Glasses for Jiale

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Glasses for Jiale

Lenses & Ordering

What to get and how to score the best price!

You wear a single-vision lens, so choose that option when ordering.

(This means you don’t need a reading correction at the bottom of your lens, a.k.a. old person lenses.)

Lenses

Your Rx is quite low, so you can safely go with basic plastic (CR-3x, usually CR-39; you may need to select “more lenses” for the sites to show you this option).

Some sites don’t even offer an index this low, so you’ll probably see a 1.5x (basic index). They will be quite light and thin either way, and the lower the index of the lens ironically the less chance of refractive error (lack of clarity) so I like to stick with the lowest index an Rx can be tolerated in.

Note that anything that is rimless (including the semi-rimless style you’re wearing right now) needs to be cut in a mid-index 1.59 or higher (polycarbonate) as anything lower index that this quite brittle and will easily chip when there is an exposed edge so this may up the total price of your order.

For your Rx going above a polycarb is just plain stupid. Don’t do it. You’re throwing money away and increasing the chance of refractive error.

Any optical (brick & mortars do this A LOT) trying to sell you into anything higher can come fistfight me in the parking lot of the Superstore. They are lying to you and trying to scam you.

Coatings

Anti-scratch and UV-protection are absolutely not optional. Without these your glasses will scuff immediately and you are opening yourself up to sun damage (glaucoma).

Most sites offer this with their lens packages by default, but in case they don’t you need to add them. They shouldn’t usually be more than a $5-10 dollar upgrade though.

You should get anti-reflective 90% of the time. Unless you work in a hot kitchen or with industrial chemicals or in farming as previously discussed.

Yes, this may cost more on some sites (not usually more than $10-$20 more though) but you should not skip this, especially in the age of screentime all the time. You will get massive glare and it will not be comfortable to wear them. Driving (especially at night) will be dangerous as well.

If you interact with hot steam or chemical fumes a lot I’d get a super cheap pair without anti-reflective for work use and a good pair for comfort use.

“Blue-light” blocker lenses are optional, but if they’re cheap I would opt for them. I find they personally help the damage screens have on my circadian rhythm immensely. (i.e. They don’t keep me up as much.)

Anti-fog is a scam as far as I’m concerned, but other people swear by them. The coatings tend to be unreliable and craze (start to strip, causing cloudiness) easily so I avoid them. They also don’t help in the situations that usually cause fogging (hot kitchens).

Computer Rx

You likely won’t notice a difference for about another decade (especially since your correction is so low to begin with), but if you’re a heavy computer user like me it can be handy to have a pair of glasses just for the computer/around the house for doing mid-range work to give your eyes a rest in focusing without fighting against the corrective power even if you don’t officially have a “reading” prescription.

Don’t drive with these, plskthnx.

You can order them by chopping off 3 diopters (a diopter is .25) of your normal Rx’s “sphere” (distance correction). For example:

OD (Oculus Dexter, a.k.a. your right eye): -1.50 / OS (Oculus Sinister, a.k.a. your left eye): -1.25

Computer Rx (your Rx is so low this is silly, I wouldn’t consider it until you get up into -2.50+):

OD: -0.75

OS: -0.50

Sunglasses

The optician rules lawyer that still lives in me and has seen too many diseased eyeballs says: always wear sunglasses, even when it’s overcast or raining as long as you’re going outside. Rx sunglasses are great.

The stupid Swiss-cheese brain gremlin that I actually am says: wear your sunglasses if you can. It helps if they’re fun so it makes you want to wear them. Buy multiple cheap pairs and just leave them everywhere to up your chances of actually using them.

Photochromic Lenses

a.k.a. “Transition” lenses

I would skip these. Here’s why:

The cheaper technologies (still quite expensive) don’t darken in the car or any other UV filtering treated glass etc. rendering them quite useless sometimes.

The technology is prone to yellowing, and not really being totally clear or totally dark in the right situation.

Even the cheapest pair of photochromic lenses is still more expensive than a separate pair of decent sunglasses that fit with better protection.

Clip-Ons

Better than the photochromic option IMO, and you can carry on the clip in your bag easily.

One mark against them is most of them are still rather annoying to use, or flimsy, etc. but they are usually cheaper than the photochromics by far especially if you’re not a heavy sunglass user.

Not all sites offer these, nor do they fit on all types of frames, so that’s another thing to consider.

Ordering Sunnies

I sometimes just pick a frame I already know fits me (I have a pair of clear ones, etc.) and order a second pair in a fun colour with sunglass lenses.

You can also size up a little bit for sunnies as mentioned before, since they should ideally be closer to the face and have more coverage. The lenses can be bigger but they should still fit your bridge.

Polarised isn’t actually necessary unless you are out on the water or doing snow sports a lot. They tend to make LCD screens (like phones) look wonky too. Doesn’t help too much when it’s just super bright out, and they can up the price significantly.

You can skip the anti-reflective on both sides of the lens, and just get back-side anti-reflective if that’s an option. It’s a bit cheaper and helps cut down on some of the glare.

Adding a mirror-coating is fun and also helps reduce glare. Can be costly though.

Black or brown lenses are the darkest and therefore offer the most protection. The other colours can be a bit transparent and let more light in (but can also work out in your favour, for example, I have a blue lens that I wear on cloudy days that doesn’t make it too dark to see).

Discounts

Most of the online stores have coupon pages and amazing “1st pair free” etc. deals.

You still pay some shipping, but most of the sites I return to have a reasonable shipping cost or free shipping above a certain order.

Always apply these deals at checkout!! I want you to get the best price, so test ALL the coupons, not just the referral ones. Use the one that gives you the most money off.

If you are at a brick and mortar and they tell you that there isn’t an option for a discount: GO. SOMEWHERE. ELSE.

Half the “sales” you see advertised for are just their ongoing “lure people in then pretend to apply a pitiful discount” tactics. I know because I sold them.

At your Rx, you SHOULD NOT BE PAYING MORE THAN $50-$75 DOLLARS FOR A SINGLE PAIR OF GLASSES. That is lens and frame inclusive.

If you go for a pricey brand name frame I cannot help you here, but you get the idea.

Most of the sites I’ve linked will get you all the bells and whistles for $25-$30 (after all the nice coupons), unless you pick a super expensive frame.

If you get confused about lenses, coatings, or just want to confirm if I think a frame fits, ping me. 💖

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