Real glass eyeglasses
 

Anyone know local optician that can provide real glass lenses in your prescription?

I have used Hindsight for years and generally get 1 day, occasionally 2 day service for new glasses, made to my prescription and at a decent price. They also provide support for their glasses, adjustments, etc.

I don't know if they sell real glass, but I use Zenni.com for all of my eyeglasses. No local optician can come close to competing in price and selection to Zenni. They have thousands to select from, and many are less than $20 for the frames and prescription lenses. Reliable and high quality.

I happened to check Zenni when I saw this thread and didn’t see an option for glass lenses. Most everyone has gone to plastic only these days.

The first glasses I wore were American Optical plano tempered glass safety glasses. They seemed easier to clean and stayed clean longer than today's plastic lenses. Is that just my imagination?

Not your imagination. The anti-scratch coating seems to attract grease and dirt on plastic lenses. Not to mention the glass lenses didn't scratch nearly as much. The old photo-gray glass was much nicer color than the plastic Transitions lenses.

I worked in an eyeglass lab for about 7 years. Hated making the glass lenses. They chipped and cracked pretty easily before we heat treated them and then about 1/4 of them would crack in the heat treating machine. IIRC they would go in a super heated salt solution overnight, about 1700 degrees or something crazy like that. Oh and I just remembered, we had to do a "drop ball" test on the lenses after heat treating. Drop a steel ball down a tube of a certain length onto the lens to make sure it could take the impact. Some of those broke too. We pushed plastic lenses, needless to say.

I second the recommendation for Hindsight. Excellent staff, selection and service. I’ve never waited longer than a day for prescription glasses (sunglasses and regular). Plus, I like to be able to try on the frame before purchasing. I even returned a pair I didn’t like. No questions asked, they made it right.

An addition to my previous reply, i have not seen actual GLASS eyeglasses in several years, the new high performance plastics are far better. I have been wearing glasses for over 60 years, and have found the plastic to be very good. My current ones are at least 2.5 years old and in near perfect condition with plastic lens.

I think the problem with real glass eyeglasses is that they are a lot heavier than plastic lenses.

Eyeglasses at Zenni.com are so inexpensive that I buy 3 or 4 pairs at a time, and if they get scratched, I just throw them away. Also, I like that their glasses include a lot of specs regarding the dimensions, weight, and overall shape and sizing. The selection is way better than at a brick and mortar eyeglass store.

I'm interested in this, but my prescription is at the expiration date. Where do you go to get the prescription you use at Zenni?

You can get a prescription from any optometrist or opthalmologist. I use Peepers at Colony Plaza. But Zenni doesn't even require you to send in a prescription. You just copy the information from your prescription. The only thing you need to do is to measure your pupil distance (PD). That is the distance in millimeters between your pupils. Easy to do yourself or go to any eyeglass store and they will do it for you.

Another vote for Hindsight. Great selection of frames and they have their own lab to make your glasses to your prescription right at their store.

My eyes are bad without glasses (can’t see my feet clearly). I was never happier when glasses turned plastic. I no longer have Coke bottle thick looking lens that only fit in a few thick frames. The plastic lens are also lighter so they don’t consistently slide down when you sweat. I keep mine an average of three years with no problem due to scratches. I get mine at Walmart, but I’m going to try Costco on next pair.

Walmart in Summerfield has glass lenses and can fit them to your prescription.:click:

Not sure about staying clean, but I preferred glass because the plastic tends to scratch easier.

As someone who manufactured over 5 million pairs of eye glasses in my career from 1974-2013, I doubt you will find someone who can do glass. The transition to plastic started in the late 60’s then to polycarbonate in the mid80’s along with high index materials, and Trivex in the early 2000’s. The best current choices would be Trivex, high abbe value 1.60 index and for height prescriptions 1.67 index. Glass had pretty much vanished well before I retired.

With all that said, nothing matches the ABBE value and optical stability of glass. However, if you are interested, PM me your prescription and contact info, I’ll do a search for you and match it up with a local optical shop.

Do you know if OSHA approved safety glasses are still made of glass? I remember them having special impact requirements.

A google search came up with a few online companies. Here is one.

Real Glass Prescription Lenses | Glass Lenses for Glasses

I agree

Do they do progressive, no line lenses and if so how do they know where to put the sight line? Thanks

Yes, they sell progressive lenses. I don't know how they fit them.

On 441/27. Eyeglass World

Hello, what is considered a decent price for progressive eyeglasses at Hindsight?

These were less than the in house eyeglasses at the opticians, and I did not have to wait 2 weeks for the glasses to be made. As I recall mine were about half the price my wife paid. Now the price is highly dependent on: the frames, the lenses and the optional coating, etc., on the lenses, so you will need to call or stop in to get an idea for your specific needs.

And lighter.

I was a master optician that learned on glass lenses. When plastic arrived in the late 60's we thought it a fad...my wife likes Clear View Optix...Mulberry

Glass on OSHA safety lenses is only special application, polycarbonate was 99.9% 10 years ago. My assumption is that Trivex may have become the material of choice, the impact resistance of poly, better optics and better resistance to chemicals.

real glass in eye glasses would be very heavy. That's why they don't use it anymore and the fact that glass could shatter and get into your eye

I have real glass, but they are getting old and would like to replace them with real glass.

I have some spares, and some recreational use pairs that are Zenni, plastic. My biggest problem with them is once they get foggy from sweat, or heat from my face, they just about impossible to quickly wipe clean and clear. And if I take the extra time to do so, they almost immediately fog right back up.
I don't have that problem with glass.

I don't have a very strong Rx, and I don't wear huge frames, so weight is not an issue.
Also, I am among the population who can discern the difference in optical quality between glass and plastic. It drives me nuts.

I have been delaying replacing my old glass pair, because of the difficulty in finding real glass. My Rx hasn't changed in many years, so I'm getting away with it, but the day is coming when I will need to buy a new pair.

For those of you who play pickleball with plastic lenses, how do keep them clear on a hot day. If I could solve that problem, I might be able to live with plastic.

As one poster said, the Walmart in Summerfield does sell glass lenses, although they told me that they are not very popular.