I never seem to like the frames they have at the eye doctor’s office, and moreover, they’re seem way overpriced. but I’ve always liked sunglass frames much better. why can’t I buy a pair of sunglasses, knock the lenses out, and bring those in to the eye doctor and have him use those?
In a word , money
What you want is very doable, just not with frames that you can pick up for probably under 50 bucks. I am not sure where you live , but up here in Ontario we normally go to an optometrist and he or she gives you the test and then the perscription ,which then you would bring to the store that sells eye wear.
Generally speaking the good ones will have a wide selection of frames from bout 50 bucks to several hundred dollars depending on the brand name you buy.
As for being overpriced, with Glasses you get what you pay for. Most of my frames last about 8 years longer than the lens perscription which is about 2 years. So you can find and buy a pair of discount frames , but you may end up replacing them within months.
Declan
Yeah, I wanted to bring in my regular sunglasses and have them put in prescription lenses, but they knocked me back and I had to choose one of their special ‘prescription sunglasses’ frames. Apparently, regular frames couldn’t support the weight of the prescription lenses.
From the sounds of it ,you were upsold. I keep trying to think of a reason that the people who sold you their special frames would hold water, but with plastic lenses being only slightly heavier than the sunglass lenses that really does not hold water.
The only possible reason was that for them to garuntee their work and give you some sort of a warranty on the glasses ,they would be remiss if they did not sell you a store brand.
But in all cases , you would have only had to sign a waiver saying you knew they were sold on an as is basis.
Did you comparison shop ?
Declan
Of course you can:
From their f.a.q.
I have a friend who had his Ray-Bans converted to prescription glasses, using the B&L lenses. Don’t know if that can be done anymore, since B&L sold the Ray-Ban brand.
None of this would be cheaper than ordinary frames and lenses. And I do think it’s unwise to pick up a pair of sunglasses for $2.95 at the gas station and hope to fit them with good lenses.
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- Because, the machine that they use to cut the lens edges does this automatically, and it is programmed only to cut lenses for the frames they sell. Not just any frames. Could they do it by hand? Probably some opticians will do it, it’s certainly not impossible but I suspect they’d charge at least what a pair of their frames cost anyway.
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Phone around & search online. I don’t know where you are physically located, but in about 60 seconds of Googling I found a place in the UK that deals with vintage sunglasses (of all brands) and says they can put custom prescription lenses into any pair of typical sunglasses.
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Again I look in and see people posting absolute horseshit.
I used to wonder why the legal types got so wound up, not so much anymore.
My very limited experience I once re-modeled an optomitrists office.
During this time I got Kinda buddy- buddy with the doctor and his optician.
I personally saw these guys take donated perscription frames that had been destroyed beyond repair, sort through a box of stems and nosepeices for hours, then fit them with lenses for the homeless in the area that had come in asking for yet another pair of glasses.
The reason you cant get a pair of prescription lenses to fit a $2 frame? The frame was meant to hold a “less than” $2 lens plain and simple.
Or the high and mighty types who think they can get an oakly lens in their prescription, not for any price. No one makes them
Nor can you get a lens that bends to any degree. so much for the “wrap arounds”
Still I wonder why the glasses in the optical shop are so expensive, I mean they are good quality, but not “that” good.
Doug.
“Probably some opticians will do it”
Nope, even the most skilled optician can make a lens fit a frame not designed for prescription lenses, but if they are close yea, they can make a fit.
Note-
Can- can’t, not the same word
It’s definitely possible to use sunglasses frames with prescription lenses (I’ve done this 3 or 4 times). The only limitation I’ve come across is that certain prescriptions don’t work well with heavily wrapped lenses. One optician actually told me that he had broken several lenses while fitting them - I don’t know enough about the process to know if this makes any sense.
Maybe you have a particularly difficult prescription ?
Ooops - didn’t preview. I’m not sure I understood you correctly EvilGhandi, but I should point out that I’m the proud (high and mighty) owner of a couple of pairs of wrap-around prescription glasses (including one Oakley). I’m not sure that they’re 100% effective for astigmatism, but then again I’ve never been entirely happy with my astigmatism correction.
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- Well, I was speaking of conventional dual-lens glasses, those being what I called “typical”. The wraparound styles have a lens holder that sits behind the plastic wraparound lens.
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- But as far as the dual-lens types, yes–there are places that do it. Like this one, which is the one I found in about 60 seconds. Their help page says they can do custom prescription lenses for vintage sunglasses. And they are probably not the only place in the entire world with the technial ability, either.
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I had prescription lenses made for Gargoyle shooting glasses with this kind of prescription insert. IIRC I had them done at lenscrafters who first tried to dismiss me since they didn’t have the pattern for those frames. It wasn’t hard to convince them otherwise, “these aren’t the droids you’re loo…”, err I mean “sure you can make lenses for these, just ask the tech.” The tech said it was no problem as the frames were made for prescription lenses.
I’ve also had optical shops make prescription lense for Ray Ban aviators and military issue pilot glasses but had bad luck getting them made for oversize Zeiss shooting glasses. After three failed attempts where the lenses broke while grinding the edges they brought me my finished glasses, only to have both lenses pop out as they cleaned them.
I had great luck with my local two employee shop rather than a chain. After I had an exam and bought an expensive pair of everyday glasses, he did sunglasses for me.
I had a set of Ray Ban Wayfarers done and then I paid through the nose for the other set. Small round ones with a mirrored finish that fit under my motorcycle helmet comfortably. He had to send them out for the coating and warned me repeatedly to be gentle. The coated scratches easily and he wouldn’t be responsible for them.
Try a little local place.
I second trying a little local place.
My optician put prescription reading lenses into a cheap sunglasses frame that my dad had picked up in France. The crap sunglasses lenses fell out, and when he found out he needed glasses, had an “I have those old frames at home” moment.
You don’t get any guarantees, and she told him that it was his responsibility if the frame or lenses broke during the fitting process, he was ok with that, and wore those glasses for about 5 years.
I’ve frequently had prescription lenses put into sunglass frames from off the shelf; there are two pitfalls:
(1) Most sunglasses have temples that hinge right next to the lens; if you’re nearsighted, the edges of the lenses will flair outward, preventing the glasses from folding; better frames have the temples set back a little.
(2) Most off-the-rack sunglasses are pretty cheap, and good optical labs won’t put precision optics into a frame that’s going to bend as soon as they mail it.
When I had prescription lenses put into sunglass frames, they were pretty rugged frames: Armani, Ray-Ban, etc.
In a word, because you probably went to an optical chain and they don’t like dealing with frames they didn’t sell.
Most sunglass frames will take prescription lenses; high-wrap (base curve of 7 or greater, like almost all Oakleys, for example) or drill-mount (rimless styles with the lens directly attached to the frame by a screw drilled through the lens) frames will accept a more limited range of lenses.
You’ll have to go somewhere other than LensCrafters or Pearle Vision. Independent optometrists are generally much more likely to accept frames they don’t themselves carry, with the caveat that if you have a strong prescription or require a progressive or bifocal lens your choice of frames will be limited.
Of course he can. I’m not sure what all the fuss is about.
I went to the optician at Lenscrafters and asked him this question, and he said any pair of sunglass frames that have “Rx-able” on the tag can be fitted with prescription lenses. The key factor is that they can’t be too curved.
Lenscrafters didn’t have any style that I liked so I went to The Sunglass Hut in the mall, bought a pair of sunglasses I liked with “Rx-able” on the tag, brought them back to Lenscrafters, and an hour later picked up my new prescription sunglasses. They fit perfectly, fold perfectly, and don’t pop out.