Glasses used to mean two options: a clinical high street optician, or a luxury boutique that charged you £400 for a pair of frames you’d be too scared to sit on. Neither felt right. Then a wave of direct-to-consumer eyewear brands showed up and changed the maths, offering proper design, decent materials, and prices that don’t make you wince.
Whether you want something handcrafted in London, a fast and affordable fix, or a pair that funds someone else’s eyecare while you’re at it, these are the best glasses brands to shop right now.
1. Cubitts
Cubitts is the brand most Londoners think of first. Founded in King’s Cross in 2013 by Tom Broughton, it’s named after the Cubitt brothers, the Victorian engineers who shaped much of the capital’s built environment. Every frame goes through around 50 traditional crafting stages, and the brand designs and makes its own acetate frames in-house rather than outsourcing the lot.
Cubitts now runs over 20 stores across the UK, including spots in Soho, Spitalfields, and Notting Hill, plus a couple in New York. Each one offers eye tests, bespoke fittings, and a genuinely good range of sizes. If you want a frame that feels distinctly British and built to last, start here.
2. Ace & Tate
Ace & Tate launched in Amsterdam in 2013 with one goal: drag eyewear out of the clinical-optician era and into something you’d actually want to browse. It worked. The brand now runs over 80 stores across nine countries, including a strong London presence, and every frame comes at one all-inclusive price rather than a confusing menu of lens add-ons.
Expect bold, fashion-forward shapes alongside the classics, plus virtual try-on tools if you’d rather shop from your sofa. Ace & Tate doesn’t call itself a fully sustainable brand, but it’s pushing on responsible sourcing and longer-lasting design with each new collection.
3. Jimmy Fairly
Jimmy Fairly launched in Paris in 2010 with a simple pitch: trendy, well-made eyewear at a fair price, no middlemen involved. It’s since become a genuine fashion favourite, with oversized, glamorous frames that have shown up on Gigi Hadid and Dua Lipa, plus a recent capsule collaboration with jewellery label Missoma.
There’s substance behind the style, too. For every pair sold, Jimmy Fairly funds a pair of reading glasses for someone without access to vision care, through its long-running partnership with RestoringVision. The brand has UK stores alongside its home turf in France, Italy, and Spain.
4. Pop Specs
Pop Specs solves a real problem: nobody wants to wait a week for a new pair of glasses. Founded by Dan Barnes and Lina Tejoprayitno after a Dragons’ Den pitch landed them £75,000 in investment, the brand makes prescription glasses in around 20 minutes flat, using in-store lens-cutting tech that scans, edges, and fits lenses on the spot.
Single-vision glasses start at roughly £50-£75, frame included, with anti-glare coating as standard. Pop Specs has grown fast, too — from a single kiosk to over 30 UK stores in just a few years. It’s not the place for handcrafted acetate, but it’s hard to beat for speed and value.
5. Optical Gallery
Optical Gallery is a proper independent: an award-winning optician and audiology practice based in South West London, rather than a national chain. It offers full private and NHS eye examinations, contact lens fittings, and hearing care, alongside a genuinely niche eyewear selection aimed at people who want something other than the usual high street suspects.
If you’d rather support an independent than a fast-growing DTC brand, and you want the reassurance of a proper local optician relationship, this is the pick.
6. Bloobloom
Bloobloom launched in London in 2018 with a “Pair for a Pair” promise: buy a pair of glasses, and the brand donates a pair to someone without access to eyecare, mostly through partner organisations in Rwanda. Founders Abbas and Fares Manai also built the brand around radical pricing transparency, publishing the actual cost of materials, labour, and transport behind every frame.
Glasses start at around £99, including lenses, and the brand is Climate Neutral Certified with a genuinely fast-growing store network across London. Add a free home try-on service, and Bloobloom makes a strong case for doing good without paying a premium for it.
Ace & Tate vs Cubitts: Which Should You Choose?
These two come up against each other constantly, so it’s worth a direct comparison. Cubitts designs and makes its own acetate frames in-house in London, using around 50 traditional crafting stages per pair. That hands-on process shows up in the price: expect to pay more, generally upwards of £175 for frames alone, before lenses. In return, you get a distinctly British, slightly heritage feel, genuinely excellent bespoke fitting, and a frame built to be repaired and worn for years rather than replaced.
Ace & Tate takes a different approach. It designs its frames in Amsterdam but works with external factories to manufacture them, which keeps costs down. Every pair comes at one all-inclusive price from around £145, lenses included, so there’s no surprise add-on menu at checkout. The aesthetic also leans bolder and more fashion-led, with frequent colourful drops, whereas Cubitts sticks closer to classic shapes.
In short: pick Cubitts if you want heritage craft, a slower-made product, and don’t mind paying for it. Pick Ace & Tate if you want strong design at a clearer, slightly lower price point, and a faster-growing store network to pop into.
Final Word on the Best Glasses Brands
There’s no single “best” pick here — it depends on what you actually want. Cubitts and Jimmy Fairly lead on design and craft. Ace & Tate and Bloobloom balance style with a clear conscience. Pop Specs wins on speed, and Optical Gallery wins if you’d rather shop local. Pick the priority that matters most to you, and go from there.
FAQs: Best Glasses Brands
What is the cheapest glasses brand on this list?
Pop Specs is the most affordable, with single-vision glasses starting at roughly £50-£75, frame and standard lens included. Ace & Tate and Bloobloom both sit in the next bracket up, with all-inclusive pricing from around £99-£145.
Which glasses brand is the most sustainable or ethical?
Bloobloom is the strongest pick here: it’s Climate Neutral Certified and donates a pair of glasses to someone in need for every pair sold. Jimmy Fairly runs a similar donation model through its RestoringVision partnership. Cubitts and Ace & Tate both focus more on longevity and repairability than formal certifications.
Can I get an NHS eye test with these brands?
Most of these are private retailers rather than NHS providers, so check before you book. Optical Gallery, as a traditional independent optician, is the most likely to offer NHS eye examinations alongside private ones — confirm directly with your local branch.
Do these brands sell sunglasses as well as prescription glasses?
Yes, all six do. Cubitts and Jimmy Fairly both have particularly strong sunglasses ranges, including recent collaborations and capsule drops, while Ace & Tate, Bloobloom, and Pop Specs all offer sunglasses alongside their core optical ranges.
How fast can I get glasses from these brands?
Pop Specs is the quickest by far, producing prescription glasses in around 20 minutes in-store. Most of the others take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on your prescription and whether you’re buying online or in-store.
Is Cubitts or Ace & Tate better value for money?
It depends what you’re optimising for. Ace & Tate is better value if you want one clear, all-inclusive price and a wider design range. Cubitts costs more, but you’re paying for in-house British craftsmanship and a frame designed to be repaired rather than replaced — arguably better value over several years of wear.
