Glasses Direct www.glassesdirect.co.uk Review

I've worn glasses for most of my life and have never understood why they should be so expensive so I tried GlassesDirect. I've seen it noted that the average pair of single-vision glasses costs £5 to £7 to make (including labour), so why are the public being fleeced by High Street opticians?

The glasses I ordered arrived a few days after I placed the order online and I'm absolutely delighted with the fit and finish and the fact that they work so well for me. I plan to buy a spare pair so I can keep a set at work. At £15 a pair, I can well afford to.

Online ordering requires that you have a bit of savvy and can use a metric ruler! It may not be for everyone. If you can't see well enough to measure, you could be in trouble here.

You need to measure up an old frame to select a new frame that will fit your face.

You need to collect the following information:
1)Width of nose bridge
2)Frame width
3)Size of lens
4)Length of the sides.

These are in order of relative importance, for me at least. The nose bridge in particular must fit your face without pinching and the frame needs to be wide enough to accommodate the shape of your head. The lens size is largely fashion and the length of the sides should be similar to that of your current glasses.

The website shows how to make these measurements.

You also should supply your Pupillary Distance, usually abbreviated to PD, if you can. Measure this with a ruler and a mirror, simply the distance between your pupils in millimetres, or better still, get a trusted friend to do it for you.

If you can do that, you can probably manage to successfully order a pair of single vision glasses.

To comply with UK law, you must also supply a current (not over two years old) prescription. Get an eye test at any opticians. I believe eye-tests are now free in the UK. Mine was. The optician has a duty to supply you with a copy of your prescription.

The prescription will note three values for each eye, usually written as sphere, cylinder and axis.
Sphere and cylinder can be positive (+) or negative (-) while the Axis is just a number. The signs (+ or -) are very important.
The optician may also include your PD (see above) and another value ADD.
ADD is the correction required for reading glasses.

That's it. If you are still with me and can do a little bit of work on your own behalf, online ordering might be able to save you a very considerable bit of money.

I have no connection with www.glassesdirect.co.uk except as a happy paying customer.

Regards,
Al