One of the advantages of living in the Albertov Rental Apartments complex is its proximity to various stores and services. One of these worth highlighting is the optician Blahoslav Žilka. The interior design, selection of high-quality frames and lenses, and friendly and professional staff in his store make it a place that customers often return to. 

Since the 1990s, when Blahoslav Žilka opened his first optician’s store in Jihlava, he has aimed to offer high quality services and products. During the era of socialism, people were accustomed to optician’s stores that looked like retail shops where they had to queue behind the counter. However, Mr Žilka replaced the counter with a table and chairs, where his clients could relax and discuss their needs with an expert optician. In his selection of frames and lenses, he focuses on quality and designer production from around the world. Later, Mr Žilka opened his first Prague store at Vinohrady, and in 2009, another one at Albertov. 

Currently, his store offers a selection of frames from five renowned brands: the Danish company Ørgreen, the German company Mykita, the French classics Lafont, the American l.a.Eyeworks and the Swiss brand Götti. All the frames are manufactured manually, with their production often taking several weeks. The custom-made spectacle lenses are supplied exclusively by Zeiss. Zeiss also supplies the measuring equipment. A unique device to highlight is iProfiler, which can be seen only in a few optician stores in the Czech Republic; it is used to measure a total of ten different parameters – after all, your vision with glasses has to be absolutely flawless.

As far as frames are concerned, Mr. Žilka says there is no universal design. We all wear different clothes to work, to the theatre or for sports, so ideally a person should have several frames. Indeed, Mr. Žilka recommends four pair of glasses: one for work, another one for elegant moments, a third one for leisure time and a fourth one for sports. 

Like in fashion, the design of spectacle frames has its trends. Five years ago, retro-inspired glasses, inspired by the past century, started to appear. Lafont even presented a re-edition series, harking back to its origins in the 1920s, while l.a.Eyeworks is inspired by bright colours and the shapes of the glasses from the 1950s. Today, spectacle shapes, forms and designs are unprecedentedly varied. You can wear anything: small or large frames, current or retro models, extravagant or classic designs. Recently, wooden frames have been a hit, although most glasses are still made from quality hard plastics, horn, or titanium. 

“People should take care of their eyes as well as their teeth,” recommends Mr. Žilka. Therefore, according to this wise advice, we should see both the dentist and the optician regularly. After all, about 90% of all sensations come through our vision, so it would be a shame not to see all the beautiful details the world has to offer.

Blahoslav Žilka is showing coloured l.a.Eyeworks glasses and wearing a classic Lafont model.

The interior of Mr Žilka’s store at Albertov, Prague.

Collection of l.a.Eyeworks frames.

Eye examination.

Zeiss iProfiler used for a unique eye examination.