By Vincent Graff
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Twenty years ago, it was pretty much impossible to buy a pair of prescription glasses for less than a few hundred pounds.
Since then, the competition among opticians has changed the market â" and the prices charged â" beyond recognition.
First came the chain opticians such as SpecSavers, Vision Express and Boots Opticians (which swallowed up Dollond Aitchison three years ago).
More recently, the competition hotted up further, with opticians at Tesco and Asda.

Specs appeal: Vince Graff compared Glasses from various stores with a budget of just £70
Itâs a big market â" 68 per cent of adults need glasses or contact lenses and, last year, according to the industryâs trade body, the Optical Confederation, UK opticians performed 21 million eye tests.
A typical consumer also spends £150, according to research. But some supermarkets offer even cheaper deals. At Asda, for instance, customers can get designer glasses for just £70.
Are these kinds of offers too good to be true? Good Health decided to put five of the biggest players to the test â" so I went to see what kind of prescription reading glasses I could get for £70 from supermarkets and High Street chains.
I am long-sighted, with a fairly high prescription â" my reading glasses are around +6. My quest was simple: once Iâd paid for my eye test (some opticians charged nothing, others varied, up to £22), what would be the glasses I could buy?

Huge market: Designer glasses can now be purchased for as little as £70 from some high street retailers
In addition, how good would the frames be, and how thin the lenses? Lens thickness does matter, because the higher the prescription, the thicker they tend to be (unless you pay extra for thinner high-index refractive lenses), which is not very attractive. Crucially, is £70 enough to buy a pair of decent specs?
For an informed and impartial judgment, I asked Dr Sneh Khemka, medical director of Bupa International (and previously an eye surgeon at Moorfields hospital in London). Dr Khemka himself wears a pair of £500 glasses.
He was asked to grade the quality of the frames and lenses â" and to measure how well the final lenses corresponded to the prescription given by the ophthalmologist, who carries out sight tests.
Worryingly, not one single pair of glasses he tested was a perfect match for the prescription drawn up by the shopâs in-house ophthalmologist.
While the discrepancies were not large enough to greatly affect my vision, if the lens veers too far from your prescription, youâll end up with a headache.
Then, taking into account other factors such as the cosmetic look of the lenses and the quality of my vision, we asked Dr Khemka to come up with an overall score for each pair of glasses. The results were surprising .â.â.
SPECSAVERS
Own-brand âMarcusâ wire frame, with 1.6 index lenses, anti-reflective and anti-scratch coating, £69.
When I arrived I was ignored for five minutes, then told to sit down behind a pillar and ignored for five more. On finally being seen, everyone was friendly and efficient (though they didnât apologise for the wait). The eye test costs £5.
The £69 range of frames comes with free, thinner (1.6 index) lenses. The âindexâ tells you how much the lens is able to bend (ârefractâ) light rays; the higher the index, the more effectively the lens bends the rays, so the thinner the lens can be.

Specsavers: The own-brand 'Marcus' wire frame, with 1.6 index lenses, anti-reflective and anti-scratch coating, costing £69, scored 6.5/10
The standard lens index is 1.5 but for someone like me, with a high prescription, a higher index of 1.6 is important, otherwise Iâd end up with heavier lenses that would make me look bug-eyed.
But, if I want 1.6 lenses, I cannot afford the black plastic frames I want â" so I end up buying a metal frame. They feel comfortable but Iâm not sure they suit me.
DR KHEMKAâS VERDICT: Frame â"Good construction material, light and fits the shape of your face (i.e. the lenses are at the correct angle to your eyes and the glasses arenât likely to slip). 7/10
Lenses â" Even using âthinâ 1.6-index plastic, the lenses look a little thick which, aside from not looking attractive, can lead to them feeling heavy and slipping down the nose. The anti-reflective coating does not seem the best. The lenses almost correspond to Vinceâs prescription â" but not quite, though the quality of vision is still good. 7/10
Overall rating â" The len s and frame donât really fit together well, which makes them less cosmetically pleasing. 6.5/10
VISION EXPRESS
Own-brand black plastic frames, 1.5 index lenses, with anti-reflective/anti-scratch coating, £54.
Unlike everywhere else, the lab was on view in the middle of the shop. After my eye test, which cost £22, I was given the hard sell â" the saleswoman wanted me to spend £200 or more. Only when I mentioned my budget did she reluctantly take me to a small corner of the store where an âall-inâ price was on offer.
There was a choice of around 20 frames â" I opted for a £29 frame which included free âstandardâ (i.e. thick) lenses â" I couldnât afford thinner lenses; I paid £25 extra for anti-reflective coating. As I left, the assistant tried to sell me pointless-sounding insurance against the cost of glasses repair. After all of this the glasses feel too loose.

Vision Express: Own-brand black plastic frames, 1.5 index lenses, with anti-reflective/anti-scratch coating, at £54, scored 5/10
VERDICT: Frame â" at 8mm, the lenses are so thick and heavy that the slight difference in Vinceâs eye prescription (one eye is slightly worse than the other) has led to the frames being lopsided. 5/10
Lenses â" I am not happy with the eye test. The prescription is out of line with the others. Vinceâs right eye has been measured at +5.5, whereas nearly everyone else has put it at 6.25. He might end up with headaches. 5.5/10
Overall rating â" these give you the worst vision of all. The lenses are so thick they donât sit comfortably in these frames. 5/10
ASDA
Jeff Banks frames, 1.67 index lenses, anti-reflective, anti-scratch coating, £70.
The shop, at the back of the supermarket, looked a mess, with boxes of customersâ glasses piled up in front of the displays. The shop assistants exuded an air of indifference and confusion. But how will the glasses fare?
My eye test, which cost £15, was carried out by a friendly, professional ophthalmologist â" and the pricing looks tempting. For £70, Asda will sell me a pair of designer glasses (Jeff Banks, Nike, Conran and others) with thin lenses and all the coatings.

ASDA: Jeff Banks frames, 1.67 index lenses, anti-reflective, anti-scratch coating, costing £70, scored 8.5/10
There is a choice of 200 frames. Additionally, because my prescription is so high, I was upgraded to a 1.67-index lens (the thinnest of any of the opticians) for free. And these are my favourite: stylish and comfortable.
VERDICT: Frames â" excellent, sturdy frame made from a good-quality material. Good anti-reflective coating. 8.5/10
Lenses â" these sit well within the frame, though they could be even thinner. Well-constructed spectacles. 7.5/10
Overall rating â" a good pair of spectacles, giving you the best vision of those tested. 8.5/10
TESCO
Own-brand Brink Mohawk metal and plastic frames, 1.5 index lenses â" plus free second pair, £65.
The sight test was free and took place around the corner from the shampoo aisle. Tescoâs crazy pricing structure means I cannot afford thinner lenses yet I am given a âfreeâ pair of glasses I didnât want. Daft.
When I said I was on a budget, the assistant still steered me away from the £15 range â" âthey wonât last long, theyâre quite delicateâ â" and I settled on a £65 frame with âfreeâ 1.5-index lenses but no anti-reflective coating. The glasses feel comfortable, but itâs not a style Iâd have chosen with a higher budget.

Tesco: The own-brand Brink Mohawk metal and plastic frames, 1.5 index lenses ¿ plus free second pair, £65, scored 7/10
VERDICT: Frame â" well-made, with sturdy, hyper-flexible hinges. I could easily have thought they were £300 frames. 9/10
Lenses â" the most accurately-made lenses, with the best prescription. But thick lenses make your eyes look huge. 6/10
Overall rating â" with a thinner lens [£40 extra], this would be an extremely good pair of glasses. 7/10
BOOTS
Own-brand tortoiseshell âelderâ frames, with 1.5-index lenses, no anti-reflective coating, £49.
Boots are more expensive than some of their High-Street rivals. I was advised to opt for thinner lenses â" but couldnât as this would take me over budget, even if I select the £25 frames (which are ghastly).
So I opted for a £49 frame with 1.5 index â" i.e. thick â" lenses and no anti-reflective coating. And there are only 12 frames at this price. The eye test costs £10, using a money-off voucher on the Boots website. The glasses? Theyâre clunky and leave me looking like Syd Little.

Boots: Own-brand tortoiseshell ¿elder¿ frames, with 1.5-index lenses, no anti-reflective coating, £49, scored 7/10
VERDICT: Frame â" good quality lightweight frame, with sturdy hinges. But the design of the nasal bridge may mean they slip down your nose. 7/10
Lenses â" although they have no anti-reflective coating and the lenses are not thin, they donât look as thick as they might. And the vision is good. 7/10
Overall rating â" not bad for the money. 7/10
CONCLUSION
âIâm pleasantly surprised at the good quality of some of the frames,â says Dr Khemka. âThe Tesco and Asda frames stand out as excellent, and most of the other ones are fine. Spectacle frames are very often a complete rip-off. You can buy them for £30 or £40, but theyâd sell for £300 if they had a designer label.
âFor someone with a high prescription, spending a bit more for a thinner lens is a good idea. But what this experiment has shown is that the vast majority of glasses-wearers can get a very good pair of spectacles for £70, and thereâs no point in spending much more.â
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"These are "off the peg" glasses with a range of magnifying lenses installed in them.....NOT PRESCRIPTION. Someone in journalism obviously doesnt understand the word." - Alex - a designer, Warwickshire. And some designers can't read, apparently, Alex. It's perfectly clear from the article that it IS prescription glasses they're discussing.
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I felt my independent optician was increasingly ripping me off, so tried on-line and was disappointed. Then a friend recommended Tescos where I bought two pairs of vari-focals and their optician in Knocknagoney was brilliant, very thorough. I will happily use them again. Credit where credit is due!
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I go to Poundland for my reading glasses. If they break, so what. Guess how much they cost.
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I use, and have used an online firm - Perfectspecs.com - for a number of years now. The pair I am wearing now cost me £25.00, and I have no complaints. I also have a pair of prescription sunglasses that cost me £40.00 from the same firm. Recommend them whole heartedly.
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I never pay more than 2 quid in Thailand and if they brake they are in the bin. Back in the UK mt optician told me they were ok and would not harm your eyes - william Swithin, expat/Thailand, 24/4/2012 7:14*************But you obviously can't see to check what you've written.
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William in Thailand- would that be disc or drum ? Well spotted mate, just a little typing error.
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The price you pay for glasses here has to cover not only the staff you see but any staff you don't see besides the cost of Premises. I've bought my glasses from the USA when on holiday at around $4-10 a pair at Walmart or Sam's. My prescription has remained the same all this time.
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I'm always annoyed when so-called 'designer' frames swamp the market since they cut down massively one's choice of style. Currently as everyone will know, the 'in' design is the relatively small rectangular and rather thick lens frame which to me gives the appearance of swimmer's goggles. This article makes reference to how the different frame styles will 'suit' his face but all I see in the opticians is vast rows of swimmer's goggles! For me I much prefer a lens that is deeper as the top to bottom measurement is critical to ensure a gradual gradation of lens power from centre lens to the bottom in vari-focal lenses! With the very few millimetres available on lenses in the designer frames this not possible forcing the wearer to raise and lower their head trying to find the exact half millimetre where the clear focus is obtained when viewing closer objects. This is why I opt for the increasingly rare half frames with deeper lenses.
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None of these are "PRESCRIPTION". Prescription means they have been "Prescibed to your special opthalmic properties" to with some accuracy correct vision impairment peculiar to an individual, which is why you go through all those tests to measure "both eyes" so each lens corrects each eye. These are "off the peg" glasses with a range of magnifying lenses installed in them.....NOT PRESCRIPTION. Someone in journalism obviously doesnt understand the word.
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I buy on line and the glasses are great, a fraction of these costs, including the thinner lens and anti scratch...... should always look on line first is my motto!
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