This is the question we are asked most often and the one the trade answers least honestly. The truthful answer has two halves, and most articles only print the first one. Here are both.
What you are actually paying for
- How the lens is made — calculated and cut for your prescription, or selected from the nearest moulded blank
- The surface design — how wide the usable area is and how quickly the optics change at the edges
- Material — thinner, lighter materials for stronger prescriptions, which is cosmetic and also about weight on your nose all day
- Coatings — anti-reflection, scratch resistance, and how easily the lens cleans, which is the one people notice daily
- What the design accepts — whether it can use your measured position-of-wear values and your frame shape, or only a standard set
Where the money clearly earns its place
Three cases, in our experience. A first varifocal, where a wider intermediate zone and an individually calculated design change how quickly you adapt. A strong prescription, where material and design decide whether the glasses are comfortable to wear for fourteen hours. And night driving, where a good anti-reflection coating makes a real difference to how oncoming headlights behave — covered properly in the guide to night driving.
Where it often does not
A mild single-vision distance prescription in a reasonable frame is a straightforward optical job, and the gap between a mid-range lens and the most sophisticated one available is small enough that many people would not identify it in a blind comparison. A second pair of sunglasses worn on holiday is not where we would put your money either. And if you are due a prescription change within the year, there is a sensible argument for spending less now.
The comparison that is not a fair one
A lens quoted online and a lens dispensed in practice are not the same product, even when the design name matches. The online version is calculated from the measurements you were able to supply. The dispensed version is calculated from measurements taken on your face in the frame you chose. For a simple prescription that difference may be academic. For a varifocal it is most of the outcome, which is why the same-sounding varifocal can cost very different amounts.
What we do about it
We will tell you when the upgrade is not worth it for your prescription and your day. That is a commercially stupid sentence to publish and it is the reason people come back. Nikon Lenswear is our principal lens supplier and Hoya our secondary; where another manufacturer has the better design for your prescription and your frame, we use theirs and tell you why. There is a fuller technical comparison on are expensive lenses worth it.
The right question is not “what is the most advanced lens?” It is “what does my prescription and my day actually need, and where does more money stop changing the answer?”← Back to the Journal
