Are Designer Sunglasses Worth It?
Every single time I buy a name-brand pair, they cost me about $200; if they are polarized, they can be a little bit more expensive. But every time when I buy them, I feel a bit ripped off because when you take these pairs off, it’s really light. There’s no gold on here or anything, it’s all plastic with a little bit of metal. It’s so confusing that how can this be $200?
Today, we are going to look into these designer sunglasses and find out exactly what your money is paying for.
What Are Designer Sunglasses?
You can think of designer sunglasses as sunglasses that have a brand name and a design. There are many named-brand sunglasses, and they are actually made by the same company called Luxottica today.
"We manufacture about 70% of those brands in our factories in Italy and the balance in America and China," says Luxottica spokesman Luca Biondolillo.
The designer labels have a specification of what they kind of want-- sunglasses to look like and then actually Luxottica designs it for them and they approve it. It’s not like the designer labels actually design it and then license it to Luxottica. That means when you’re buying one pair of it or another, it could have been from the same CAD designer that just designed it a little differently for each brand.
Why Do Designer Sunglasses Cost More?
There are many factors that contribute to the high price of designer sunglasses.
Cost is not the main cause of their high prices. According to the report, the cost of Luxottica's designer brand sunglasses is kept at 32% of the price. This means that although these expensive sunglasses have good quality, the cost spent is not actually the reason for the high pricing.
So what is the reason for the high price of designer sunglasses? Will the warranty long make up for the high cost? Randolph Engineering makes phenomenal aviator sunglasses and offers a lifetime warranty on their frames. That sounds reasonable, right? After all, any damage to your sunglasses can be repaired while you're using them. But the truth is, many designer brands offer warranties that last only 1-3 years. This means that, at worst, you'll be paying for your broken shades every 1-3 years for $200 or more.
Of course, there is no denying that designer sunglasses have many advantages. The materials they use to produce them will inevitably be more advanced than the sunglasses sold on the street for $20 or $30. You aren't just buying the name, the hinges and plastic parts are better quality. Designer shades are also meticulous in their customization. Their sunglasses include regular prescription corrective lenses. And if you like really lightweight titanium alloy (found by the space program) these brands also have this same material. It is lightweight and has metal memory and they are hard to destroy as the memory will snap back unless you do something like stand on them or sit on them.
Fundamentally, designer sunglasses are priced high, mainly because of the brand value. And most consumers are happy to pay for them.
What to look for when buying sunglasses
There are three things to look for in sunglasses.
Function
Firstly they must have UV400 protection. Sunglasses need to be equipped with basic features to be called a good pair of sunglasses. You wouldn't want to be wearing sunglasses and still have a hard time looking straight ahead. That's just ridiculous. You really need that full protection otherwise you’re going to allow your pupils to dilate and let more sunlight into the eye which will actually advance your development of both cataracts as well as other potentially retinal diseases. There are even times when if you’ve ever gone to the pool or if you’ve gone to the lake and you’re getting a lot of sunlight exposure that sunlight can actually cause sunburn on your eye.
Of course, for those who have more needs, it is also necessary to pay attention to the coatings of the sunglasses. When buying sunglasses, you can pay attention to whether they can add different functions such as anti-wear coating, polarized coating, etc.
Design & Quality
Many sunglasses lovers are buying for the design in the first place. People who like trendy accessories are more suitable to go offline shopping and choose the right style to buy after wearing it in the store.
And pay attention to the style at the same time, do not ignore the quality issues. Now quality can mean a lot of different things to different people. With sunglasses, of course, you can go to the store and buy a five-dollar cheap pair, but you can tell they’re just not made as well as other expensive ones. The plastic is made very flimsy, the actual hinges are about to break off, and the lenses themselves even though they are 100% UV light protection, are just not as good lenses. They are already got little dings and scratches on them and they’re only a couple hours old. They cannot give you a good clear image through the lenses. So a higher quality, more expensive pair will actually be a lot more pleasing in terms of the image quality that you get with less distortion.
Warranty
As mentioned earlier, the warranty is a part that is worth paying attention to when buying sunglasses. When you buy sunglasses that have a free warranty, you are extending the life of your sunglasses. You don't need to pay for its repair yourself, and you don't have to worry about your sunglasses breaking or crushing all the time.
Suggestions to Get A Pair of Designer Sunglasses
Different people choose to buy sunglasses for different reasons. If it is for driving, it is recommended to choose sunglasses with a polarized coating. But in designer brands, this means that you need to pay a higher fee for an addition. If it is for sports, you need to choose sunglasses with UV protection, which will help you better protect yourself from the sun and be more comfortable playing sports. Most designer sunglasses have 400 UV protection, so you don't need to worry too much. To buy designer sunglasses for fashion statement should be the majority, if you are in the official website to order, I suggest you pay attention to their return policy. This will ensure that you can deal with them in a timely manner when you feel they don't fit after wearing them.
For prescription glasses, I would not recommend designer glasses. Your prescription may not always stay the same, and the cost of replacing designer glasses regularly is too high. Choose some online websites, they can also offer beautiful eyeglass styles and fit them to your prescription. It's much cheaper than if you don't like the pair you can just order a new one.
Hope this article is helpful for you.
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