America's best eyeglasses? Opinions, please.?!
Question: What do you think of them? Did your eyeglasses hold up well?
Answers: What do you think of them? Did your eyeglasses hold up well?
If you're talking about the chain store, America's Best, you could give it a try. They advertise very cheap deals (two pair for $50, including the exam). You don't have much to lose.
The way they make money is to get you to pay for upgrades to their cheap frames and basic lenses -- that rapidly makes the price go up. I wouldn't count on the "exam" being more than a very basic refraction, so you might get a real exam somewhere else.
If you want glasses that "hold up well", go elsewhere, get a Flexon memory metal frame.
I think D&G, I'm about to go get me some :)
If you're inquiring about frames that are actually made in the USA, there really aren't many and I can't think of any brands off the top of my head. Where I work, we carried frames made by U.S. Optical and they were HORRIBLY junky AND I think they might have been made in China! 90% of frames are made in China, Japan, or Korea...just like everything else. Even a lot of designer names, such as the afore mentioned D&G, are even made in China and then slapped with a D&G logo and then marked up a million percent. Prada and Armani frames made in Italy, and Rodenstock frames are made in Germany (at least they used to be. Its been a while since I've seen a Rodenstock frame) In my professional opinion, frames that are made in China and Japan, usually (not always) tend to be kind of junky, regardless of the designer name that's been stamped on them. European-made frames are higher quality, made of stronger materials, hold up better. You will pay more for them, but they aren't junky and you'll get your money's worth, rather than paying $300 for an overpriced China-made D&G frame that breaks and needs to be replaced before its time for new glasses. Just because its a "designer frame", doesn't make it a better frame, necessarily. They are, for the most part, made with cheap materials and then stamped with the designers' logo and you're only paying for that logo. You're not paying for quality craftsmenship.