I’ve been wearing the same set of multifocal glasses for around five years. I can see fine with them.
Recently, I realized I should have spare pair (which I had put off because they’re so expensive). I got checked out, and my prescription has changed mildly. I got a new pair of glasses with the updated prescription.
I’m wondering which pair I should use daily, and which should be the spare.
If I use the new pair for daily use, I’ll benefit from the updated prescription, but I’m concerned that once I get used to it, it will be harder for me to return to the old pair when/if I need spares.
If I use the old pair for daily use, am I passing up the possibility of benefiting now from better vision? Who knows - I might not need the spares at all, or just very rarely.
I have been doing the same for ages now with multifocals. Change to the new ones and keep the prior pair for emergencies. More frequently as I get older admittedly. I just tried on a pair of really expensive prescription sunglasses from several prescriptions ago and they are barely usable still.
In my experience, the difficulty in going back to your old glasses is no worse than the difficulty of switching to newer ones–at least, if the change is small.
I’ve always used the older glasses as the spares. The only way I wouldn’t is if my new pair was deliberately a cheaper, lower quality pair.
Of course you are. The whole point of a new scrip is that you’ll see better with glasses that fit your current state, not your 5-years-ago state. If you don’t see better with the new scrip, there’s no point in getting it filled at all. Just keep wearing the old ones and save the useless expenditure on new ones.
The right answer is wear the new ones and keep the oldies. The opposite idea borders on silly.
FYI …
I don’t know what “expensive” means to you, but nowadays you can get prescription glasses made in China for $30-50 including frames and delivered in a couple days. Many people swear they’re exactly as good as the $500+ pairs you can get from local vendors. Here’s one well-known example but there are many: Glasses Online | Zenni Optical.
Assuming your scrip isn’t something exotic, you might try getting a Chinese pair made with your new scrip as your spares. If they work as well as your more expensive new locally-made ones, well, next time you update you’ll know how to save a bunch of money.
I just ordered new glasses on the weekend with a minor Rx change from me current Rx.
Yes, they are designer frames in titanium, but with high index progressive lenses with transitions photochromatic they are going to run me CAD$1500. 100% I am using my old ones as a backup and not getting a second pair as a spare.
Ah, titanium. I had really flash, very expensive French frames that came with magnetic clip on sunglasses. One evening I looked over my balcony railing and they fell off and plummeted to the ground floor courtyard. When my neighbor retrieved them for me they had snapped in half right in the middle. As they were titanium the optometrist couldn’t repair them. While I waited for a new pair she fitted the lenses in a pair of Roy Orbison style Ray-Bans, the only frames they would fit. I thought they looked ridiculous but several people mentioned how cool they thought they were.
As soon as I read the OP I was going to suggest Zenni. As long as you can get the prescription from your eye doctor to send to them it should be fairly easy. They don’t necessarily have the greatest selection but for a spare pair does it really matter if you don’t absolutely love the frames?
It always cracks me up that eyeglasses places sell designer frames. Unless I’m stranger danger invading personal space uncomfortably close to you I can’t make out what the 4pt font on your frames say, & frankly about ½ of the frames are made in the same factory anyway.