Swimbo has seen a nice pair of designer (Jimmy Choo) specs in a high street shop.
Having just had a new prescription and splashed out big $ on top notch varifocals at another high street shop for work etc , is looking just for an pair of single vision for normal everyday use

Can anyone recommend the service of any of the many online retailers?

Not sure if it counts as advice but as a spectacle wearer of many years, I have had my specs fitted in many different shops and it always takes a while and several attempts to get it correct.

I therefore don't understand how it is possible to order specs off the internet and make them so they fit right, are correctly spaced etc straight out of a jiffy bag.

Maybe it's me .........

I use Glasses2you for my workshop and spare pairs. Even deliver to France with no problem.

quote:

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Originally posted by mookaloid
Not sure if it counts as advice but as a spectacle wearer of many years, I have had my specs fitted in many different shops and it always takes a while and several attempts to get it correct.

I therefore don't understand how it is possible to order specs off the internet and make them so they fit right, are correctly spaced etc straight out of a jiffy bag.

Maybe it's me .........

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I used http://www.opticsdirectglasses.co.uk/ a few years ago, no fuss, exactly what I wanted and not all that spendy for some oakley frames.

I find that no matter how much an optician arses around with my glasses, I have to adjust them a week later to get them right anyway, so it doesn't hurt to do it yourself.

The cost of specs on the high street is frightening.

If you are confident that your prescription suits you, and you have a decent spare frame, then I can strongly recommend Cilliary Blue. Their costs are startlingly cheaper than the high street, and they have given me very good service - quick delivery too. They also fitted new lenses to the inserts on my driving goggles, even replacing the lenses for free when they made a technical error the first time (they forgot to allow for the fact that the lenses were closer than normal to my eyes when in the goggle frames). BTW: I probably have the only bifocal driving goggles in the UK!

In the past I have also bought glasses (complete frames & lenses) from Optical4Less in Hong Kong (but not for some time). I bought 1 pair that were probably the best I'd ever had - top-grade varifocals that were half the cost of high-street general-purpose equivalents. However, they're not as cheap as they used to be - I think the sinking Pound has pushed the price up for us in the UK. There are risks, such as getting frames that fit (but they do help you to select the right ones), and also there is always the risk that you'll get stung for import duty (but I never was). I'm not sure that they're such an attractive option these days, but maybe worth a look...

BTW: the High Street opticians are sneaky - they'll tell you everything about your prescription apart from the PD (pupiliary distance, I think) which is an essential dimension to know if you're going to an on-line supplier. However, it's not too hard to work out.

[Edited on 5/4/14 by David Jenkins]

My first two pairs were from goggles4u.co.uk, good and very cheap. One of the frames was lower quality compared to other but suited my needs. Some time later I ordered another pair but one of the lenses hadn't been ground at all so they gave me a refund. Sometime after that they had some deals on sports prescription glasses but they got lost in the post and so another full refund. When they get it right they very good value for money, when they get it wrong do at least put right. I believe they are made in Pakistan so expect to wait a couple of weeks for delivery.

Thanks guys good feedback and yes agree with the PD issue though that's what the digital micrometer is for
Will investigate a bit more, just annoying you find a nice frame but they want £400 by time you've added a tint etc and you can see them to half that online hence the q!
Cheers
Edited to add; It took the high st shop 3 tries to get the varifocals right so understand the possible pitfalls, but you'd like to think this was fairly scientific and so if you've already tried on the particular frame then withe the prescription and PD there should be no further variable and made correctly they shoul be right regardless of who makes them?

[Edited on 6/4/14 by ReMan]

I used these guys recently, great service and would use again http://www.designerglassesboutique.co.uk

I'm partially shortsighted so I'm forever taking my glasses on and off and either losing em or squashing em.
Ive used these guys linky for years at £18 for a pair of sprung hinged quality glasses is a no brainer compared to the rubbish from specsavers that fall bits after 6 months at 3 times the price.
Cheers,
Bob

[Edited on 6/4/14 by splitrivet]

One thing I forgot to mention with Cilliary Blue - if you want them to fit varifocals to your own frames, you'll need to supply an old pair of varifocals (that work for you!) so that they can set the transition points properly. They do send those back, of course!

I used Selectspecs for my latest pair.
Was quoted £585 for the same from Vision Express, paid £225. (varifocal, high prescription).
Don't think I'd use high street again...

I'm quite impressed that there hasn't been any duplicate recommendations so far, I remember the day when the first mail order glasses supplier actually made news headlines!

Update:
The Hight St optician that recently took £260 for the varifocals had no problem giving swimbo her PD for free!