Eyewear often doubles as a fashion statement, though many people don't see it that way. Sure, your professor or artist friends might wear bold, sculptural red frames that stand out like they belong on a European talk show, but most of us use glasses primarily for practical reasons. We want to see better with minimal hassle.
My wife hates that she needs glasses. She's put off going to an optometrist because she'd rather raw-dog her vision than wear something clunky or distracting on her face. In recent years, she's accumulated a collection of reading glasses -- generic ones from drugstores and Costco, and snazzier specs from her favorite brand, Izipizi -- that fill drawers in our bedroom and kitchen and in the space between the front seats of the car.
This summer, she realized she needed to go all-in and find prescription glasses to wear all day. I could tell she was investigating options because various online eyewear services started popping up on my social feeds. I've written about some of these services before, including Lensabl, EyeBuyDirect, Zenni and Tajimi Direct. They're all reliable, although the range of product choices, while amazing, can feel overwhelming.
One new service seems tailor made for my wife, with glasses that are sleek, comfortable and on-demand. ThinOptics is a small brand based out of Sonoma, California (how lovely for them, right?). They are known for their wafer slim, super durable readers, but this week they're debuting a prescription-on-demand service.
The new glasses are billed as "virtually weightless, ultra-durable, and seamlessly integrated into your daily life," which sounds right for people like my wife, who want their glasses as minimalist as possible.
Unlike conventional lenses, which can be prone to distortion and lack precision, these are categorized as "free form lenses," which means they're crafted using algorithms to tailor each lens to an accuracy of 1/100th of a diopter. I don't know what that means either but the point is that every pair of glasses is uniquely customized to meet the wearer's specific vision needs.
Style-wise, they look great. There's one elegant rounded pair called Manhattan Rx in Tortoise that will make you look like the smartest person on your block -- and apparently, you won't even feel like you're wearing glasses. The Manhattans weigh about 10 ounces, half the weight of most "lightweight" glasses.
The prescription-on-demand wave really took off during the COVID years, and ThinOptics is angling to stand out with enhanced functionality, as they say. You can add blue-light blocking options for added eye protection. The glasses are made from high-grade polycarbonate. The lenses are anti-scratch and come with anti-reflective coating.
The most attractive feature may be the price: The company's prescription-on-demand glasses start at $49.95 for the frames, with add-ons from there. But even the fully loaded models come in under $500, which is a bargain in this era of eye-popping eyewear prices.
Will any of these promising advances convince my wife to go full-time "four-eyes?" We will just have to wait and, ahem, see.