Seen is an opticians and premium eyewear retailer based in Manchester dedicated to showcasing the best eyewear from around the world. Our story starts many years ago, when Seen founder Tareq was inspired after working as an optometrist in Australia. Noticing a strong focus on customer service, he realised this was something he wanted to bring back to the north of England.
In 2005 Seen was born - a new kind of opticians based on the twin pillars of great customer service and super-stylish, individual eyewear from the finest independent designers. Here is our run through the most commonly asked to help you along. If however you would like to contact the team with something not answered here, please do so via our contact page.
In 2005 Seen was born - a new kind of opticians based on the twin pillars of great customer service and super-stylish, individual eyewear from the finest independent designers. Here is our run through the most commonly asked to help you along. If however you would like to contact the team with something not answered here, please do so via our contact page.
Services
At Seen, we pride ourselves on our ability to bring you the best original eyewear from the greatest independent designers from around the world. Take a look at our vast collection made up of sensational sunglasses and opulent opticals from brands such as Garrett Leight, Jacques Marie Mage, Dita, Thom Browne, You Mawo and Mr Leight.
Struggling to decide whether to get yourself a pair of opticals or grab a new pair of sunglasses? Enter the sun clip. These lovelies will clip easily onto your favourite pair of selected opticals and can fold away in an instant as soon as the clouds inevitably show their ugly head. Feast your eyes on our vast selection of sun clips, just remember to buy the matching frame too, they're not much use on their own.
Take a look at our first collection of custom sunglass lenses. Featuring two polarised and four non-polarised lenses, the six tints are designed to not just look top-notch, but to enhance the way you see the world. Like what you see? We thought you would. If you've found the perfect pair of sunglasses or glasses that you think would be even more perfect enhanced with some of our lenses, ordering them is easy.
Garrett Leight is a man from Los Angeles who makes very, very nice glasses. We first met him many years back when he landed at Seen with a suitcase full of Garrett Leight glasses to show us. Off the back of that meeting we became his first ever UK stockist (and only his second in Europe), and he's since become one of our favourite designers.
Jacques Marie Mage is based in Hollywood, California and was founded by French-born designer Jerome Mage. All Jacques Marie Mage glasses and sunglasses are made in limited production batches, so if you see something that catches your eye, don't hang around too long, you never know when you'll see it again.
Reviews (15)
Jason Foster
Oct 03, 2021
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Andy Corso
Aug 23, 2021
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Ben Curtis
Aug 06, 2021
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Dr. Barnish
Jun 20, 2021
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Incredibly friendly and professional team from health screening my eyes, right the way through to styling the glasses. Patient centred approach to the decisions around my management plan and fully informed in a very clear and understandable way throughout the eye health screening and check up.
Exceptional service from start to finish. I would highly recommend.
Exceptional service from start to finish. I would highly recommend.
George Bokuchava
May 19, 2021
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Annabel Turpin
Feb 02, 2021
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Fantastic service, lovely people, great products - and they always find exactly the right frames for me! The personal service makes such a huge difference. Having been a customer for several years now, I’ve got the most amazing collection (seven pairs so far!) but will definitely be going back for more...
Chris N.
Oct 18, 2019
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My glasses are spectacular. I've not seen a selection of glasses as good in this area of the country. I paid more than expected but that's now long forgotten and they are more than worth it anyway. At least as important as vanity the prescription is the best I've ever had and the consultation itself was informative - I actually have a good insight (excuse the pun) in to what's going on with my eyes. I enjoyed good friendly conversation with the staff and I'm modest enough to admit she chose my frames not me!
Thomas Reid
Jun 30, 2017
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Fantastic opticians, all round great experience with these folk.
After a number of years using standard high street opticians I thought I'd treat my eyes to a nice independent opticians appointment and a fresh pair of specs. The eye exam felt thorough, and very personal - with tailored advice on caring for my vision.
Easily the best part, however, was choosing the glasses themselves. I am very particular about how my glasses look and feel, as I live in them permanently. Though there is a massive selection of great frames in the shop it isn't at all daunting as when I pointed out a couple of frames
After a number of years using standard high street opticians I thought I'd treat my eyes to a nice independent opticians appointment and a fresh pair of specs. The eye exam felt thorough, and very personal - with tailored advice on caring for my vision.
Easily the best part, however, was choosing the glasses themselves. I am very particular about how my glasses look and feel, as I live in them permanently. Though there is a massive selection of great frames in the shop it isn't at all daunting as when I pointed out a couple of frames
Blue K.
Jul 24, 2016
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Seen is a truly unique and wonderful optician. The proprietor and team have done an amazing job of making Seen a really special and individualised experience. The selection of frames is outstanding. On the face of it they may seem simply "high design" or outlandish but what Seen provides is much more subtle and important than that. It's much more like bespoke tailoring for your face. The team will go through frames with you only by appointment. After years of high street opticians this can seem a little bit unnecessary but actually it's very useful and instructive as the knowledgeable
Huttson L.
Apr 18, 2015
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Always excellent service, one of the top 3 in the city
With an amazing selection of frames from around the world, including hand-made acetates, brilliantly engineered German and Japanese labels, Seen is a little gem amongst the other exclusive boutiques of St Ann's Arcade. You get what you pay for with specs, and as I've worn them for 30+ years, I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about (full disclosure: I was Harry Potter in the 80s, before JK had her epiphany).
The service is strong with this one: always courteous, happy to help and let you try on everything. Their
With an amazing selection of frames from around the world, including hand-made acetates, brilliantly engineered German and Japanese labels, Seen is a little gem amongst the other exclusive boutiques of St Ann's Arcade. You get what you pay for with specs, and as I've worn them for 30+ years, I'd like to think I know what I'm talking about (full disclosure: I was Harry Potter in the 80s, before JK had her epiphany).
The service is strong with this one: always courteous, happy to help and let you try on everything. Their
Victoria B.
Jan 07, 2015
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The only place I go for my glasses!! They are amazing, love these guys. They don't just sell your average eyewear brands- really cool designers and collaborative pieces so if you want a pair of really cool specs, go here.
I dropped by because of reviews on Yelp, wasn't going to buy anything necessarily but came out with a really nice pair of Oliver Peoples/ Garrett Leight sunglasses. They were no means cheap but they fitted them just perfectly. Unfortunately I lost them in Austin Texas and didn't know whether I'd be able to get another pair. They ordered them back in and gave
I dropped by because of reviews on Yelp, wasn't going to buy anything necessarily but came out with a really nice pair of Oliver Peoples/ Garrett Leight sunglasses. They were no means cheap but they fitted them just perfectly. Unfortunately I lost them in Austin Texas and didn't know whether I'd be able to get another pair. They ordered them back in and gave
Dave A.
Aug 18, 2013
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Qype User Starvi
Sep 13, 2012
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Recently refurbished, this is quite possibly the coolest store in Manchester. The store itself is light, airy, and achingly cool You could almost be in Berlin. Don't let the tired arcade put you off.. It really is well worth a visit.
Service is always fantastic, from the moment you walk in you will feel like the team here really care about you, and they're honest so you'll never leave with the wrong frame selection.
As an avid eyewear fanatic, I have frequented most of the good opticians in Europe, and I can honestly say this has to be the one I love the most. Sure, there are cheaper
Service is always fantastic, from the moment you walk in you will feel like the team here really care about you, and they're honest so you'll never leave with the wrong frame selection.
As an avid eyewear fanatic, I have frequented most of the good opticians in Europe, and I can honestly say this has to be the one I love the most. Sure, there are cheaper
Jessica Z.
Jul 25, 2011
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Seen has a diverse range of glasses which is hard to come by in Manchester. They are some of the only stockists of Oliver Peoples, Cutler and Gross and Ørgreen that I have come across.
The staff are super friendly and will give you 110% of their attention when you are in the shop. They will stand with you while you go through 100 different types of glasses and tactfully give you their opinion. The people at Seen really know what they're talking about, they don't give you the same old spiel about not wearing round glasses if you have a round face etc etc, they don't give you any
The staff are super friendly and will give you 110% of their attention when you are in the shop. They will stand with you while you go through 100 different types of glasses and tactfully give you their opinion. The people at Seen really know what they're talking about, they don't give you the same old spiel about not wearing round glasses if you have a round face etc etc, they don't give you any
Isobel C.
Jan 09, 2009
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The best opticians in Manchester! I can't say enough good things about the guys that work here, they are always helpful and friendly and have been known to spend hours making sure your glasses fit perfectly! They also once got me replacement lenses for my sunglasses when the prescription ones were not the same colour as the originals for no extra cost.
They have an amazing selection of designer frames that you won't see everywhere and prescription sunglasses you actually want to wear!
They have an amazing selection of designer frames that you won't see everywhere and prescription sunglasses you actually want to wear!
