BERLIN FINDS: HAY & IC! Berlin

One of my TO-DOs in our Berlin trip was to visit IC! Berlin to have my aviator’s lenses changed so that a grade can be added. So we were so lucky that our friend Alex drove us because it’s quite stressful driving in East Berlin. I remember when we lived in Berlin, we would always take public transport when going to “hip” East Berlin, because roads are so narrow, road markings are faint/confusing & there are so many entitled bike riders.

It’s nice to see the Berliner Fernsehturm… but the view is usually obstructed with the intersecting lines of the tram. Oh yes that’s another thing we didn’t have in West Berlin, the trams! Though great for getting around, it can make lanes really confusing when driving.

Something also we don’t see so much in the west are the SQUAT HOUSES that look like this. I think it was a former squat house, but I’m not sure if it still is.

When we arrived in IC! Berlin the optician was busy with an appointment so we had to go back in 30mins. I took the time to pop over to HAY Design which was nearby. Isn’t the building facade just beautiful?

IC! BERLIN

I discovered this Berlin brand when I was living in the Philippines and when I was told by my ophthalmologist in Switzerland that I now had a correction, I really wanted to continue using my IC! Berlin glasses.

I emailed IC! BERLIN to see if I could order it online and initially I got a quick reply from a lady whose name starts with a P. She was quite pleasant but I remove a star because she said she would call me to finalize the transaction and despite repetitive follow up emails on my end, we never finalized the transaction. Thankfully we had this upcoming trip to Berlin so I could go to the store.

I emailed her and we set an appointment for the next day. I gave her a time and she said she would be there and that the optician would be there too. Sadly despite having a very specific appointment with date and time set the day before, when I arrived the store was closed because the optician was busy with an appointment and P was nowhere to be found. I called and I could see the optician answer the phone to tell me to come back in 30mins.

When we came back after 30mins there were about 2-3 groups of customers ahead of me. We had to wait a long time because the poor optician was overwhelmed and alone. I felt bad for the poor guy, but it was also stressful for us because we had friends waiting for us and a young child who of course was not ideal to have in a shop full of fragile & expensive glasses. Of course DiploBaby was antsy after more than 30mins in a store with nothing to do and of course the poor staff was short tempered. I could also understand him. He was just trying to attend to all the customers and be as thorough with his job as possible.

I was able to surrender my glasses, get measured in a very fancy modern machine and pay for my replacement lenses. The 2 corrective lenses were more expensive than the aviators themselves when I bought them, but for me it’s worth it because – having a HUGE head – IC!Berlin are THE MOST COMFORTABLE glasses I’ve found. They do not place any pressure on my head whatsoever. I really highly recommend their screwless glasses that don’t break easily. They dismantle instead of breaking. That is really excellent technology.

I gave this place 4 out of 5 stars on Google. I wish I would give 5 stars but I had to remove 1 star because I couldn’t finalize the order online, the store being closed and then the long waiting time despite having an appointment. I truly hope that this can be improved for future customers, so that it’s easy to finalize orders despite being in another country and that the person should be there if they confirm for an appointment, especially for out of towners with limited time in Berlin.

They emailed me that the glasses were ready quite quickly and I’m now just waiting to receive it via Fedex. I’m super excited to receive my beloved IC! Berlin rose gold aviators!

UPDATE: I received the my aviators, but sadly they are no longer the rose gold mirrored aviators that I was expecting to received back. The new lenses with correction are a dull brown color. IRL it’s such a big difference in look & feel from the original. So sad!

My IC!Berlin Rose Gold Aviators used to spark so much joy coz it really stood out. Now they are just ordinary aviators.

Even in the instructions it says color according to sample silver shade. It’s super far from that.

I was reassured through email & during my visit to the store that they could match the original lenses so I’m surprised that I was not informed that the original mirrored color could not done. I was just sent brown lenses back. I am currently coordinating with IC! BERLIN sales to see how this can be fixed. Will update you guys & my google review, because you guys know that I want to always give my honest review & experience!