Frame Size and Shape Matter, But YOU Matter More!

This is perhaps the most important lesson we’ve ever done. Yes, we cover choosing a frame and then designing a set of lenses for high minus powers and working with the lab to obtain the best result possible, but there is a much bigger lesson to be learned as we look at our profession through the lens of one particular customer.

Technically opticians must choose the appropriate frame and then, with the help of the lab, design the best possible lenses to place in that frame. Optician training includes frame selection and lens design. We include a recorded call to the lab covering the lens material choice, free form design, non glare coatings and the importance of frame shape. More importantly, we look at the implications of one customer’s experience on the profession.

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This video was produced in association with Laramy-K Optical

Laramy-K Optical is a digital uncut and coating lab unlike any other. The only exclusively uncut lab in the country; we provide our customers with independent, high-end alternatives to corporate brands. Through craftsmanship, technology, and independent, innovative vendors like Younger, IOT, A&R, and Quantum Innovations we offer our customers the Integrity portfolio of freeform lenses and coatings. Made in the USA, the Integrity brand is not a generic house-brand, but is the absolute best available, designed to give the wearer that “wow!” experience.

In addition to the digital line, we still offer conventional surfacing, including glass. Maintaining traditional equipment gives our customers vastly more flexibility in their dispensing, particularly when it comes to more difficult prescriptions.

[aafillon]

Thank you for the content you put out. I'm an ABOC optician/lab tech in the DMV area and I absolutely can't stand all the baloney and fluff business minded people try to push on consumers. Your videos answer a lot of those hard questions I can't really seem to get an answer from anywhere else and its a nice breath of fresh air!

[matthewbalas]

Best thing to do with a RX that high is to find the smallest frame that fits you. Rounder edges are good because they will look more symmetrical. Ive been doing this 20 years. Rectangle shapes will give you harder and sharper edges. Definitely look for softer shapes.

[balotaify]

Hi John, your videos are great, as an Optician I always try to explain that to the customers with that kind of prescription, but not always I get good response because somebody else didn't tell them about that, just recommend the thinnest lenses, but it is important to meet customers with benefits of choosing correct frame for their prescriptoon and face.
Thank you and keep it rollin.
Regards from Split, Croatia.

[brunoksibyetekerwa]

Lee is exactly me. I have a small face but every shop I go to they hv those massive frames. I always find my self look at the kids section

[mig-ijmg]

As a lab tech I see that problem in a daily basis, and as per usual and to make everything even better no heights then they question why px feels that the ground is very distant or very close

[juliagoulia]

Amen!!! Thank you. Sad when patients say to me, you're the first optician to explain and educate me on (progressives, prism, fitting kids with bifocals etc) and I'm a new optician.

[nexx]

I had someone who came in with a -9.75 and -8.25 and cyl. Together we chose 1.74 free form lens with a round plastic frame they were beautiful. You learn alot by listening to people about what they have been through in the past with their prescription.

Thanks for the 1.67 conversation unfortunately it’s not easy to talk to someone at the lab who has this knowledge. They can edge it the same thickness in a 1.67 than a 1.74 ok but will they, only based on the free form measurements or does this come from only a experienced lab tech? Then when do you use 1.74 over 1.67? Second video please!! Any whosy a conversation starter at work. I am surprised but not surprised at her experience.

[JuanPablo-wmpe]

WHAT A GREAT VIDEO. Thanks John for your hard work. It is very important for opticians to keep learning and be honest.

[kkentmiller]

Love the discussion between John and Janet. This is what the Spectacle Shoppe does every day. And It's a great time to let the public know how glasses and lenses can be selected properly.

[dann]

Very good video. I subscribed. People like you are rare these days. God bless.

[crispy]

would have to agree, probably the most important and educational video you've done! from start to finish, loved it., putting this is my " videos that every beginning optician needs to watch " folder. Thanks John!

[sammicastro]

Love this video. Tis person is very honest. Keep up the good work.

[mamaboocee]

Wow. Leanne! I thought I had problems! Thankfully we have the solution here! I find frames with a smaller bridge look and feel so much better and 16 and below is hard to find unless it is on a kid's frame - which is always far too small for me.
With my high negative Rx (not as high as leanne's) and very small nose, I wish I saw this before I ordered my frames with 1.74 high index lenses, but I ordered two other pairs of the same frames with index 1.67 lenses so no biggie. I will get to see the proof myself! I love your videos! I am still learning, but now I can spot optician bs a mile away, and I can now understand what a good optician tells me!
Awesome channel! My new favorite youtuber! THANK YOU A MILLION TIMES OVER!!!

[romulusremus]

The end product look fantastic on her.

[lindsaydunseith]

Thank you for this helpful video. I am a customer, not an optician, but have been really struggling to get eye care centers to give me frames that fit. I have glasses that I know fit with the bridge width of 18mm, but most of the shops in Italy near me seem to have standard bridge widths of 17mm or 16mm and don't fit over my nose properly. Here is some of the "advice" I've been given: 1) You should slide the glasses down your nose to get the frame to fit, otherwise the glasses sit too high; 2) We can adjust these and the result is that the arm is stretched out at an angle of about 20 to 30 degrees from the vertical; 3) when the frame hits my the skin at the side of my nose, I'm told that I shouldn't smile like that because that will always happen with frames, 4) Oh, why don't you want the glasses to sit so high above your eyebrows, is this a fashion preference? (when I said, no, this was because the center of the lens will then not be correctly aligned with my pupil, his response was "oh, we do personalized lenses"), 5) You can't wear plastic lenses because they are all sized like this, so you must choose metal lenses so I can adjust the nose pads or give you smaller ones 6) When I checked the frame size before fitting them on, I was told, "the numbers don't mean anything, the bridge width and temple width work together with the shape of the frames." The adjustments of frames that don't fit correctly are likewise ludicrous, with one shop bending the ear parts so that they were completely straight because I said they didn't fit properly over my ears. None of the shops take measurements, or seem to have a clue how to analyze what is the right size for me. It was only after watching your video that I was able to analyze the fit for myself, which helped me in the last shop because I avoided buying frames from them. I still don't have glasses but at least I now know what to look out for in a shop.

[phototristan]

In the past, I've literally had to tell an optician - don't act like you hate me, I need to get my eyeglasses right for me. Even their technician guy told me the frames could easily fit 1.66 (yet I was sold 1.74) and he shook his head and rolled his eyes at the woman who sold them to me.

[Aeder]

I liked the explanation of why 1.74 isn't always the best option and how 1.67 can be just as good or better at times, even for a relatively high Rx. When would 1.74 be the preferred lens material? Would you choose that when it's a more severe Rx? Is there any benefit over 1.67 if you can get them just as thin? I work in the lab at LensCrafters, so we don't surface hi-index. In fact, we only edge 1.67, so my experience with 1.74 is limited.

[laurenclark]

I know my comment will get lost in the YouTube universe but I am glad you found this video. For the past two years I have been wearing frames that appear to fit my face but the earpieces that are spring hinged have been squeezing my head so tight that I have intentions all the time. They could not be adjusted. So I went to the eye doctor for a new exam and have been looking for frames. I am the opposite of the lady in the video. I have a very high plus number on my strong prescription. I am flabbergasted at the four different optical places I have been to. They are ill-informed and don’t seem to know what they are doing. They assume I’m more interested in the cosmetics and I am getting the correct frame for my prescription. One lady actually wanted to put me in a rimless frame which I knew would be ridiculous with my high index prescription. I live in a small town so now I’m gonna have to travel 2 1/2 hours to the city to try to find something there. There’s no reason to believe that they will be more informed and helpful there but I have no choice. I will also be getting separate reading glasses which are also very high index. I’m watching as many of your videos as I can to try to learn as much as possible. I am very late in life educating myself on all of this. Thank you for your videos.

[MrLim]

Hi Mr John,

hope you are having a great day ahead


may i know why does PD changes from time to time? how often does it changes?

thank you

jonathan

[edlinesoriano]

This video is really educating people.But I have a question, how would you know what kind of lens material you would use based on the eye prescription??