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Rimless Reading GlassesWhen a helpful retailer first suggests rimless reading glasses, it sounds like a good idea. When you first try glasses they make you look slightly odd. At first its hard to adjust to seeing the new you in the mirror. Then when the retailer explains the benefits of rimless reading glasses it just gets better and better: Rimless frame are really light especially the ones made of Titanium. They are really comfortable on your nose. Best of all when standing 5 paces away they are barely visible on your face.
So why am I urging you not to buy a rimless frame despite their obvious advantages?Reading glasses by their very nature are on and off glasses. If the glasses are a single vision lens, then the distance vision will be blurry when you look up. So you will want to take them off.If you get progressive (no line), Computer, or bifocal reading glasses you will still be tempted to take them on and off throughout the day. Lets be plain here, rimless glasses are delicate: that means only one thing, an eyewear malfunction waiting to happen. Why? The screws that hold the metal chassis to the lens work loose and you are for ever being going back to your optometrist to have them tightened. Some designs are a no screw version. These are better, but they are still prone to working loose and ending up in pieces in your lap, no matter how much you pay for them. They are not suitable for the rough and tumble of life in your top pocket or handbag. They will come off second best to anything that they jostle with.
So why are they an accident waiting to happen?If you look at rimless glasses there is really nothing much holding them together. The lenses need to form part of the structure. Standard plastic (CR39) lenses are simply not strong enough and will soon break. You need stronger lenses and this means more expensive lenses. What are your lens choices? Polycarbonate. Very tough lens. Used extensively in safety glasses. Unfortunately it is a horrible material for an optical lens. It suffers from lack of clarity and colour distortions (called chromatic aberrations). Polycarbonate derivatives eg Phoenix and Trilogy. These perform better optically but are quite expensive. Hi index lenses. By their very nature high index lenses (1.6 and above) are stronger than standard lenses (CR39). They are also thinner, lighter and generally flatter. This performance comes at a price. Rimless glasses are more expensive to make. Optical laboratories will generally charge the retailer four to six times more to make a pair of rimless glasses. This reflects the time consuming nature of the manufacturing process. The bottom line with rimless reading glasses: They are expensive. They will become loose. You will be forever getting them tightened and adjusted. They are easy to break. Only if you are a very, very careful person should you even consider them. Return from Rimless Reading Glasses to Home Page
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