wearing glasses where my eyes would be optimally focused when the left eye looks left and the right eye looks right. Yikes! The problem here is that the optical staff was either poorly trained or just not as familiar with optical work as required. I couldn’t imagine that they will be there the next time especially because the optician left on the day I went into the exam.
So at this point I nearly cancelled everything, but with the correction and a new selection of less stylish frames, we found a third pair of frames and completed the order. Of course when the glasses came in, apparently the AXIS were set wrong, so they had to order yet another pair! How the heck is that possible? This was completely ridiculous and a waste of time!
So what was the final story with Wal-Mart. I ordered the highest quality high-index, Nikon lenses on a generic metal frame, and it cost more than both online options even though my vision plan had discounts and paid part of the price. Even though I spent the most time trying these one, I’m still the least comfortable with these. I still don’t trust their vision techs, and I wonder whether they actually screwed up the AXIS still with these.
At this point in time I had locked in that I would go not just with one, but two online vendors to compare vs Wal-Mart. Well, wouldn’t you?
- Warby-Parker for the first online pair
- 39 Dollar Glasses for the second online pair
Warby-Parker impresses with the professional presentation
Warby-Parker is brilliant. For free with a credit card deposit you can order a selection of five frames for you to test-wear for five days (with non-prescription lenses). It comes in a stylish box, and it costs you nothing except the realization that your face looks funny with some shapes of frames. When you’ve made your decision on a frame (and after your friends have roundly mocked you), then it’s a straightforward ordering process. The bonus, if you buy a pair of glasses, they donate money to a non profit to provide glasses to the needy somewhere in the world. #MoralWin
So what didn’t I like about Warby-Parker? No metal frames were available, so now I’ve got my first plastic frames ever. The pricing is not super “cheap,” but it’s fair. I can’t recall if I paid extra at the time for the anti-glare coating, but what was clever on their part was that after my order, they sent me an email requesting that I do an upgrade to high-index lenses at a pretty reasonable +$30. Since these were tiny glasses I declined, but while I applaud their clever ability to upsell post-sale, it did make me worry that my order would have been delayed had I not immediately responded. These arrived perfect in again beautiful packaging in about two weeks. I think I paid about $100 or so for everything.
39 Dollar Glasses gives the best selection and pricing
39 Dollar Glasses has a more complete selection of glasses and lens options. This time I went with a nice metal frame sized with long temples and a high-end driving lens (Drivewear NuPolar-Transitions Polarized). Yeah, this cost a bit more than 39 dollars, but even with all the upside, this company has lots of sales and coupons. In the end this was the best value option at $113.01 shipped! The same configuration would have cost at-least double elsewhere. These are my favorite pair with the nicest lenses and balance, but with the *cough* weather in Seattle it’s very rare that I need sunglasses. Again, this order process had zero friction, and I would order from them again in a second.
My recommendation
Start by going to the best optometrist or ophthalmologist that you can find. Someone with years of experience and who is patient enough to go through all the tests and who isn’t rushing you through the exam is whom I would recommend. There are enough issues with bad prescriptions and small things that could risk blindness that you should get someone you or your friends trust. Once you have a complete prescription in-hand with a properly measured PD, then going online to pick up glasses seems is what I’d do.
I’ll recommend both Warby-Parker and 39 Dollar Glasses. Stylish hipsters may enjoy the Warby-Parker selection due to their urban roots, but I find the 39 Dollar Glasses store to have the most selection and lens options, meaning that it’s the better technical option.
