Monocles.

Gin&Tonics · Jul 24, 2012

My personal feeling about monocles is this; the only truly stylish way to wear one is when it actually corrects your vision. The original purpose of monocles was actually to correct vision, as many people have poor vision in one eye but fairly good vision in the other. I say if you have such a condition, by all means wear one, but to wear one with no need of it strikes me as excessive affectation. Of course YMMV on this, so I wouldn't go around judging people for wearing them, it's just my personal feeling about it. If I ever have reduction of visual clarity in one eye and not the other, I would TOTALLY rock a monocle.

Shangas · Jul 24, 2012

I have crappy vision in both eyes, maybe I should throw out my glasses and buy a pair of monocles! Hahaha.

I actually bought a simple, gold-tone monocle at a shop in London a while back. I should start carrying it around with me again. It's more like a small magnifying glass on a chain instead of a grip-in-your-eye-socket monocle, but I love it anyway.

MikeBravo · Jul 24, 2012

Shangas said:
I have crappy vision in both eyes, maybe I should throw out my glasses and buy a pair of monocles! Hahaha.

I actually bought a simple, gold-tone monocle at a shop in London a while back. I should start carrying it around with me again. It's more like a small magnifying glass on a chain instead of a grip-in-your-eye-socket monocle, but I love it anyway.

Sounds like the one I bought on ebay. I will use it for close up work, or at the FP club or pen show

Shangas · Jul 24, 2012

This is what I have:

That cheap, gold-tone chain snapped off it within a week of my buying it, and the screw popped out. I fixed the deficiencies in the cheapness with some thread and an old pocketwatch chain.

MikeBravo · Jul 24, 2012

Shangas said:
This is what I have:

That cheap, gold-tone chain snapped off it within a week of my buying it, and the screw popped out. I fixed the deficiencies in the cheapness with some thread and an old pocketwatch chain.

Mine is the same. I will be careful of the chain

Shangas · Jul 24, 2012

The chain is really useless. I swear. It's really, really weak. Anything more than the SLIGHTEST bit of stress causes it to snap.

This is what my monocle looks like at the moment:

The screw popped out. I replaced it with a healthy dose of gold-colored thread. And the chain was toast, a long time ago. Since replaced it with an Albert-style watch-chain. 10 inches of solid, shiny brass. No way that's breaking off anytime soon!

It's a handy arrangement. I can wear it on my coat-lapel, and keep it in my breast-pocket and whip it out whenever I need to peek at something, or show utter disdain at something else...

Gin&Tonics · Jul 25, 2012

Shangas said:
I have crappy vision in both eyes, maybe I should throw out my glasses and buy a pair of monocles! Hahaha.

I actually bought a simple, gold-tone monocle at a shop in London a while back. I should start carrying it around with me again. It's more like a small magnifying glass on a chain instead of a grip-in-your-eye-socket monocle, but I love it anyway.

Shangas, you should TOTALLY get a pair of pince-nez. That would be so awesome.

laotou · Jul 25, 2012

I had Lasik surgery like Nick D said, monovision, near sight in one eye far in the other.
Its done that way because if they were both corrected for far sight I would need reading glasses.
I had always wanted a monocle and now I had a reason to get one!
It corrects the vision in my near sighted eye and sharpens my far sight
I got mine from Nearsights and had my Rx installed.
It is very comfortable and loads of fun.

http://www.nearsights.com/classic-gold-monocle.html
http://eyeglass.com/monocle.html

Shangas · Jul 25, 2012

Gin&Tonics said:
Shangas, you should TOTALLY get a pair of pince-nez. That would be so awesome.

I'd love a pair of gold pince nez, but then I'd be scared of being stabbed in the neck with a letter-opener, to be found bleeding to death by the housemaid in the master's study...

MikeBravo · Jul 25, 2012

Shangas said:
I'd love a pair of gold pince nez, but then I'd be scared of being stabbed in the neck with a letter-opener, to be found bleeding to death by the housemaid in the master's study...

Yes, but you would be a stylish corpse

Shangas · Jul 25, 2012

MikeBravo said:
Yes, but you would be a stylish corpse

Oooh you're too kind!

I started carrying around my monocle again. I'd forgotten just how handy this thing was! I went out for dinner tonight with my cousin. We went to this lovely Italian restaurant. The food was delicious, but the lighting was HORRIBLE!

It was that "romantic" candlelight where you can't see bugger-all. As a result, I was almost blind in the dark! Fortunately, I had my monocle with me, and that allowed me to actually READ the menu without squinting my eyes into slits!

I gotta make carrying this thing around with me a regular thing again...

Edward · Jul 25, 2012

Has anyone ever had a regular corrective-lens (as opposed to a basic magnifying lens) put in their monocle? Ive been consdiering have one run up like that, and wearing it with a contact lens in the other eye...

bburtner@moran · Jul 25, 2012

A monocle,seems a little silly..

Shangas · Jul 25, 2012

For that, you'd need to visit an actual optometrist, surely?

I have a 5x magnifying lens in my monocle, which is plenty sufficient for stuff like reading maps, menus, booklets, brochures...anything that requires a quick, confirming squiz.

Nick D · Jul 25, 2012

Edward said:
Has anyone ever had a regular corrective-lens (as opposed to a basic magnifying lens) put in their monocle? Ive been consdiering have one run up like that, and wearing it with a contact lens in the other eye...

Yes, mine is. They sit closer to the eye than most glasses, make sure they take that into account. My optician does monocles for people a couple times every year.

SHOWSOMECLASS · Jul 25, 2012

Colonel Klink called: he thinks American prisoners are stupid, Sgt. Schultz is committed to being a guard, and monicles are cool. Ha Ha Ha!

Edward · Jul 25, 2012

Oh, yes, I wouldn't think of trying to do it myself, just wondering if it was possible. It's mainly for themed events where I often like to wear a single contact to white out one of my eyes, but would like to have the option of going without glasses (yet to find an easy source of coloured / effects contacts that are also prescription).

TomS · Jul 27, 2012

Not for me. I understand they are tough to get used to...

Shangas · Jul 27, 2012

After disassembling an old pair of glasses which I no-longer wear (and am never likely to, ever again), I found a screw of a suitable size to replace the one which was missing from my glass. After a bit of testing, squeezing and screwing...

Compare that with having to lash the frame together with sewing-thread...

...and it's a big improvement!

...It's also given me an unnerving insight into how difficult it must be to be a watchmaker...

Edward · Jul 27, 2012

Nice! I like the look of a chain on a monocle, though I gather the reason they were often cord or leather was to lessen the risk of chipping the lens.

Monocles.

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