The Spectacles Thread.

[KohChris]

oakley's been going downhill since last year. or the year before. my ex manager's already cutting back.

but really any brand under luxotica will get their prices jack up

prada is now $400-$700

oakley you know the story

raybans shooting up

they just took over coach and it's 20% up already

haha im looking to buy a brown pair of raybans with rectangular lens and a final pair of porsche design in bronze brushed titanium

hope prices dont change much by then

 

[Seannie]

if price is not a concern I'm still in favour of paris miki for japanese titanium stuff.

disastrous fit? still have them?

because I've seen a lot of asian guys wearing those well.

But Paris miki dont seem to be very japanese brand focused. They divert into many european brands, now you see them taking tagheuer which they didnt in the past. And yes, ic!berlin are really misfits, i still have them but not wearing them, so as good as not having them. Im going to discard them away when i do my spring cleaning. Their nosepads are distanced too far apart & not angled enough to provide the correct frontal angle & splay angle required for our asian noses.

 

[KohChris]

never called her young lol, i'm younger then her I guess so I didn't
no interest in their stuff, always found them overpriced, I usually waited for the invite. but will still look look see see but no buy.

deco's nice but work brings me there so usually no mood for their stuff. but my manager would ask me to "steal" their redbull

but this is part of luxotica's efforts to consolidate liao. like rayban warehouse being move and jobs lost. coupled with the lousy quality with stuff under their company. I'm not sure if i wanna support them by getting radar

read somewhere that luxottica is responsible for the high prices of eyewear.

they control 2 big eyewear retail chains in USA and they want to set prices and control markets according to what they deem fit by either buying over the luxury brands or offering to manufacture eyewear for companies that outsource

and those which doesnt comply are forced out of their eyewear retail chain market

 

[Seannie]

88 still new?.... how old are you? they were established by the time I started work.
my ex colleague , grad, started out in a bank, didn't like the environment and is now a manager in an optical shop. but she started out in Independent shops.
last I heard capitol still don't care.
related degree?

I think optical88 came to sg in the 90s?
My field of study is not related. I studied engineering. Totally different. Anyway, im now in totally different line from engineering as well. So it all comes down to luck. Maybe im just not destined for optical work. Maybe just destined to provide work for optical line by patronising them & being customer instead. HAHAHA. I think i have made more than 50 pairs of specs so far, maybe 60 or 70 or close to 100, not too sure didnt count. But i have tried most brands in the market now, and have settled for japanese frames.

 

[KohChris]

A 2012 60 Minutes segment focused on the company and its dominance of the eyewear industry. Reporter Lesley Stahl visited its factories and Milan headquarters, interviewing Guerra and product manager Isabella Sola. While praising the craftsmanship Luxottica puts into its work, and the way it had turned around Ray-Ban after acquiring it in 1999, Stahl asked whether it was exploiting its extensive holdings in the industry to keep prices high. Luxottica, she noted, owned not only a large portfolio of brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley but retailers like Sunglass Hut and Oliver Peoples, as well as the optical departments at Target and Sears. In addition, through EyeMed, it controlled a portion of the buyers' side of the market as well.[20]

Eyewear prices had, 60 Minutes claimed, increased as much as tenfold in the preceding decade, despite a wider and wider range of products and brands available. "You'd think competition would force the prices down," Stahl said. But, she asked, "Why should a pair of glasses cost more than an iPad? Well one answer is because one company controls a big chunk of the business."[20]

Guerra defended those high prices. "This is one of the very few things that are 100 percent functional, 100 percent aesthetical, and they need to be on your face for 15 hours a day. Not easy, and there's a lot of work behind them." The company did not disclose its markup, but Stahl reported estimates that its sunglasses for designer labels cost as much as 20 times their production cost.[20]

Brett Arends, a columnist with Smartmoney.com, was unconvinced. "I don't think there is [a free market in eyewear]," he told Stahl. "I think one company has excessive dominance in the market ... The reality is, it's like you know, it's like pro-wrestling competition. And it's actually fake competition." He pointed to Oakley, which merged with Luxottica in 2007 after several years of competition during which Luxottica stopped carrying Oakley's products in their retail stores, as an example of how the Italian company could use its market power to stifle competition.[20]

 

[oldbreadstinks]

Hmm, i dont quite get you. You dont like the management behind Capitol Optical or Shinagawa? Becos it seems to be a joint venture. Anyway I will need to get down there one fine day & test out their service, product knowledge & attitude and also their range of products. You know most chain stores employ staff whom either dont know their optical stuff well, or having an attitude problem, or plainly not motivated enough to want to give you a good experience. Thats is why i still prefer sole proprietary shops, but the main problem with these shops is that they do not have the capital which big chain stores have to be able to take in too much varieties or quantities. So a lot depends on the astute vision of the owner in identifying & choosing the best products available.

personal issues of course with the boss lor. lol nothing serious just that after listening to his nonsense for 2 years, I sometimes wonder if he seriously believe his own words, either ideology clash, other times religion plays a part.

but as a strict rule I avoid his ventures, especially restaurants.

I kind of respect the old bosses more. but that seems to be a sensitive topic in capitol these days.

most chain stalls have a chronic lack of staff these days. experienced staff move on to open their own practice if they can. quite often staff are treated poorly. other times even when you treat the staff well they still treat the customers poorly.
look at nanyang optical, walking into any of their outlets these days I don't recgonised 80% of the staff.
capitol's original staff have been there for years but as the seniors are slowly retiring(some of the most experienced are like 60s liao) they have no replacement. younger staff aren't respected and quite a few leave once their studies finish. so to solve the issue they're going to philippines every now and then to recuit grads there. which explains the high concentration of pinoy staff they have compared to others.
and it's really a sad state of affairs as the pinoy staff are actually more motivated then the locals. work harder less complains.

when you cannot stay for long in a place in a job it's hard to think of it as a career. not getting paid well causes low morale which is then vented on the customers.


but lol for you to even know of shinagawa as a joint venture with capitol , did you really go and research all that? most general public don't even know about koolook and capitol's link. and staff would deny if you ask those concept stores they'll actually try to deny the link. you sure you're not obsessed with glasses?
(actually I've only found out a few years ago giant and guardian were linked)


but speaking about capital, big stalls aren't actually making money. quite a few shops are even losing money. but apparently if that millennium walk 's optical shop is still around they do have interesting stuff(tia gong, never been there before, don't even remember the name)
seen @ demsey has nice frames too but tia gong again, might not operate for long so take a look if you can. love their deco

 

[oldbreadstinks]

But Paris miki dont seem to be very japanese brand focused. They divert into many european brands, now you see them taking tagheuer which they didnt in the past. And yes, ic!berlin are really misfits, i still have them but not wearing them, so as good as not having them. Im going to discard them away when i do my spring cleaning. Their nosepads are distanced too far apart & not angled enough to provide the correct frontal angle & splay angle required for our asian noses.

wtf?!??!? why????!??!?!?!?!?!?!!!?!?!?!
if you don't want them can I experiment with them? I think I'm somewhat semi proficient with adjustment.



but when a guy I used to know worked there(move on to his own marketing company) he apparenly introduced tag heuer as somewhat like a house brand of paris miki. that' 5-6 years back?


went taka yesterday, they were still having a lot of conservative jap titanium frames frames? matsuda?
there's lindberg? but you don't like european stuff.

 

[oldbreadstinks]

I think optical88 came to sg in the 90s?
My field of study is not related. I studied engineering. Totally different. Anyway, im now in totally different line from engineering as well. So it all comes down to luck. Maybe im just not destined for optical work. Maybe just destined to provide work for optical line by patronising them & being customer instead. HAHAHA. I think i have made more than 50 pairs of specs so far, maybe 60 or 70 or close to 100, not too sure didnt count. But i have tried most brands in the market now, and have settled for japanese frames.

.............


how come you're not typing in broken english lol.... any engineers I knew were.... totally broken like that pap mp

 

[oldbreadstinks]

I think optical88 came to sg in the 90s?
My field of study is not related. I studied engineering. Totally different. Anyway, im now in totally different line from engineering as well. So it all comes down to luck. Maybe im just not destined for optical work. Maybe just destined to provide work for optical line by patronising them & being customer instead. HAHAHA. I think i have made more than 50 pairs of specs so far, maybe 60 or 70 or close to 100, not too sure didnt count. But i have tried most brands in the market now, and have settled for japanese frames.

.............

how come you're not typing in broken english lol.... any engineers I knew were.... totally broken like that pap mp

 

[fourseasons2000]

Hi Seannie, I m very impressed with your knowledge and If u recalled you hv given me some advise a few weeks ago. I hv finally settled with silhouette golden circles Rimless and photofusion lens. Total cost me rm $4500. The bulk of the costs was on the phone fusion lens by zeiss which is selling At s$1800. Collecting next week...looking forward to It!


QUOTE=Seannie;72476480]I think optical88 came to sg in the 90s?
My field of study is not related. I studied engineering. Totally different. Anyway, im now in totally different line from engineering as well. So it all comes down to luck. Maybe im just not destined for optical work. Maybe just destined to provide work for optical line by patronising them & being customer instead. HAHAHA. I think i have made more than 50 pairs of specs so far, maybe 60 or 70 or close to 100, not too sure didnt count. But i have tried most brands in the market now, and have settled for japanese frames.[/QUOTE]

 

[sgt_hippo]

went to kwong shin at brash basah to check out the prices

Essilora1.6 AirWave Crizal UV - 152

Hoya 1.6 Stelify HVP - 162

whihc is deal or no deal?

 

[bberry]

anyone tried trifocal lens before?

 

[loveandpeace1988]

There seems to be more ppl wearing rayban these days... the classic frame shape still seems to fit majority's face shape......

 

[oldbreadstinks]

went to kwong shin at brash basah to check out the prices

Essilora1.6 AirWave Crizal UV - 152

Hoya 1.6 Stelify HVP - 162

whihc is deal or no deal?

I think you meant airwear

seems slightly below retail price. $180
but really, what do you think about their service, worth this price?
no point to look around if the difference is 10-20 difference

 

[xxllbb]

oldbreadstinks, is there a be.seen store at holland v as well? if so, any idea which store has a better range for frames? if i'm squeezed for time, i might just visit one branch since holland v or dempsey aren't too convenient via mrt.

 

[oldbreadstinks]

oldbreadstinks, is there a be.seen store at holland v as well? if so, any idea which store has a better range for frames? if i'm squeezed for time, i might just visit one branch since holland v or dempsey aren't too convenient via mrt.

haven't went in before sorry.

but Holland v has eyecare people(opened by a local singer.)
Paris miki
Eyechamp
beside the Holland v Mrt is that near be seen?
I'll check with my bro first

edit: apparently its the same boss , 80% same deco. but smaller and 70% stock on mikli ?

 

[xxllbb]

oh ok thanks. i didn't even realise there was a holland village mrt station until you mentioned it lol. there wasn't when when i was living in sg many moons ago!

 

[oldbreadstinks]

oh ok thanks. i didn't even realise there was a holland village mrt station until you mentioned it lol. there wasn't when when i was living in sg many moons ago!

it's ok, neither did I til I had to work there.

 

[oldbreadstinks]

anyone tried trifocal lens before?

rarely in this era

 

[bberry]

rarely in this era

was trying my luck la....even bifocal is not tat common too