Varifocals

[Fianceechickie]

DH has had an eye test today and been advised he needs varifocals. To avoid distortion he wants to go for the best type (which is fair enough given what his job involves). We've been quoted £350 for the lenses plus frames...and the ones he likes are £400 ish. Plus a coating for the lenses. It's the independent optician I've used for years. The service and quality are amazing but it's not cheap. DH is thinking of going somewhere cheaper to get the actual glasses or even online. I'm thinking we took up loads of a professional's time this afternoon and got lots of advice and that's what you're paying for. Any thoughts on varifocals, prices, cheaper options?

I've had varifocals for a couple of years and paid a similar price to what you've been quoted. I went for top-end lenses and expensive handmade frames (all from a local independent - central/east London). I've used various opticians over the years and my local independent guys are a different league to the big chains (David Clulow etc). If you want something generic, go to a chain but as I get older (sob!) I'm happy to pay a premium for service that is tailored specifically to me. I also use daily disposal varifocal contact lenses so my glasses are an extra luxury really.

I'd go with the optician you've used for years. Varifocals are expensive; the prices you quoted were about what I paid for mine. I wouldn’t touch an online seller with a barge pole - varifocals have to be fitted exactly.

Definitely not online. Varifocals have to be fitted to your eye far more carefully than ordinary lenses, and it takes them time when you collect your glasses to fit them just right. If he wants to go for the best, he won't get it any cheaper from the chains (what he will be able to get cheaper from the chains is the chain's own cheaper brand), so he might as well stay.

Which magazine did an assessment of opticians a year back, and their conclusion was that the independents gave better quality advice ans service.

I've been wearing varifocals for about 3 years now. My first pair were very expensive but I worked out that they cost less than £1 a day over the two years I wore them. My current pair were cheaper and I don't love them as much. I'm having my old pair re-glazed when my prescription changes.

I think DH is paying £350 for two pairs from Specsavers. Vision express was more. They’re just expensive.

Do you mean the frames he likes are £400? Or that they are £50 so it’s £400 in total. If the former, and the price is prohibitive for you, then he should choose cheaper frames. I can’t believe there is nothing he likes for less than that!
If the latter, we’ll, a bit expensive - but varifocals can be.

I wouldn't go online for varifocals as they need very precise fitting. I used a local independent & was glad I did as I had to go back to get them tweaked. They are very expensive but I wouldn't be without mine.

DH and I pay about £700 each for our varifocals from Vision Express and that's with relatively cheap frames.

Not everyone gets on with varifocals and they can be costly. Definitely do need precise fitting and a bit of perseverance to get used to them. When I was first recommended to have then, my optician offered a months trial period which would have allowed me to exchange them for separate distance and reading glasses.

It's about £800 in total @cardibach. Thanks all, that's really helpful. My mum went to Costco for hers, she reckons they were great...Zeiss lenses. I think we should go back to the independent next week, I get what you're saying about fitting as she explained it all to us so yes, I can imagine it has to be spot on. I think he's just so shocked at needing the reading prescription for the first time, plus the cost and then spending hours there this afternoon and not making our minds up! I liked a frame that was £200 or so but he wanted something more striking which is fair enough; he's wearing them!

i can’t even begin to imagine what £400 frames might be like. How are they different from cheaper ones? Do they make the tea?

I go to an independent optician and my varifocals cost around £600. I wanted lenses that darken in the light and they are scratch resistant and lightweight. Well worth it considering the only time I don't wear them is when I'm asleep!

I have a specsavers elite pair. About £180 and instant 'wow'. Solves my life long short sight and my middle age short arms.

Mine were about £275 from Specsavers. I went for their mid-range lenses, as I wasn't sure that I would get on with them, so didn't fancy the high end ones.
They are an absolute game-changer. I've barely taken them off since. If I could sleep in them, I would. :-)
£800 is very expensive though - however, if you look at it on a cost-per-wear basis, then it doesn't sound too bad.

ive got them and I'm not keen tbh. got them from Specsavers-so less expensive than elsewhere. just don;t seem to be able to get used to them-so may swap back to distance and close up ones

I got mine from Specsavers and they were around £300 for the thinnest lenses and largest varifocal area. They've made a huge difference to my vision, I'm so glad I went for the more expensive option.
I've heard that Costco are good for specs.

I know @cardibach ! They're Lindberg some Danish designer. At least he'll look really sexy when he's making the tea in them!

I love Lindbergs (I have a pair). Good choice.

Asda were way better than Specsavers for me. Cost something like £200 for two pairs, I got one pair of sunglasses and one pair of optical lenses. I can also compare with an exclusive independent optician who quoted £800 for a single pair.

Some people never get on with varifocals. It took until I was on the second pair. Initially I found only the sunglasses were ok.

Both Specsavers and the independent optician were pushy and tried upselling whereas Asda were much more relaxed and said varifocals weren't absolutely necessary at this stage. I'm using the cheaper option to adjust to having varifocals and when I feel more comfortable and really have to wear them all the time I will be prepared to go somewhere more expensive simply for better choice of frame styles. I doubt of the quality of the lenses varies that much. The testing equipment and main opticians room at Asda was really good too. plus the optician was really handsome and generally fanciable

I got my first pair from Specsavers, they were about £450 about 15 years ago, for an expensive Japanese lens, varifocal, and extra thin so not too heavy, and I took to them very easily. Varifocals seem very natural - look straight ahead through the upper part of the lens for distance, drop your eyes a bit to see the computer screen, and a bit further to read - in other words the lens exactly suits what your eyes do naturally.

If he's shortsighted, he may find his very close vision improves slightly, so that in addition to his glasses, he has a very useful focus at about 10-15cm for really tiny stuff - this is why you see older people peering close up at something over the top of their glasses.

I doubt of the quality of the lenses varies that much The cheaper lenses tend to have a narrower field of vision. How much this matters differs from person to person.

After fighting varifocals for years (being short-sighted I can see close without glasses and DW who has a psychology degree being convinced that they will irrevocably reprogram the brain) I finally gave in last year. But I didn't want to spend too much in case I couldn't get used to them.

ASDA Opticians did a pair for £40. OK, they are the cheapest lenses in a frame from their basic range, but they're fine. It took a couple of days to get used to any distortion and 99% of the time I don't notice it any more -- occasionally when I am very tired it comes back. And now I can see again.

Had a pair for a couple of weeks now after about 2 years of dithering. Definately take some getting used to. I got mine from Specsavers - £230 - the frames are just from their own brand range and I opted for the 2nd most expensive lenses. I'm still not entirely convinced about them. I wouldn't use any online opticians, I was surprised how long it took to get the measurements for the lenses - they used an iPad app and then checked it all manually.

Presumably this is the most common case of short-sight you've always had, and you want varifocals to deal with long-sight of getting older.

It's hard to compare prices, because a massive variable is the magnitude of the basic short sight prescription (spherical) and your tolerance for thick lenses and/or distortions and/or chromatic aberrations (the effect where you get colour fringing, particularly towards the edge of the lens). These all get worse as the lens gets more powerful, and you start having to pay serious money if you want lenses which are higher power, but still thin and not distorting. If you've been used to single-vision lenses which have been thinned out by using high-index plastic then you're probably going to annoyed by the compromises a lot of similarly-thin varifocals force you to make.

If you're fussy and/or have a strong prescription (say, six or seven diopter or more) then stuff like Essilor X series is going to be three hundred quid for the lenses pretty well whatever you do; it's up to you if you put those into cheap frames or Lindbergs, but you're realistically not going to see much change from five hundred quid. You can get cheaper lenses, but they'll either be thicker (because the refractive index is lower) or they'll distort more (because they're more simply shaped) and/or they'll cause more chromatic distortion (ditto). You might not care, in which case, great, they're cheaper. But if you get annoyed by seeing the light out of the corner of your eye being split into several different-coloured portions, you'll get annoyed.