One Pair of Glasses to Do Everything? It’s Almost Always a Compromise.

One of the biggest misconceptions in optics is that one pair of glasses should do absolutely everything.

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It sounds perfectly reasonable.

After all, if you’ve invested in a really good pair of varifocals, surely they should cope with all of that?

Well… in many cases they do.

In fact, the varifocal designs we fit are fantastic. For everyday life, they’re often the best solution available, allowing you to move naturally between different distances without constantly changing glasses.

For most people, they’re exactly what we’d recommend.

But here’s something we think is worth knowing: sometimes there’s an even better tool for a particular job.

The Right Tool Makes All the Difference

Imagine making a sandwich.

Could you spread butter with a chef’s knife?

Of course you could.

Would it work?

Yes.

But if someone handed you a butter knife instead, you’d wonder why you hadn’t been using one all along.

That’s exactly how we think about glasses.

Your everyday varifocals are incredibly versatile.

They’re designed to help you through the countless different situations life throws at you every day.

But when you’re doing one particular task for an extended period of time, sometimes a more specialised tool makes life noticeably easier.

Have You Ever Noticed This?

You sit down at your laptop.

Or spend an afternoon working from home.

Perhaps you’re reading a book.

• Editing photographs.
• Doing the crossword.
• Painting.
• Sewing.
• Building models.
• Writing.
• Playing the piano.

Whatever it is, an hour disappears without you moving very much.

These are all activities where your eyes are working mainly at nearer and intermediate distances.

It doesn’t necessarily mean there’s anything wrong with your glasses.

It may simply mean you’re asking one pair to do a job that another type of lens could do even better.

The Game Changer Many People Have Never Heard About

This is where office lenses come in.

Personally, I think the name does them a disservice.

They’re not just for offices.

They’re for anyone who spends time indoors working, creating, reading or enjoying hobbies.

Imagine sitting comfortably at your desk and being able to see:

• Your laptop screen.
• The paperwork beside it.
• Your keyboard.
• Your coffee.
• The clock on the wall.
• The person sitting opposite you.

All without consciously thinking about where you’re looking through your lenses.

That’s what these lenses are designed to do.

We Want You to Forget You’re Wearing Glasses

This is the part that matters most.

We don’t recommend office lenses because we want to sell another pair of glasses.

We recommend them because we want you to become completely absorbed in whatever you’re doing.

• Finishing an important report.
• Writing your next novel.
• Learning the guitar.
• Editing photographs.
• Knitting.
• Researching your family tree.
• Simply enjoying a really good book.

Our aim is for your vision to become the last thing on your mind.

When your glasses are doing exactly what they should, you stop thinking about them altogether.

You simply get lost in what you’re doing.

Does Everyone Need Office Lenses?

No. Absolutely not.

Many people are perfectly happy with one pair of glasses.

Others discover that having a dedicated pair for prolonged close work completely transforms their comfort.

The important thing is knowing the option exists.

So many people simply assume feeling a little uncomfortable is normal.

It often isn’t. Sometimes there really is a better solution.

Why We Do What We Do

One of my favourite things to hear isn’t:

“These are the best glasses I’ve ever bought.”

It’s this:

That might be because someone has discovered office lenses.

It might be because they’ve found frames that genuinely suit them for the first time.

It might be because they’ve realised they don’t have to put up with glasses that slide down their nose or leave them feeling uncomfortable.

Those moments never get old.

Not because we’ve sold another pair of glasses. It’s because we’ve solved a problem they didn’t even realise had a solution.

That’s what gets us out of bed every morning.

It Starts with Understanding You

At Bottomleys, we don’t believe our job is simply to sell glasses.

We believe our job is to understand how you live, how you work and what you enjoy doing.

Then, if there’s a way to make your everyday life a little easier, a little more comfortable or a little more enjoyable, we’ll tell you.

If you spend a lot of time working at a laptop, reading, creating or enjoying hobbies at nearer distances, it’s worth asking your optician whether office lenses could benefit you.

You may discover that what you’ve been putting up with for years isn’t something you have to put up with at all.

And that’s why we love what we do.