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polarized over glasses for spectacle wearers ?

Gerry Giles

Gerry Giles

Senior Member & Supporter
I normally have 2 pairs of glasses made 1 normal and 1 polaroid pair

but prior to this many many years ago while on holiday in the USA I bought a pair of quality Fitovers not available here at that time they were great

and Im guessing there must be some really good ones produced now ?

I have seen some Cocoons around £60 but IM sure there are lots of others do YOU ? use any ???

PLEASE dont tell me to get a prescription pair made lol
 
I too use the Fortis ones and they are surprisingly good. £35 in my local shop.

Im used to Maui Jim’s that I wear for saltwater fly fishing. They are excellent but fearsomely expensive.

Normally I use ‘Flexon’ prescription specs which come with magnetic polarised clip on’s. A very clever arrangement. But a recent prescription change meant new frames and a new requirement for over-glasses.
 
Chris Cheshire said:
Hi Gerry. I can help you....
I'm an optician by trade and am happy to supply members of BFW with prescription polarised sunnies at a massive discount compared to normal prices.
Drop me a message
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Hi Chris
thank you for your very generous offer
but I use varifocals and I think the pupil position measurements needed are not on the prescription ?

I have an eye test booked on the 28th that they reluctantly have agreed too as Im on lots of medication Chemo etc and said it can affect my vision but as im expected to be on it for the next 6 to 12 months they agreed
 
i tried overfits but was not happy

for the last god knows how many years i have used Oakley polarised prescription glasses - not cheap but excellent and when a clumsy oaf like me wrecks/sits on them they repair/replace for free

i also have Oakley frames for my non polarised prescription glasses
 
Graham Elliott said:
Chris Cheshire made mine and I can't fault them.
Variafocals.

Great value as well.
Click to expand...
oh thats good to hear !
did you have to go to him and get the pupil measurements marked on the glass or is it on the prescription where you had the eye test done ?
 
Tim Marks said:
I too use the Fortis ones and they are surprisingly good. £35 in my local shop.

Im used to Maui Jim’s that I wear for saltwater fly fishing. They are excellent but fearsomely expensive.

Normally I use ‘Flexon’ prescription specs which come with magnetic polarised clip on’s. A very clever arrangement. But a recent prescription change meant new frames and a new requirement for over-glasses.
Click to expand...
Maui Jims are indeed excellent.
 
Gerry Giles said:
oh thats good to hear !
did you have to go to him and get the pupil measurements marked on the glass or is it on the prescription where you had the eye test done ?
Click to expand...
My optician (a n upmarket private one) refused to divulge my ‘PD’ measurement when I asked for it to go and buy some optilabs glasses a few years ago. They deliberately don’t put it on the prescription form they give you after an eye test.

Basically they wanted me to buy glasses ONLY from them !
 
Tim Marks said:
My optician (a n upmarket private one) refused to divulge my ‘PD’ measurement when I asked for it to go and buy some optilabs glasses a few years ago. They deliberately don’t put it on the prescription form they give you after an eye test.

Basically they wanted me to buy glasses ONLY from them !
Click to expand...

This is true. Most of us opticians deliberately make it difficult for you to buy elsewhere. They / we figure if they've invested the time in testing your eyes properly and thoroughly etc, there should be some kind of loyalty with purchasing.

The good news is that your PD measurement that is so important is actually very simple to measure yourself.

There are loads of videos on youtube showing how its done.
 
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Chris Cheshire said:
This is true. Most of us opticians deliberately make it difficult for you to buy elsewhere. They / we figure if they've invested the time in testing your eyes properly and thoroughly etc, there should be some kind of loyalty with purchasing.

The good news is that your PD measurement that is so important is actually very simple to measure yourself.

There are loads of videos on youtube showing how its done.
Click to expand...

There are two opticians in the UK I will never use again because of this idea of "loyalty"!

One I phoned as I required my PD to buy prescription sunglasses online whilst in France. Anyone who has seen the ridiculous prices quoted here in France will understand! Now his records would have shown I had bought, from him, several Oakley prescription sunglasses over about 10 years, but he was quite abrupt and stated "we do not keep these records". Funny how he could tell me my last prescription though, fat lot of use this "professional" was whilst I was abroad!

Needless to say, I did not purchase replacement glasses from him!

The other was a leading high street company who, I think deliberately, put the wrong figures in one eyes prescription. I had told them I was leaving UK that afternoon and would be ordering online. Even if it was a genuine mistake there is no chance I would use that company again!

What do opticians think they are achieving when using these tactics. Common sense would show they are unlikely to see that potential customer again - so maybe a sense of "spite"!

Anyway, these experiences broke my attachment to Oakley sunglasses. Saved me a fortune as I now find Fortis over-glasses ideal for the river. My wife still insists I wear my non-prescription Oakleys when socialising, the vanity of a woman who would not be seen with me wearing the Fortis glasses! :cool:
 
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Steve Arnold said:
There are two opticians in the UK I will never use again because of this idea of "loyalty"!

One I phoned as I required my PD to buy prescription sunglasses online whilst in France. Anyone who has seen the ridiculous prices quoted here in France will understand! Now his records would have seen I had bought from him several Oakley prescription sunglasses over about 10 years, but he was quite abrupt and stated "we do not keep these records". Funny how he could tell me my last prescription though, fat lot of use this "professional" was whilst I was abroad!

Needless to say, I did not purchase replacement glasses from him!

The other was a leading high street company who, I think deliberately, put the wrong figures in one eyes prescription. I had told them I was leaving UK that afternoon and would be ordering online. Even if it was a genuine mistake there is no chance I would use that company again!

What do opticians think they are achieving when using these tactics. Common sense would show they are unlikely to see that potential customer again - so maybe a sense of "spite"!

Anyway, these experiences broke my attachment to Oakley sunglasses. Saved me a fortune as I now find Fortis over-glasses ideal for the river. My wife still insists I wear my non-prescription Oakleys when socialising, the vanity of a woman who would not be seen with me wearing the Fortis glasses! :cool:
Click to expand...
The world is changing and opticians are (slowly) beginning to understand that people should have the freedom to order what they want from where they want. Its a much more competitive marketplace these days.

The fun starts when something doesn't work as it should and you can't work out if its the glasses or the eye test were wrong and both were done by different companies.

However the powers at be are trying to take things back to how they used to be.

There has been a recent(ish) change in the regulations in order to try and support Opticians who have customers wanting to buy from elsewhere..

If Mr Smith has an eye test done at Optician A and takes his prescription to Optician B for a pair of glasses because they offer better prices or nicer styles or whatever....
....If the glasses made up don't work for any reason, it is up to Optician B to fix the situation even if the eye test done with Optician A is proven to be incorrect.

This has been done to encourage people to get their glasses made up with the Optician who did the test.

On a personal level, I have no problem with it either way. People should be free to buy where they like in my opinion.
 
Gerry Giles said:
oh thats good to hear !
did you have to go to him and get the pupil measurements marked on the glass or is it on the prescription where you had the eye test done ?
Click to expand...
Luckily CC lives fairly near to me in Tuksberry.😀

But he did it in 2 minutes from a prescription and a very quick measurement.

Suggest you ask him if it can be done remotely with a prescription.
 
Chris Cheshire said:
The world is changing and opticians are (slowly) beginning to understand that people should have the freedom to order what they want from where they want. Its a much more competitive marketplace these days.

The fun starts when something doesn't work as it should and you can't work out if its the glasses or the eye test were wrong and both were done by different companies.

However the powers at be are trying to take things back to how they used to be.

There has been a recent(ish) change in the regulations in order to try and support Opticians who have customers wanting to buy from elsewhere..

If Mr Smith has an eye test done at Optician A and takes his prescription to Optician B for a pair of glasses because they offer better prices or nicer styles or whatever....
....If the glasses made up don't work for any reason, it is up to Optician B to fix the situation even if the eye test done with Optician A is proven to be incorrect.

This has been done to encourage people to get their glasses made up with the Optician who did the test.

On a personal level, I have no problem with it either way. People should be free to buy where they like in my opinion.
Click to expand...

Maybe I have been mistaken in my views this last many years! I considered opticians in the same bracket as doctors and dentists, clients or the NH pay them to ensure a diagnosis, prescription or treatment is accurate and suitable.

Well, I know some dentists are getting exceptionally greedy, but I never thought that opticians would be prepared to be awkward over the eye test to get a sale. To me buying spectacles from them is a bonus to them if I see what I like, the eye test has been paid for.

Showing naivety for a 69 year old I know. Everything is fixed for a bigger profit these days!

I require accurate eye tests and darkened glasses for health reasons. Never even considered that an optician would see my needs secondary to his profits. When I phoned from abroad for the prescription to obtain emergency glasses I found the first optician unwilling to help and the second almost laughed at me.

Anyway, thanks for the advice on how their system now should work. :rolleyes:
 
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