The World’s Best Shop(s) To Buy Your Glasses

Jake writes:

Your suggestions for shops were AMAZING. I’ve bought glasses in a dozen countries over the years, and everywhere from cheap Websites to nice optic shops. Nothing compared even remotely to Lutz Paul. Thanks for the tips! (also would be a great blog topic)

We talk quite a bit about shopping for glasses here in the blog (if you are looking for some more of them, look at the Prescriptions and Glasses category).

I do get quite a few inquiries from readers, about shopping for glasses. In this case, Jake was wondering where to buy glasses in Western Europe, since he is on an extended trip including several countries. And as Jake wants more style options than are generally available in the U.S. where he lives, I sent him my top favorite recommendations for buying glasses.

The Best Places In The World For Glasses Shopping

Here is why you might like my opinion on this subject: I have helped clients with their glasses in over two dozen countries over the past 40 years. I been around for longer than I like to admit, and I’ve seen just about ever trend, style evolution, lens development, and thousands of optic shops all over Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

The Best Country:

The best country to shop for glasses is Germany. This is something not many people would argue against, once they have seen optic shops in the country. There is a sense of artistic pride especially at independent shops that is unmatched anywhere else. You could find amazing glasses in Dubai or Paris, but you’ll have to visit the high end, expensive locations. If you want to be tempted by lens selection at just about any optic shop, Germany is the place.

You might even start to recognize German travelers at airports, just by their glasses. There truly is something unique about the country’s attachment to style in this department.

The Best City:

Once in Germany, you will be narrowing down your search to the best city. And while undoubtedly the whole country is a treasure chest of style for frames, once city beats them all.

The reason for this? Custom glasses makers.

Just like you will have a suit custom made if you want truly perfect fit, or even boots and other fashion / body specific items, having your glasses custom made is the ultimate in craftsmanship and personalization. Having an artist, an expert who can take the shape of your face and apply just the right accentuation and style to suit you perfectly, is a priceless treat.

And while this is certainly a luxury, the prices are not nearly as extravagant as one might assume. You also get a frame that you are likely to enjoy for a long time to come – unless of course, you eliminate your myopia sometime in the foreseeable future!

The best city to find custom frame makers: Berlin.

The Best Custom Frames Maker:

Hands down the best custom frames designer in my book, is Lutz Paul.

And while he has customers from all over the world, the shop has remained approachable, and the prices vaguely within reason. This isn’t an advertisement either – it is simply that if you want a completely custom frame, from scratch, with a huge selection of colors and materials, Lutz Paul is the man to pay a visit.

As of this writing, any of his custom frames cost 250 Euros if you pick something already made, or 100 Euro more for a totally custom one-off design for you. This includes all the consultations, measurement, fitting, the (quite high in Germany) sales tax. Expensive, certainly. But far from outlandish, considering what you get.

You start off with the shapes available in the shop, which cover a wide range of types.

From there, you discuss adjusting details, including the sizing of every part of the frame to suit your style and face. They use CNC machines and computer software to then build the custom lens exact to the millimeter of your one-off design.

Adding to the challenge of choosing, the wide range of colors to make your glasses from. The shop has dozens of ‘blanks’ of the various colors that your glasses can be cut from, ranging from subtle to very colorful. Besides natural acetate material they also custom make metal frames.

If you ever end up near Berlin, it’s well worth a visit.

But then, I did say that this was not an advertisement. I didn’t include the entirety of Jake’s e-mail. Ultimately, while he enjoyed Lutz Paul, he did not end up buying his glasses there. Instead, he found another place which he raves about, and one I am personally quite fond of as well. When I buy sunglasses or frames for plus lens use, it is that shop I most likely visit. They happen to have a number of locations as well, so you are not limited to Berlin for the experience.

What’s this other favorite, besides the full on custom treatment? It is quite a bit more economical, the service is unparalleled, as is the selection. If you are shopping for glasses, this is the nirvana, the place you most likely will want to come back to.

The Best Off-The-Rack Optic Shop:

This, my favorite shop for non-custom work, is called Fielmann. It is the largest optic shop chain in Germany. And while generally I prefer to shop local over shopping at chains, the experience anywhere else is just simply inferior to what Fielmann has managed to create.

Their inventory includes well over 2,000 frames, in every location. The staff is also very well trained and most of them do a truly exceptional job in finding the perfect frames for you.

I do realize that this sounds like sales copy. But if you have ever shopped for glasses and felt a bit underwhelmed by the selection, you might know what I mean. In most shops, you find something that you like, often because of lack of alternatives. And so many times the staff has no clue how to match face types to frame styles. Fielmann staff and selection though usually ends up with you surrounded by options, all of which are excellent. I have been to their stores with clients, and watched how once a style was found, a dozen small variations to that frame came as options. It is a great experience when you can find something you like, and then fine tune with colors and small variations in frame shapes.

The efficiency and speed of the staff is also very impressive. For example: Fielmann allows you to bring your own lenses (which I strongly recommend, if you have some basic knowledge on the subject – more on that in other articles here, and you can also e-mail me if you have questions). Combined with the very aggressive pricing (they offer a full refund if you find the glasses cheaper anywhere else after your purchase), bringing your own lens can make the net cost of your glasses a whole lot cheaper.

Ebay shops selling quality lenses, especially from niche manufacturers (like Jai Kudo), allow you to buy a lens that would cost 200-300 Euro in the shop, for 50-70% less. Fielmann cuts the lenses for your frames for free, and they have a very positive attitude about it.

Especially when you are working to improve your eyesight and might change lenses often, this is an excellent resource to keep your eyesight improvement budget friendly.

Of course, this is just relevant if you happen to visit Germany. There are other great options as well, which we might discuss in future articles. As always, if you have questions, just send me a quick e-mail. So often your questions serve as inspiration for articles here in the blog.

Enjoy!