Buying Eyes Glasses in India

Nick-H

Thanks for the recommendation, G,L.

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the opoponax

definitely looking at doing this, as i have an extremely simple prescription that should be easy-peasy in India. even in the US my glasses aren't horrendously expensive, so !

gregornot

Namaste,
I got my glasses from Lawrence & Mayo,(just google them, they are one of the best optical shops and are located in several places in India) I got 2 pair and my son got a pair and contact lens at a much cheaper price than I payed in the USA
Peace, gregor

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Dr. Gajaprishthakara

It took seven hours to have my two pairs of glasses made. But it depends. You can ask for ANYTHING and they will do it but they may not do it on site depending on the shop. Even the larger shops need to send things away depending on the feature you require. I was quoted from one hour to seven days in different shops for the two glasses I eventually received. So there is a range of times depending on the feature required and the particular shop.

Dr. Gajaprishthakara

ok - please post an update once you have gotten used to them (or fallen over whichever comes first). I would love to get rid of the three pairs into one by having varifocals.

Also - a very nice pair of titanium rimless glasses here is about 4000 roops. I considered them before getting my 360 roop pair I can take a photo if you are interested. Or titanium fakes (made out of the same material as coke cans for 900 roops

Nick-H

Titanium is very springy and more-or-less indestructible. Coke-can aluminium just would not be a good alternative: even springy steel would be better!

It has gone out of fashion now, but there used to be some beautiful jewellery available utilising the different colours that titanium reveals at different temperatures (like tempering steel) --- beautiful vibrant blues and purples. However, not only is it an expensive raw material, but it is a pig for the craftsman to work with as it quickly work hardens and is difficult to anneal

cyberhippie

If you need to save an extra few pennies then ask for local frames Though not as fashionable and durable as imported frames they are perfectly ok for the price which s around a third of the price of imported ones! The optician will usually point you in the direction of imported frames first, seeing as we're all rich in the west
As for delivery times well I've had classes made in a few hours when I was pushed for time but the norm seems to be 24 hours!!
Ask the optician if they have a lens cutting machine in house. this certainly speeds things up, as the lenses don't have to be sent away to be cut!!

I've had my glasses brought nearly 200 Kms from the shop, after a lens cutting accident delayed delivery!! Great service and didn't cost me a penny!

navinkurian2002

Theres a nice decent shop at andheri station. Though now days i dont mind spending a few extra buck making it closer to my house. Used to get ripped off a lot by the shop in my building .Till i stopped being lazy and checked out the other places.

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Nick-H

I have a long history of walking into shops, looking round and saying, 'I want that one' --- only to find it is the most expensive in the shop

Partly explains why I was always useless at saving.

cyberhippie

Of course there's still the old street dentist cum optician. A second hand par of glasses for 50 rupees, Just try them on until you find one that actually allows you to see. Second hand dentures too, I didn't bother trying them on!!

Nick-H

Great! I'll save money by buying second-hand dentures ---and spend it on the posh specs!

cyberhippie

Here you go nick to see what you're letting yourself in for!!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattlog...7594087765682/

Dr. Gajaprishthakara

nick - they have the real deal titanium here but for 4000ish. as I implied, happy to photograph them, pay for them and post them if you are interested and you can pay the receipt when I am in chennai next. I wouldn't offer but it is half the price you are being quoted in chennai

camelgirl

Nick, just a word (well, lots of words) on varifocals. I have been wearing them for about 20 years (since I found I needed "seeing" and "reading") and was advised when I first got them that they take some getting used to. Also, that if you start out with bi-focals it's more difficult to adjust to the vari-focals. It can be done, but it requires a bit of determination/patience.

Mainly you feel a bit seasick until your brain gets used to them. Also, going down stairs requires putting your head lower than you'd normally do because you need to look through the top part of the glasses! YOU CAN and WILL get used to them. It's well worth having just one pair of glasses for reading, computer and long distance. I love them.

Which brings me to an update since I started this thread.

Last year I bought 2 new pairs of glasses in Karol Bagh at a very nice shop. Got the works; frames, varifocus, transitions, antiglare....but the one thing I wanted most, and which they told me was possible, was the newest, very thin lenses (I have a strong prescription now and hate that googly-eyed look). When I got them back they were as thick as ones made years ago. They insisted they were thin but I had my previous thin lense ones to show them the huge difference. They refused to admit the new ones were twice as thick as the old ones.

I am not happy about this recent purchase. Even though they were less expensive than here in the US, I did not get what I wanted. And now I'm stuck with them.

The place was called Optical Palace and despite being very nice people I'm not at all happy with this recent purchase. I will probably replace the lenses sometime with thinner ones.

Next time (I always hope there will be a next time) in India, I will try again, but this time I will ask to see what their thin lenses look like to be sure to get what I want.

cyberhippie

Try Medikos on Paharganj camelgirl he was offering ultra thin lenses!