World’s Most Expensive Eyeglasses

You already know about the world’s most expensive sunglasses, but what about prescription glasses? In 1998, a pair of glasses became the most expensive prescription eyeglasses in the world.

What was so special about these glasses? They were one of two pairs of glasses sold by the widow of Buddy Holly and formerly worn by the legendary Father of Rock and Roll himself. The first pair, auctioned by Sotheby’s in 1990, sold for $50,000. The other pair was worn by Holly during the infamous crash that took his life.

That pair spent 22 years in an Iowa sheriff’s office before being sold by Maria Elena Diaz-Holly to the City of Lubbock, Texas, for $80,000. Lubbock, where Buddy Holly was born Charles Hardin Holley, is the site of the Buddy Holly Center where the glasses are now on display.

Both pairs were furnished for Holly by Dr. J. Davis Armistead, who recalls that Holly experimented with contact lenses before settling on his iconic glasses.