Intro#
The anti-dirt capability of the glasses I previously had was already very poor; just a casual touch would affect the visual effect. Additionally, due to improper protection, there were some small scratches, so I planned to get a new pair of glasses.
The previous pair was purchased on 1688, where I had an eye exam done at the hospital. I selected Zeiss blue light blocking lenses and a Shilohua pure titanium frame online, with a total price around 750.
At that time, I felt the cost-performance ratio was already maximized. Later, I heard that getting glasses in Danyang was also very cheap, and since it was offline, I could try them on, which should only improve the experience.
The round trip from Shanghai to Danyang costs about 160 yuan, with a one-way journey taking about an hour and a half. Right outside the high-speed train station is the glasses city, which is very convenient, so I planned to take this opportunity to give it a try.
Lens Selection#
Photochromic Lenses#
Since I heard about photochromic lenses, I have always been very interested. I often find it glaringly bright in the sun, and after learning that photochromic lenses do not harm the eyes but rather protect them, I decided to get a pair.
Initially, I looked at Zeiss photochromic lenses, which are certainly good, but unfortunately, the price is just too high, so I gave up. After looking around at other brands, I found that the domestic brand Quanzhen Optical specializes in photochromic lenses, and in terms of photochromic performance, it is comparable to international top brands. I learned online that the custom CBX 1.6 lenses only cost 390 yuan, which was very tempting, and there was even a shop in Danyang that offered a price of 350 yuan.
However, in the end, I did not get a very good pair of photochromic lenses. Over time, photochromic lenses will have a noticeable base color; it may not be very obvious when looking out, but to others, it looks like dark circles, which is not suitable for long-term wear and is only appropriate for outdoor scenarios.
I finally chose a very ordinary base photochromic lens from Quanzhen, priced around 140 yuan, paired with a titanium alloy frame for 158 yuan, totaling nearly 300 yuan. The frame was more expensive than the lenses, but I thought it looked great.
Daily Use Lenses#
The original plan was to get a better pair of photochromic lenses and then casually get a pair of daily use lenses, as long as they were acceptable.
However, the staff said that ordinary domestic lenses still have a gap compared to Zeiss, which remains the top tier, while Essilor's optical quality is close to Zeiss but at only half the price. So, I turned my attention to Essilor and selected the Mo Yan lenses with the best cost-performance ratio based on my needs.
Regarding the price, the original price was 1080 yuan, and other places could offer a discount of 75%, while this shop only offered a 70% discount. However, I was drawn to the frame, with a pure titanium frame priced at 258 yuan, which seemed to be the same as the price I paid online for my first pair, so I still got them from this shop (in fact, the total was 840 yuan, directly reduced to 800 yuan, which was also about the same price).
Reading Glasses for Parents#
Both of my parents need reading glasses. They have no problem seeing far, but it becomes quite difficult when looking at computers or phones up close. Since their usage scenario is relatively singular and not very frequent, I ultimately chose the Kaimi U2 and U6 with a refractive index of 1.6, priced at 100 yuan and 120 yuan respectively, and selected titanium alloy (158 yuan) and pure titanium (discounted to 98 yuan) frames, totaling 455 yuan.
Outro#
The experience of getting an eye exam on-site was indeed very different from the hospital's eye exam. The hospital's eye exam is more like an assembly line, focusing more on pathological testing, while the eye shop's exam pays more attention to optical aspects and testing related to glasses production.
What surprised me was that after several years, my prescription remained consistent with the past, and the prescription for the glasses I got was exactly the same.
Additionally, my impression of getting glasses in Danyang is that the frames are more expensive than the lenses. There are indeed many high cost-performance options for lenses, such as Kaimi lenses, but if you want a truly pure titanium frame, it is unlikely to be below 200 yuan.
Previously, I saw online that someone got six pairs of glasses for 1000 yuan; someone else got Kaimi U6 for 150 yuan, which is indeed possible as long as you can tolerate the series of issues that come with cheap frames.
So, is it worth it to get glasses in Danyang? It seems that the more expensive the lenses, the more worthwhile it is. The lowest discount offered by Zeiss in Shanghai is 20%, but Danyang can do 75%. This can easily cover the costs of high-speed train travel and other expenses.
This article is synchronized and updated by Mix Space to xLog. The original link is https://xxu.do/notes/130