bridge size

[Eric]

Am excited to begin my journey into less expensive eyeglasses, but my
concern:

How negotiable is bridge size? My current glasses list it at 17mm and
have pads, but I see several plastic pairs I like on 39 dollar glasses
that have a bridge of 19mm (actually most of 39 DGs, including the
metal, are listed at least above 17). Would this mean they'd be
sliding down my face all the time?

A quick scan of more expensive brands (Armani, etc.) show a lot of
their plastic eyeglasses having at bridge widths of 16mm. Wonder what
the difference is?

If I can make this work it could truly be a boon for a broke grad
student!

Any help is appreciated,
Eric

[Chuck]

Go to your local WalMart or optical boutique, and try on some frames.
The bridge determines how far apart the lenses are...and how well the
frames fit your nose.

I use a 17mm bridge...but my glasses are wire rimmed. Looks good on
me. So does the other pair, with a 20mm bridge. But, on wire rims,
the bridge and the nose pads are completely separate...not true on
plastic frames.

A suggestion...if you get them, and the bridge is too wide, you could
always fill in the gap. I saw someone mention getting silicone "stick
on" pads at a local WalMart. Presumably they'd be available at your
WM, too.

-- Chuck Knight

[GG]

Eric: Most of my glasses have a 20 mms. bridge. My first on line
experience was with goggles4u (posted here). At that time I asked
myself: What is a couple of mms.? Sure 18 mms is the same as 20...
Well, it is not. 20 mms. is far more comfortable for me than 18 mms. I
have recently bought rimless glasses from optical4less. They are 19
mms. bridge They are OK. They are very good glasses. But I still think
20 mms would have suited me better. This year I bought another pair
from G4U. They are 20 mms but rimless. They are very good glasses
also. But they have screws to fit the lenses to the frames and this
screws take up some space in the bridge and sometimes they touch my
forehead which is not serious but not so comfortable either. Maybe it
is just that I wear my glasses very high up my nose. The glasses I got
from optical4less are also rimless but fitted without screws. This
system is much better for rimless frames.
GG