Vintage Eyeglasses

[John in Covina]

Interesting site, John - they look like the ultimat source for the Dr Jones glasses....

Eyeglass frames come up a few times a year. This is the company that Scotrace reccomended previously (few years back) as a good source for vintage styled frames. I have them in my favorites web site list with the hopes that the next time I get glasses I can get something more to my liking with a vintage look.

(I did not have much $ the last time I got glasses and the optical place did not have much to my liking, The look of their basic frames fell into the category of glasses that would not get picked up from the lost and found department at a small orphanage.)

 

[univibe88]

Well, the first pair of Ronsirs are lensed and on my face - and I love them! Cordova and gold, with cable temples. Very comfy, lense size feels less odd than I thought it might, after years of progressively smaller lenses. My new prescription is somewhat weaker too (eyesight slowly improving. ), which has had the odd result that I suddenly feel taller wearing them. [huh]

I think most people go for black/silver. I bet yours are very stunning. I am glad to hear you are happy with them.

Interesting point about the lens size. I love the "full coverage" of mine. When I wear my modern/small lenses, I often look above or below the lenses by accident. To glance up or down I have to move my entire head rather than just my eyes. This is not the case with the large lenses on my Shurons.

 

[Mojave Jack]

I've had great luck with Simply Eyeglasses both for new glasses and for putting prescription lenses into vintage frames. So far, I've gotten five pairs from them, and their customer service is about the best I've ever encountered. I just recently bought a pair of standard glasses that when they arrived I didn't like how they looked on me. Though it was no fault of theirs because I had chosen the frames and just didn't like them, they replaced the single vision clear lens with single vision polarized tinted lenses for $26.

They also put green lenses into my Ray Ban Aviators to make them period correct, though they don't list that color as an option on their website. They were amazingly accommodating on many of my picky requests! lol

I've found that I pay half the price or more than any local optometry shop will charge for identical lenses and frames. They can also get just about any manufacturer and frame beyond what is shown on the website with just a phone call.

 

[univibe88]

That's good to know. I have had a lot of trouble getting green lenses. Many docs think of grey-green or G15 when you really want true green.

 

[univibe88]

Darn, now I want some Shuron Ronstrong frames!

 

[scotrace]

I'd have to fully retract any endorsement I may have made previously for Berkshire-Chase.
The first pair was "good enough" quality, meaning I had to super-glue them now and then, but then the cable broke, and they wanted $80 to replace it. Time for new frames anyway, so I got the same ones again, but they no longer offered cables, so I got spade arms. The refuse to stay on my head, the screws were damaged when they arrived, the tortoise shell chipped off fast. I have never hated any product as much as I do these ratsin-fratsin frames. HATE. They were a special order from my optom., so no return. B-C just keeps telling me how devoted they are to customer satisfaction, if I'll just send them more cash, they'll be happy to....

I'd buy a hat from He Who Must Not Be Named before I would buy any more glasses from Berkshire Chase, and that's goin' some.

 

[scotrace]

What is OFAS??

PLEASE JUST SAY EBAY!

 

[John in Covina]

I'd have to fully retract any endorsement I may have made previously for Berkshire-Chase.

I'd buy a hat from He Who Must Not Be Named before I would buy any more glasses from Berkshire Chase, and that's goin' some.

*******************
That's one smoking un-endorsement. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[RBH]

I'd buy a hat from He Who Must Not Be Named before I would buy any more glasses from Berkshire Chase, and that's goin' some.

WOW... that made me take notice!

 

[MisterGrey]

I'll chime in as another individual who has had great experience with Simply Eyeglasses' customer service. Depending on your prescription, they've also got an astounding turnaround on making your lenses.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I'll chime in as another individual who has had great experience with Simply Eyeglasses' customer service. Depending on your prescription, they've also got an astounding turnaround on making your lenses.

MisterGrey....if you don't mind me asking, what price range were the prescription lenses into vintage frames replacements? I've already seen such a wide difference in costs between companies offering that service, ranging from 30 dollars to 200-plus....
Rob

 

[MisterGrey]

Depends on what you want. CR-39 or glass lenses run about $40, polycarbonate is about $60. The addition of an anti-reflective coating, depending on the grade, is either $39 or $59. Then there's just the cost of shipping. Or, if you're looking to have shades made, it's $10 for tinting.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Thanks, MG...my prescription is a bit strong, and I was wondering about the lense thicknesses; I've got a pair of repro browlines that have 1/8" thick lenses that I bought online for quite a little money, and another "knockabout" pair from WalMart with the exact same Rx that are only 1/16" thick and cost a fraction of the thicker ones (albiet not in vintage frames)...go figure....:eusa_doh:
Rob

 

[MisterGrey]

Have you looked into Polycarbonate lenses? They reduce lens thickness and weight by about 30% and have the added bonuses of being impact and UV resistant; it's the same material that bullet proof glass is made from. CR-39 is relatively impact resistant but will crack apart into pieces if struck by an object moving fast enough and with enough force (a risk most of us don't face in our everyday lives). Additionally, the properties of CR-39 make it a kind of magnet for UV light/radiation, so they require an additional coating if you plan to wear them in the sun.

The trade-off with polycarbonate is that they're optically inferior to CR-39 in higher prescriptions. Most individuals won't notice a significant difference, although some people do. It all really comes down to the individual, the prescription, and their preferences. For what it's worth, even CR-39 is optically inferior to glass, and it's still the most popular lens material; glass simply proved too heavy and prone to breakage and scratching to compete with the lighter, more durable CR-39. Something else to consider is that, despite what you might hear, polycarbonate is incredibly prone to scratching, moreso than CR-39. Opticians will often tell you that polycarb is scratch resistant; this is only true insomuch that the lab will coat the polycarb with a scratch resistant coating to "toughen it up." Polycarb with scratch resistant coating is about as scratch resistant as CR-39 with no coating. One of the reasons that polycarbonate is impact resistant is that it is "softer" than CR-39, giving it a sort of "give" that allows it to absorb the force of a blow. Being softer and more malleable, it's easier to gouge; CR-39 is incredibly solid, which both allows it to crack if struck hard enough but also gives it a better resistance to daily wear-and-tear.

If Polycarbonate isn't your thing, you want really thin lenses, and you've got slightly more change to spare, you can look into so-called "Hi-Index" lenses. They essentially take the strengths and weaknesses of polycarb and CR-39 and chuck them into a blender. Hi-Index lenses are thinner than polycarbonate, and lighter; they're also supposed to have the scratch resistance of CR-39, but I haven't had any hands-on experience in this area, so I can't vouch for that myself. They're also supposed to have an impact resistance in between that of polycarb and CR-39; again, can't vouch to that.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Thanks for that discourse, MisterGrey...I didn't know anything about lenses until you provided that information!

Now, I can go to the optometrist armed with the knowledge of what lenses I need!
Rob

 

[Sleepy LaGoon]

I'd appreciate a bit of advice. I don't intend to go the vintage frame route right now, but have been looking at the Shuron Regis':

I'm trying to decide between these two lens styles. I really like the looks of the Regis I, but other than the frame it looks pretty similar to my current lenses. The Regis II is more interesting visually, but I'm concerned about the thickness along the bottom edge with a -7.25 lens.

The Regis II is the only one that elicited comments from the two different opticians I visited. One of them remarked that it was quite "unusual," while the other stated that she hadn't seen glasses like that in many, many years. So, the Regis I is the most conservative, and a fairly safe bet. The Regis II is more radical, with the unknown quantity of a thick bottom, even with hi-index lenses. Opinions?

 

[DanielJones]

I'd go for the Regis II. The thickness at the bottom is no matter as it is the same at the top. I have a couple of pairs of that shape that I'm getting fitted with my Rx. They have a Glen Miller quality to them.

I think that they have a more classic appeal to them & the style has been around for almost 70 years. It was popular from circa 1931 to about circa 1965, and they are still making it. Can't go wrong with that track record. Also, I have also seen this style made into a pair of sun glasses which is what I may do with the second pair I have.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[chanteuseCarey]

I just lucked into finding Allyn Scura eyewear (and Allyn herself was there) today at the Alameda Flea Market. I ordered my Farnsworth reproduction frames to be done with bottle green lenses. These will be my 1920-1940s sunglasses. I am very jazzed to be getting these.

I also bought a vintage frame from her that is Edwardian era. They are an overall small size, but she can still get a progressive bifocal in the lens. I'll be ordering the lenses very soon. Too cool!

She even had a pair of Edwardian pince-nez frames that fit our almost 13yo son perfectly. But not today dear...

 

[davestlouis]

I have frameless glasses with drilled holes in the lenses for nose-and earpiecees. I also have a STRONG prescription, 7.5 power, so the lenses are really thick. My only issues are this:1. I have trouble keeping them straight on my nose, which is bad because they are progressive lenses, with a magnified area down the center of each lens for reading, and if they aren't centered on my nose, each eye is looking through the lens with different level of magnification, which gives me a headache...the frames are flimsy and flexible enough that they allow too much movement.
2.I found out the hard way that acidic automobile wheel cleaner will etch the surface of the lens if it splashes on the lens in undiluted form...

MY lenses are so thick that my kids call them my "bulletproof glasses"

BTW, the frames are modern Joseph Abboud, but have a pseudo-retro look.

 

[ladybrettashley]

For the ladies?

There are some wonderful glasses on here! And, Carey, those frames rather remind me of the ones my mom wore when i was a kid.

I was just wondering, were glasses fairly unisex? Most of the posts here have been by men, and i'm curious if i ought to be looking for something significantly different (if i'm looking for glasses from before cat-eyes came in style ) I'm afraid it won't be much longer before i need new ones, but these styles seem like, even in a smaller size, they would be so big on me (i currently wear children's glasses for that reason).