Gem's

Not of the precious kind but valuable all the same.

I'm constantly surprised at how often, living in such a vast cityscape as London it probably shouldn't be such, I stumble upon something literally amongst my immediate surroundings which until that moment had gone completely unnoticed.

I've not got the best eyesight and I'd much rather wear glasses over contact lenses, just don't fancy sticking that filmy lens in my eye.

The opticians is trivial at the best of times, especially the national franchises that line high street's and shopping destinations. I also find that the majority of modern frames stocked offer about as much variation as a Drum & Bass DJ line-up. The multitude of narrow oblong lens frames is mind numbing and what's even harder to swallow is the price they want to charge you for the pleasure of making everyone look the same, so unless you go for designer frames which typically end up setting you back the same as a very good pair of shoes (I know were I'd rather spend the money), you're buggered.

So when I sat on the glasses, I'd had since the age of 16, whilst on a night in the pub I was dreading the impact on my wallet and my credibilty.

Whilst I was out for a run the following day something caught my eye and there it was, the answer to my problem.

Charles Frydman my optician now for over a year has been in the same shop for years, probably more years than I have amassed in my life, and those years of experience are a breath of fresh air in a stagnent market.

He has a great range of retro frames thick plastic and more delicate metal frames too and at a snip of the price of anything else I've come across.

He also works with a frame makers Anglo American Optical and can order specific frames if there's nothing for you in store.

I often get comments about my fames, which are as sturdy today as they were a year ago when I first got them. A great service and always good to help the independent businesses as a consumer.

Here's hoping Charles is in that shop for a long time to come.