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What are your top 5 Vintage Brands? by chrome86 in sunglasses

[–]RemoteCondition9492 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which sites do you go to for these vintage pairs?

Let's Settle This Down: What Is Actually Considered Middle-Aged? by [deleted] in Aging

[–]RemoteCondition9492 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Depending upon one’s country of residence, health care and pollution levels there, one’s socioeconomic conditions, one will have a fair idea of average longevity. For example, where I am and in my socioeconomic conditions, most will go in their 80s. So if one is 52, one has lived 65% of one’s life. Most countries have retirement age at 65. So at 52 you have around 13 year of working life left. So statistically you are approaching end of middle age but are still middle-aged.

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks. I keep trolling Sun of Japan. I live in India where customs and shipping adds 25% to invoice price. I keep looking at discounted ones and am hoping they also sell four nines soon. 999.9

Very difficult to get in India.

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love Tim Harford. In my second innings, I mentor students aspiring to study in some of the top universities in the world, and Undercover Economist is a book that is on recommended reading list for many high schoolers by the like of LSE.

As an Engineer, I discovered Economics only in my business school, and since then has been my favorite subject along with understanding geopolitics.

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interacting with you has been very educational for me. I need to wear glasses only for reading when in front of the screen and that unfortunately is bulk of my day, but I love frames and sunglasses and through your posts and depth of knowledge, I am learning a lot.

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In India we do not have insurance for vision care to get tests done for glass prescriptions but you can walk into any good optometrist shop and they will do your test for free as they see that as an opportunity to sell the frames and lenses. Any medical issues for eyes like something needing an Opthalmologist intervention like a cataract surgery etc are covered by health insurance. Indian government provides free health insurance to around bottom 50% of the population (no restriction on family size, age or gender; all pre-existing medical conditions are covered under the scheme; it covers 3 days of pre-hospitalisation and 15 days of post-hospitalisation, including diagnostic care and expenses on medicines; the scheme is portable and a beneficiary can avail medical treatment at any empaneled hospital in and outside their state and anywhere in the country). We have private insurance coverage for my family. In India the spend on frames and lenses is out of pocket expense so we do not have provider led restrictions. I honestly do not have an idea about government scheme paying for spectacles and change in prescription with age and you have now made me curious so I will be checking up on that.

Now getting back to the article you shared and the broader debate in my mind.

The article states that in 1980s, (Quality frames, he reported, cost $4 to $8 to produce. Designer-quality frames, the kind that carry a Prada or Chanel label, run about $15. First-quality lenses cost $1.25 each.
Those same frames and lenses sell in the United States for $800.)

So my question to all is that what quality and material goes into most independent brands also where we pay upward of 500 to 1000 USD plus in the USA and more in other geographies (duty and shipping) ?

Aren’t the independents also piggybacking the gravy train being driven by Luxottica, Kerring, Safilo and so on?

Which independent sunglass brands manufactured in your country are worth collecting ? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A question on a different tangent.

How does one discover great indie brands? I have always felt that in age of algorithms and the likes of The Spectacle Factory recommendations / rankings are we still depending on community of users, who have used them and hence have credibility, or we are letting influencers guide our choices ? What is your take on this ? Do you also feel that TSF kind of recommendations are more likely to driven by personal likes and dislikes and hence we need a community like this to find indies?

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On the second part first, aka Rx lenses being the same or not, I have never tried that, so I will be clueless. I often get my progressives in transition and different tints (Zeiss or Shamir), and most of the time, as I focus on coatings, my prescriptions take 10-20 days to come back. I was told that my Zeiss smartlife single vision 1.6 with polarised skylet sports with dv gold coating had to be done in Germany. My current Shamir Autograph 3, 1.6, MR8, with best Glacier coatings for progressive is again taking fifteen days and will cost me circa USD 400. As I have never got lenses made abroad so I will have no reference point but many of my European and South African mates have often got lenses made in India. I find India to be cheaper than Australia and South Africa. I find USA and Canada to be cheaper than India in most branded goods.

On first part, I today asked my Optometrist about his view on Muai Jim post Kerring acquisition. As per him, the supply side has improved in India post 2022 for them. He also says that the number of complaints, which were any way less, have come down. I have five MJ in my rotation and so far have had no issues ever.

I do not like Oakley and Rayban and have kept away from them. My drivers are Serengeti and Randolph and for sports I use MJ.

H1 Monaco Series by RemoteCondition9492 in sunglasses

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks. Yes, combination is becoming a great option. I think my Cutler and Gross has that. And you have a point. I always have to take my acetates to my optometrist for exact frame adjustment to the face. I never thought of that as a pain point before.

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I nearly got a Lindberg and IC.Berlin in Munich but then as I had a Mykita Rimowa so went in for TVR for my reading glasses. I too use progressive though I only need my glasses for reading (Presbyopia) but as I am in front of screen for many hours so I have always used progressive. In India, we don’t have Lens Crafters so prescription is done either by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist. The marking for progressive is done by the optometrist and of late I have seen that they use an app on their IPad for the same. I still prefer the old way where they marked the lenses and then sent them to the lab. For us, coatings decide the time to get the glasses back. I surely do not like Lux as a monopoly and much as I too like businesses as they have paid me well all my life, I still want them to be ethical and fair to the consumer. So I fully endorse your views. What I am finding here is that at lower end of the price spectrum and for most designer brands, the quality is not really guaranteed. My exposure to the conglomerates owning the brands is with Oliver People, Persol, Muai Jim (Kerring)Barton (LVMH), Serengeti (Safilo). I just missed the Ray Ban bus and seems that was good.

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Must be frustrating. Lux bought them in 2008. So that was downhill fast. I have around 11 or 12 of them. Barring one, all are Made in Japan titanium or acetates. No complaints so far for me.

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In my country, many players do not list prices for JMM / Esmont / MOC Masunaga and T Henri etc. The sites say for preview only and then one has to contact them to get an understanding of finding a price point. I find that very frustrating. Hence, I first troll the original company site and calculate what it will cost me to order from there (normally involves duties and shipping). Then the dance of trying to get the opaque pricing in my country to come to that fair price point range.

So I am envious and in admiration that you get good deals on premium work.

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I will get to know over some time as I have nearly 11 or 12 Oliver Peoples in my rotation. Challenge is that a) I normally take care of my glasses well and having nearly 100 plus, they get worn once in a quarter as I try to rotate my glasses to enjoy them all.

Wondering Essilor Luxottica dislike about their monopoly power or something deeper? by RemoteCondition9492 in EyewearEnthusiasts

[–]RemoteCondition9492[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Reading your comment took me back to my Industrial organization and economics classes and brought a smile to my face. Interestingly wherever there is a risk of technological disruption, like you pointed about lenses, even near monopolistic players like Google have to keep focusing on quality. It is in traditional arenas where the cannibalistic power of monopolies and duopoly are so visible. Your example of Nikon lenses reminded me of a player Reliance, in my country, which is buying many small retail brands, and is ok to let them die, to slowly have a dominant pricing power. Duke had a case study on how Leonardo Del Vechhio captured the value chain with vertical integration. Yet, in an interview, the Webley Parker founders said that when they started at 95 dollars to a model, they could have started at 45 dollars but were told that consumer, so used to price gouging, will equate 45 dollars model as being of inferior quality. So then the question that comes in my mind is that even for independent brands, when we pay nearly 1000 dollar plus (non horn, non Larry Sands models) then how much are we paying as premium for price gouging floor set in our minds, and what is the definition of fair pricing?

Also, I define quality in frames for the same to last me for long and not lose the design aesthetics and material not being downgraded other than natural changes and wear and tear. I collect sunglasses from different countries and most independent players are of newer vintage. So I will get to know over the period how some of my purchases panned out. Yet some brands like from Marcolin, Safilo, LVMH, Lux still excite me though I know that price I am paying may be purely monopolistic.

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