Eyewear, explained
When two frames cost the same, compare what the price is actually buying: the material and how it’s finished, the hinge and how the temples are built, how the shape sits on your particular face, and what lens options are included. The name on the temple tells you the least. Price parity is deceptive. Two … Read more
A licensed brand is a fashion or luxury name — a designer house, a car maker, a sportswear label — that has sold the right to put its name on eyewear to a separate eyewear company, which designs, manufactures and distributes the glasses. The name on the temple belongs to one company. The frame in … Read more
In a designer frame, you’re paying for four things in varying proportions: the raw material and how much of it is used, the labour and machinery behind the construction, the brand’s design and marketing, and — sometimes — genuine engineering in the hinge, lens or finish. The split between those four is rarely obvious from … Read more
The price of a pair of glasses is driven mostly by three things: the material and how much work it takes to shape, the construction of the hinges and fittings, and what the lenses cost to make and finish. Brand name adds a layer on top of that, but it doesn’t explain the underlying object … Read more
About what you read here. Everything on The Designer Glasses is general information and our own editorial opinion. We research carefully and we say when the evidence is unclear, but we can be wrong, things change, and no article can know your particular situation. Please do your own research and make your own judgement rather than treating anything here as the final word. This is not medical advice, not a diagnosis, and not a substitute for speaking to an optometrist, optician or eye doctor about your own eyes, vision and eyewear. We are writers and researchers, not clinicians. We do not recommend prescription treatments or give doses. If something is painful, getting worse, or worrying you, please talk to a professional — going early is not an overreaction.