Evening everyone, getting a bit miffed at the quality of glasses in the UK (France must have ruined me!)
Do we have any Opticians on the board that are local to SE London that would be happy to eye wear up, a very grumpy late 30 something?
If not any recommendations for a very good opticians?
0
Comments
By the way I'm very surprised that frames available in the UK are any different from those available in France. This is because they are almost all made in Italy.
Here's the info taken from Wiki.
Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear company. It is the world's largest eyewear company, controlling over 80% of the world's major eyewear brands.
Its best known brands are Ray-Ban, Persol and Oakley. It also makes sunglasses and prescription frames for a multitude of designer brands such as Chanel and Prada, whose designs and trademarks are used under license. Luxottica also makes sunglasses branded Giorgio Armani, Burberry, Stella McCartney, Versace, Vogue, Miu Miu, Tory Burch, and Donna Karan.
Its prime competitor is the Safilo Group S.p.A.
Safilo Group S.p.A. is an Italian company that designs, produces and distributes prescription frames, sunglasses, sports eyewear, ski goggles, ski and cycling helmets under its own five house brands and 22 licensed brands.
Their products are primarily manufactured in three Italian facilities with an additional plant in Slovenia, one in USA and one in China, and are marketed in 130 countries worldwide.
As of 2012, it was the second largest optical frame and sunglasses company after Luxottica.
So if there is no difference in the available frames (interesting post @cafcfan, who knew that RayBan and Oakley are owned by the same company?) it must be the lenses. So what I learned from that thread is that the big chains (naturally) do big volume deals with glass manufacturers, but they won't necessarily be the best lenses. Specsavers offer Pentax, a name we all know, but not necessarily top in this field, it seems.
In the end I ordered my varifocals last week here in Prague from Grand Optical because they had a 40% offer. But I also realised that for those glasses you need to be able to go back and get them adjusted, so you need a place you can trust and which is local to you. Frames are Persol, lenses are Rodenstock. I did however get my eyes tested at an independent optician first (and paid for it when it was clear I would not buy from them) and their test was far more thorough than Grand Optical's was. And it is your eyes after all, more important than branded vs own label loo paper.
Meanwhile Swatch makes the important parts for 70% of Swiss watches, and 90% of the balance springs, yeah, even for the expensive brands. If you've got anything other than a vintage Omega or Rolex. it's really a Swatch with a fancy case. Only Patek Phillipe - and who can afford one of those - make their own bits. (Oh and a British firm, Robert Loomes that no one has heard of.) (economist.com/news/business/21571943-industry-ripe-shake-up-time-money)
And don't get me started in printer ink cartridges....
Second to that the somewhat shoddy eye exam's 3 times in 6 years I have returned to collect glasses and had to send them back once with the lenses in the wrong eyes and twice they rushed through the eye exam and they where not the right prescription. Boots, vision express and specsavers all making mistakes.
Thanks for all the advice I will give Avery a go
I have an old manual-wind Omega from 1973 that only gets out and about occasionally and a Swatch for day-to-day use. Last time I took the Omega in for service (in 1992!) the guy in the shop said it was about the last watch Omega made that had proper metal parts (as opposed to nylon I suppose?). I guess that probably explains why there's such a strong market for vintage watches these days? An identical version of my Omega is on ebay for £900 and as far as I can recall it cost about £40 new!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=y1tbvbv52-w#t=177
Actually that looks like pretty good fun!
You are talking about the ETA plant in Grenchen. Yes some parts are supplied to most of the industry but the rest of your post misrepresents the reality. Do you know what percentage of the watch manufacturing process is identical for each brand?
Patek use some parts from ETA. Does that make a PP like your swatch? No it doesn't.
Tesco use some of the same ingredients for value range and for finest. Does that make the end product the same?
In other shock news, I am sad to relay that the Lindt man doesn't personally make each chocolate ball.
To paraphrase your comment on the fungibility of the brands, if you have any kind of watch its really a sundial with a bit if technology added in.
Why are Apple labelling Beats as Swiss made when most savvy consumers know the Swiss don't do audio? Because their is some kudos about the country's manufacturing generally, it is seen as good quality and desirable. This is about marketing but you make it sound like some unethical stitch up. It is not.
Anyway, I think you are being unfair and, perhaps, deliberately missing the point. So, to reiterate, I was primarily talking about glasses frames. But added the link to the article about the Swiss watch industry to demonstrate that all is not necessarily what the advertising people would like to have you believe.
So, what is your point in posing the question about knowing what percentage of the manufacturing process is identical. Of course the case, design, strap, etc are different but the guts pretty much all come from two suppliers who are both owned by the same Group. Of course, the design of the guts will vary by quality and purpose. Of course the quality will be okay - I said as much in a response to Prague.
My main point was to express my surprise that glasses frames quality should be any different in France from the UK, taking into account that they are, in the main, brands that are available globally. (As it happens the OP was not querying the quality of the frames but the lenses.)
My secondary point was to express my view that not enough is done to protect consumers from excessive profit. Is there anyone out there who thinks the mark-up on items like reasonable quality watches and glasses frames (and printer ink) is fair? In this regard, it does not serve the consumer well to have so few manufacturers controlling an industry. Presumably this is why we have bodies like the Competition and Mergers Authority and the Office of Fair Trading? You know, as in monopoly bad, competition good.
Oh, and thanks for the bollocks about the chocolate, that helped a lot.
I just wanted to balance your post with a counter view, as I felt your post contained several major porkies. There is no deliberate missing of the point. If you post with seeming authority but then get most of the facts wrong, it is fair game for a rebuttal.
Consumers should be protected but not from their own stupidity, I am sure everyone realises little more than a fraction of the retail price goes into the raw materials of the watch.
I am glad the Lindt man example made it easy for you to understand that not everything intimated in an advert is actually true. Consumers do need to be protected but mainly from fraud and faulty goods rather than highly effective marketing.