Then perhaps they were the wrong kind of glasses. Ordinary sunglasses will not work, of course. Gas welding glasses won’t work. Arc welding ones will, I’ve heard. But I used my own eyes when watching the 2017 eclipse. I never looked at the partial eclipse, however. Only during totality.
“Arc welding ones will, I’ve heard.”
Yes they do indeed... :)
Yes, I used my arc welding shield. I have an auto-darkening helmet that I use for arc welding, but decided that the hand-held welding shield with thick dark glass is better for observing the eclipse.
Using it for a short duration is fine. What you don't want to do is extended exposure of the eclipse. Ten to fifteen seconds with a shield at a time won't do harm to your eyes. People are crazy to stare at the Sun for an hour with inappropriate glasses, and risk damaging their eyes. I've never had a problem looking at the Sun for a couple seconds unprotected, ever since I was a kid. Long duration is a problem.