focalise eyewear blog

What does Sphere really mean?

Just a quick one to deal with an issue in a recent customer order.  The customer requested reading glasses but entered a Sphere correction that started with a "-".

The “Sphere” column indicates your level of long or shortsightedness, a “+” indicating Hypermetropia (long-sightedness) and a “-“ indicating Myopia (short-sightedness).

For reading glasses we'd expect to see a "+" measurement for the Sphere column or a measurement in the ADD column.

More on Lenses

I just wanted to add a little more information about the types of lenses that are commonly available (and that'll you'll be able to order at Focalise Eyewear).

Standard plastic CR39 - we use 1.49 index lenses as standard - these lenses are ideal for most prescriptions - for powers that are beyond +3.00 or -3.00, these lenses may give a distorted affect.

Plastic 1.56 - our standard thin lenses - again should be fine for prescriptions with powers that are between +3.00 and -3.00.

Plastic 1.61 - ideal for powers between +5.00 and -5.00.  These are more than 25% thinner than our standard plastic lenses.

Lenses Explained

I had a question the other day about different lenses, so I thought I post a little bit of information about the subject.

Lenses are either made of plastic or glass - most lenses sold today are plastic.  Usually it's only when extremely thin lenses are required for very high prescriptions that glass may be the better option.  Otherwise plastic is the more practical and lighter choice.

The different lens numbers (1.49, 1.56, 1.61, etc.) refer to the refractive index of a lens - it's a measure of how the lens bends light.

More on Prescriptions

Following on from the last post, there were a few other things I thought I might add.

In case you weren't sure, the higher the numbers the stronger the prescription.                

Another thing. Your glasses prescription and contact lens prescription will differ slightly. This is due to the contact lens being physically closer to your eye, usually resulting in a slightly different prescription to your glasses. Also your contact lens prescription doesn’t always show your degree of astigmatism.               

The following is an example of a prescription:

What Does My Prescription Mean?

It's a question we get asked regularly, so I thought I would give you a quick summary of what we need to see to process your prescription.

First, make sure you have an up-to-date prescription (not more than two years old).  Then, make sure that the prescription includes the following measurements:

Price Tag Shock

According to the American Review of Optometry price is a primary concern for many patients when choosing lens options. In fact, 27% cite “good price” as an important reason for choosing their current lenses.

It seems many customers suffer from what might be called price tag shock when it comes to choosing both lenses and frames.

Given that the average cost of a pair of glasses in America is around US$300 - not unlike Australia - it's not surprising that customers make compromises with their glasses choices.

Is Buying Glasses Online a Good Idea?

Not according to Liz Defranco who makes the following comments:

“…you need to consider certain issues when you buy glasses online, because every pair of glasses is a custom-made item. Not only are there different designs and materials of both frames and lenses and different lens treatments, but everybody's head and eyes are different, too. So you or an optician must make various measurements for a proper fit. An advantage of going to a traditional optical store is that an optician can walk you through the process. Sometimes, he or she will do this so smoothly that you're not even aware of all the choices. When you order online, you have to make each decision on your own, and it can seem overwhelming.”

Hmmm...she has a point.  But hang on, what if you knew that Liz was commenting out of self-interest? That she's an instructor in an opticianry program in New York City and is a regular contributor to eyecare trade periodicals, covering spectacle lenses and eyewear retailing.

How is the Ku Klux Klan like a Group of Opticians?

One of our main aims is to give out information about the true cost of glasses in Australia, and for that matter, the true cost of glasses anywhere else in the world.

Let's start by comparing the Ku Klux Klan and Opticians.

What might they have in common and how can it help you save hundreds of dollars on glasses?