Put lenses in these frames I just bought

June 17, 2009 2:03 PM

Put lenses in the eyeglass frames I just bought!

I just bought a $6 pair of eyeglass frames from a boutique store. What is the best way to go about having my prescription put in them? Cheaply would be great. My only worry is that my prescription calls for such a thick lense, it might not be possible to fit them in the frames. Anyone done this before? Thanks!

posted by little_c to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (6 answers total)

Your first step would be to take them to your optometrist and ask.

I have a really high prescription, and in order to have wearable glasses I need to have a certain size of frame and lens.

I found vintage frames on eBay by measuring the glasses I already had and limiting my search to frames with the appropriate measurements, and then had the optician fit them with the lenses (which was no problem at all, I just asked and they did it). Going the other way around--getting frames and then seeing if they'd fit--would probably have resulted in frames I couldn't actually use. In any case, I still had to pay through the nose for extra special super thin lenses. Cheapness isn't really an option if I want functional glasses, despite the fact that I only wear them at home--if they fall off my face because of the weight of the giant nerd lenses (this has actually happened), what's the point?

Maybe your own prescription isn't as bad as mine and your options are wider. My experience though, is that I can't just pick up any cute frames and make them my own.

Lucky for me I'm also getting old, so I can indulge my cute glasses whims with a wide array of magnifying readers. Bittersweet, that.
posted by padraigin at 2:27 PM on June 17, 2009

$39 here

If you do an askmefi search for the company, people have had positive experiences.

If you go through the link on this site you can get 10% off that price.

The above link is to a blog about buying glasses online.
posted by bradly at 2:47 PM on June 17, 2009 [1 favorite]

Dittoing looking at Glassyeyes (linked by Bradly above)
posted by OrangeDrink at 4:48 PM on June 17, 2009

Most optometrists who have access to a lab (not those 'one hour glasses' chains) can fit lenses to any frames you bring them; I've worn pince-nez glasses for 15 years now, and whenever my prescription changes I just bring them the frames, say this is what I want, and they do it. They have warned me, though, if my prescription gets worse I might not be able to wear them anymore because of how the screws are mounted, so there may be some limitations depending on the structure of the glasses and the lens you need. It will also probably take quite a bit more time than you'd expect, at least a couple weeks.
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:55 PM on June 17, 2009

OH GOD OH GOD I KNOW I KNOW!!! (best answer whoring, here)

I asked this exact question a while back. The best answers I got were $39-$50 dollars.

Global Eyeglasses will relens any frame for TEN MOTHERFUCKING DOLLARS.

They might throw on a few more dollars if you have a particularly strong prescription. You need to know your prescription, including puplilary distance.

Use the coupon code "glassyeyes" for 10%, which should cover shipping.

The results are perfectly satisfactory. If you're the kind of person who's all "I stare at a computer screen 19 hours a day and bike home and I need high index lenses in a $500 titanium frame" you might now be happy, but I have 6 pairs of glasses I've gotten relensed through them and I'm perfectly happy.

Don't bother with brick and motar optometrists. They generally charge $100, and everyone I asked about it gave me a guilt trip for not buying the frames through them.
posted by Juliet Banana at 9:01 AM on June 18, 2009 [10 favorites]

If you're the kind of person who's all "I stare at a computer screen 19 hours a day and bike home and I need high index lenses in a $500 titanium frame" you might NOT be happy
posted by Juliet Banana at 9:04 AM on June 18, 2009