Cracks_in_lensHow many sets of glasses do we go through in a ten year span?  Two?  Three?  I’ve gone through four, but oddly enough, the last two have not been able to provide 9 months of usage without replacement.

Back in 1997 I decided to do something about the constant headaches and eye-strain by getting myself a pair of glasses.  Sure, I could have asked my parents for a pair a few years earlier, but I was not going to get stuck with the cheapest lenses and frames and walk around looking like something out of Napoleon Dynamite.  By purchasing the specs myself, I could ensure they would look relatively decent on my face and match my personality.  Six years later, and after many quick repair jobs, they had to be replaced because I accidentally ran over them with a 3–ton forklift.  Cost of glasses:  $375.

In 2002 I managed to get a replacement pair of glasses for $425 (including eye exam) and they were relatively decent, however, because I was programming full time, my eyes had deteriorated a bit and a new prescription was in order.  In 2006, I decided to put my employer’s health benefits to use for the first time ever and get a nice pair of frameless glasses.  After a quick trip to the optometrist and several very painful examinations, I paid the $830 (which I was able to claim back) for a single pair of frameless glasses that looked good, solved my vision problems, automatically tinted in the sunlight, and was purportedly made with Crizal lenses, which are supposed to be pretty tough.

Essilor, the maker of Crizal, claims that these lenses are care free, reflection free and scratch free.  For the most part, this is accurate.  I haven’t had a single scratch on these lenses.  However, I do have several very prominent cracks where they attach to the arms.  What’s upsetting about these cracks is that this is not the first time it’s happened.

In early April 2006 I had picked up my first pair of glasses.  After just three months, I started noticing cracks forming where the arms connect to the lenses.  I don’t play sports, nor did I do anything to cause stress on the lenses aside from sitting in front of computers for 14+ hours a day.  Before flying to Japan in December of 2006 I had the lenses replaced under warranty, but noticed the cracks were forming once again before my birthday in April.

$830 and I can’t even get a year from two pair of glasses?  How the heck did the $375 pair last right up until the forklift incident?

I don’t think this is a fault of the lenses, themselves, but instead in the design of the glasses.  These are frameless, and as such, there is nothing to absorb the stresses between the arms when they bend, and the plastic lenses.  The initial reason I had spent over eight-hundred dollars on a pair of glasses (aside from the fact that I could claim the entire amount back) was because I had hoped the specs would last five to ten years.  However, it seems that this is not the case, and I’ll need to buy a new pair before the end of this winter.

Has anyone else had problems with frameless glasses?  Is there any type of lens or frame that you recommend?  There’s no way I’ll ever pay such a high price for specs if I can’t even get a year of normal wear without cracks.