Sooner or later you need a new pair of glasses: your first, because your eyes have changed, or because the old ones no longer feel like you. These tips show you in six points what to look out for when shopping for glasses, whether at an optician or online. How buying online works is explained in detail in Buying Glasses Online: How It Works.
Key points at a glance
- First clarify what you need the glasses for: work, screen time, sport or leisure.
- Have your prescription and pupil distance measured by an eye doctor or optician.
- Good quality shows in clean workmanship, smoothly moving hinges and suitable lenses.
- The measurements on the arm and your face shape show which glasses suit you.
Tip 1: Clarify what you need the glasses for
Think about when you will wear them: all day at work, in front of a screen, outdoors, for reading, for sport or when driving? That decides how light and robust the frames should be. Plastic lenses are lighter and more shatter-resistant than mineral glass.
Tip 2: Find out your prescription and keep your values ready
You can’t work out your prescription yourself: have your eyes measured by an eye doctor or optician. You receive a prescription with the values for both eyes. For an online order you also need your pupil distance (PD). If your last measurement is a year or two old, have your values checked again.
Tip 3: How to recognise good quality glasses
Look for clean edges and surfaces on the frames, hinges that move smoothly without play and arms that sit straight. For the lenses, anti-reflective and hard coating count: they reduce reflections and make plastic lenses more resistant to scratches. You can also tell good glasses by the fact that they don’t press anywhere.
Tip 4: Check the measurements
The three numbers on the inside of the arm, for example 52□18 140, give the lens width, bridge width and arm length in millimetres. Compare them with a pair that fits you well. If they differ by only one or two millimetres, the new frames will usually sit in a similar way. They should neither press on your temples nor slip when you look down.
Tip 5: Frame shape and face shape – which glasses suit me?
As a rule of thumb, glasses contrast with your face shape: round faces suit angular frames, angular faces suit softer curves, and with an oval face almost any shape works. Colour, material and style come on top. You can find your type with the type test: What Glasses Suit Me? Find Your Type in Five Steps.
Miu Miu MU 01XV VAU1O1£133.15
Miu Miu MU 09XV VAU1O1£133.15
Miu Miu MU 01XV 19P1O1£133.15
Miu Miu MU 04UV 1AB1O1£133.15
Ray-Ban RX3928V 2500£84.01
Ray-Ban RX3928V 2501£82.33
Miu Miu MU 09XV 16K1O1£133.75
Ray-Ban ALAIN (RX7239 2001)£60.31Tip 6: Choosing an optician – in a shop or online?
At an optician’s shop you get advice, measurement and adjustment from one source. Online you have more time to compare and a wide choice, while the eye test and the measurement of your values stay with an eye doctor or optician. What to look for in an online optician and how the try-on and right of return work is explained in Buying Glasses Online.
This article does not replace medical advice.
