Yet another Fielmann recommendation. Good service, and less expensive than I expected.

Hi,
I just bought a pair of glasses recently at Visilab and it cost me 550 CHF for lenses and frame..ok frame was on sale but still..
otherwise why don't you try accross the border? I used to live in France and it could be cheaper for you even without insurance..

good luck

I seem to be facing the same problem, but in Suisse Romande. Does anybody have any recommendation for a place in France? Will France be any cheaper at all?

I'm needing glasses as well, but am put off by the prices in Switzerland. Even with a corporate discount, my last pair cost nearly 1k, and I just can't afford that at the moment. I'm visiting my husband in the UK next month, and am tempted to look for a pair there. Any thoughts on the best place to go (value for money, style, quality, etc.). I'll be in London, if that's a help...

I found a good offer for glasses in the UK (there is a 2-for-1 deal at Specsavers), but it turns out that I haven't had an eye test for quite a while. The English opticians recommended getting a prescription in Switzerland then whenever I come back, use that prescription to by the glasses. This sounds sensible, but does anyone know the general price for an eye test here? Or once you have an eye test, are you obligated to buy some glasses? I just want to get an updated prescription, then leave. I'm not insured for eye-based health here.
So in the UK you can get a pair of prescription glasses and sunglasses for a total of 130 GBP (if you want cheaper ones I think you can get two pairs for 70 GBP)

I went to Visilab and got a great deal. Paid just under 500 chufs for specs and lenses (not varifocal though). If you can hold off until their next sale it would be worth it. Got my frames half price - rare you get a good deal in Switzerland!

Not at all. They may try to brush you along into purchasing lenses / frames from them, but you are the customer, right?

The high prices here must be corrupted as the opticians know most people's insurance covers them part of the way. It's up to you if you want to feed the machine or not

Did you have normal basic lenses? Usually it costs if they make them a bit thinner etc. But 169 chf each is a good price! How much was the frame? Was eye test included in the price?

I am short-sighted, need additional correction, due to my age, for reading. I also have astigmatism, the beginnings of cataracts and, having once had a torn retina, am in danger of having another. When my ophthalmologist asked me if I drive and I said ‘No’, she breathed a sign of relief. A great start!
I’m sure there are cheaper places to buy glasses than from my optician. However things like Varilux and choosing thin, non-reflective glass add to the price wherever you buy them.
Fortunately my memory is not very good so I cannot remember how much I paid last time. However, having an optician who knows me, who will see me whenever I turn up with a problem and is prepared to work out solutions, is worth a great deal too.
Long before you could buy swimming goggles with corrective lenses in them, he cut lenses for mine, glued them into goggle frames and checked them for seal (in his fish-tank)! When I lamented that in spite of the optimal correction I can no longer read railway or airport signs in anything less than 100% light, he suggested a clip-on with a different correction and anti-glare and gave me try-outs for a week to test in various situations. When I had trouble working at the computer for any length of time, he got me to measure the exact distance between my eyes and my screen and made a clip which I use just at the computer. Of course, I pay for the lenses, but when I work out the time he spendson me, I’m sure it is worth every franc to have my life made so much easier.
I was in a car accident, bent my frames out of true and thought I would have to have new glasses; he took a look at them, said he didn’t think that would be necessary and ‘unbent’ them for me while I waited (for free); when after catching them on something the frames were damaged, he said that they should not have broken so easily and replaced them (for free); when I scratched just one of the brown lenses of my Adidas sun glasses, I only had to buy one; when the side pieces of the pair of glasses I wear in chlorinated water get too discoloured, he replaces them (for free). Maybe the cheaper places do this sort of thing too, but I’m not changing my winning team!

__________________
Longbyt

Just my 2 cents.
Just got back from Visilab. I wanted to have an estimate of the lens cost as they are Varifocal and super thin. He measured my glasses and then came back and said 500chf. Not bad I thought for thin Varifocals. Then he added "per lens"
Jesus C !!!! This though raises 2 issues firstly the cost which is crazy. Secondly , the pricing policy - I mean how many one-eyed ultra thin Varifocal wearing folks are there out there? What the hell is the point of pricing per lens?
Don´t know about you but I have 2 eyes and use them as a pair.
So Specsavers in the UK here we come

Reading all these posts tells me to make sure I get my new specs before I head over to Switzerland next year!! And get my refund from health fund to boot! Still trying to figure out why opticians would quote per lens......I wouldn't think it would be that common to need a different prescription per eye.

Pam

These deals are only available if you have a bog standard, weak prescription that does not require any special lenses. The last glasses I bought in the UK cost me about GBP1100 since I need ultra thin lenses, they did give me the free sunglasses though.

I have purchased glasses online in the past from the US when I was in New Zealand, it was cheap and good even with shipping cost.

Now, since I am going to Switzerland, I will do the same but from the UK. There are blenty of online companies that do that.

in a couple of weeks I am planning to also order prescription sport glasses for me and my kids from a UK based company online.

I wear glasses since I was 10, I will never ever pay CHF 500 for a pair of glasses


.

I'd try the place on the corner in central Saint Louis (nr Basel)....I picked ultra thin lenses as I'm "blind" -5.5 .....200 Euros incl frames (the frames were bog std but very light and are fine....

Took in my English prescription and they were ready a few days later...

You really just pay silly prices for any "service" in CH....aaargh

It's reasonable to quote per lens. I've been blind on one eye from birth on, when I buy reading "glasses" I'm happy if I only have to pay for one lens, the other one is usually simple, not adjusted glass which makes the deal a bit cheaper. Think about...

Price of Glasses - I know! And its not something you can do without...

I recently bought my latest pair of specs in Italy, where I paid euro prices which I think are pretty much more competitive. For Christian Dior Frames and extra strong lenses (minus 7 and minus 5), made extra thin, with anti reflective coating etc, it was 500 euro all in....

We have also nipped over the border to Germany, - Constance and had great service at an opticians there, which was really very reasonable and collecting the tax back the next time we visited paid for lunch
http://apollo.de/

Good luck with your purchase... otherwise I can always loan you Fudge as a seeing eye dog... (don't fancy your chances there though....

Sigh....
Of course. One buys a "pair" of glasses that is the point.
Do you get your socks priced by one and double it? I think not. It is a ludicrous pricing method which I am sure catches many people out when they go to collect and pay for a pair of glasses. Anyway Swiss economy loss . I will get my pair in England.

While I agree that it is reasonable for someone who needs only one lens to only pay for one lens, for the pricing to be "per lens" is a bit odd to me.

The only way I can think for it to make sense would be because typically lens prices are based on the Rx, if they price per lens then it could work out cheaper to pay per lens than if they price based on pair but use the higher Rx lens to figure the pricing. It is uncommon for the Rx to be significantly different enough for this to be a major factor typically though.


Looking at the prices ya'll are being told for glasses really makes me want to cry. I am VERY spoiled in my eyewear after working for LensCrafters in the US for 15yrs and getting a free pair (designer frame, anti-reflective "featherweight" lenses) every year.

I'm planning visit family in Chicago for Thanksgiving this year, I guess I'll put off getting glasses until I make the visit. I know it will still be expensive but certainly not over 1kchf!!


With all that in mind though, I DID stop by both Visilab and Fielmann here in Basel to get a basic idea of frame stock and lens prices.

At Visilab I was told approx (without knowing my exact Rx) 500chf for thin lenses and anti-reflective coating, the majority of frames I saw were above 200chf, particularly for the quality I'd want. This wouldn't be soooo out of line with the pricing at LensCrafters in the US though, or any other "glasses in an hour" type place over there either.

At Fielmann there were some frames that were decent quality (titanium even) for about 150chf. They do have lower priced frames but as I said... I'm a bit spoiled.
Unfortunately, while I can do some clothes shopping with my broken Swiss German mixed with English, I am more comfortable with discussing matters optical in Spanish than in German and no way perfect with that language either. Soooo... I dunno how much they charge for lenses. I WAS quite impressed with how they seem to run their business though.

Just got a quote for Varifocal/super thin lenses from Specsavers in the UK.
Absolute max price is 269GBP which is less that 500chf. So why pay >1000chf here?
You can even try frames on-line!! Cool eh

Glasses are cheap in the UK then. Now I don't go to Specsavers because of the crappy service and quality. Normal glasses would at least cost a few hunderd euros. But that's no problem if you don't want your glasses to match the yearly fashion. Most glasses and lenses are fine roughly 5 years or even more. Price dived by 5 then it's quite reasonable