The Optical Vision Site

Common Questions on Mirror Coatings By Opticote

Opticote For Glare Reduction

Mirror coatings are increasing in popularity and many questions have arisen as to what and when you can apply. Mike Bellomo at Opticote has some answers to commonly asked questions. If you have any more questions, please make a comment at the end of the article and he will respond.

You may have some questions about Mirror Coatings from time to time and we don’t want unanswered  questions to prevent you from providing your customer with the very best sunwear and customer experience that they can have.

Can You apply a Mirror Coating to a Polarized Lens?

Absolutely, it’s important to understand a mirror coating reflects light away from the eyes. The properties of a polarized lens coupled with a mirror coating are enhanced, further reducing all levels of glare. Always understand your customers lifestyle when suggesting the proper mirror coating. Maybe it’s a flash or a solid mirror, possibly a gradient or double gradient serves them best? Even better two pairs of sunglasses to match their lifestyle.

Can you tint a Polarized lens darker?

Tinting a Polarized lens darker in never recommended, heat may cause the lens to de-laminate. Again the solution is a mirror coating which reflects bright sunlight from reaching the eye. This reduction coupled with backside anti-reflective provides the wearer un-matched protection and comfort from harmful UVA/UVB rays that result in eyestrain and fatigue.

The sample doesn’t match the lenses we provided you, why is that?

Several factors could cause the difference. They range from different materials, base color, lens curve, incompatible manufacturers hard-coat. Also each coating company may have a slightly different color standard for that specific mirror coating as well as the color tint that is applied. Matches generally are usually pretty close, and exact match is in the eye of the beholder.

I have already applied a backside AR, can you apply a Mirror coating?

Unfortunately the answer is no. The pre-coating cleaning will harm the backside AR. We strip the lens thoroughly, clean it and then coat it. Same holds true if a lens is mirror coated and then at a later time or date backside AR is asked to be added.

Can you apply a Mirror coating to an edged lens?

Yes to edged or uncuts. Take direction from the frame style. Recommendation for rimless frames is uncut lenses as any clamp marks will cut out and the mirror coating will stay intact with proper padding when cutting lens shape and drill holds. Lenses that fit into frames, edged lenses are the choice.

Written by Mike Bellomo, Director of Marketing and Sales from Opticote. If you have any question please contact Mike at rxsales@opticote.com. Opticote is a premier coating laboratory

Attention Optical Lens Companies – Bigger than Big Eyeglasses

I used to work for Signet Armorlite many years ago, something I share with actress Rene Russo! She said in an interview that it was the worst job she ever had but happily I don’t feel that way. I am very happy that my job with Signet Armorlite introduced me to the optical industry.  I remember  soon after joining the company in the mid 80’s we talked about getting rid of some of the bigger diameter molds, 80 mm I think as eyewear sizes were getting smaller and smaller! Maybe we should have kept them based on these bigger than big eyeglasses spotted being worn in Paris during Fashion Week just recently! Attention Optical Lens companies – bigger is the new big! Maybe….

J'adore mes lentilles de gros

Picture: www.style.com

Mirror Lenses and Treatments for Snow Season

It is snow and ice sports season which is a good marketing opportunity for all those mirror coats and sports lenses.

ICE Point of Purchase

I like the POP and  marketing copy that Icoat has for their ICE Mirror lenses – “Feel the chill of the most vibrant mirror coatings to ever come between ones eyes and the elements. It is time to experience the fashion, form and function of ICE. Ice mirror coatings at iCoat are designed for the hottest fashion with the coolest performance.”

Eye catching Point of Purchase is really important  so your lens customers can see the mirror coating colors and effects as well as understand the benefits. Some pictures like the skiier above get attention and may bring the customers’ thoughts to a sporting activity that they might need lens treatments for.  They will be more receptive to discussing these needs if they see good visuals and interesting copy.

Optical Consumers Are Not Into Lenses

We all know that most optical consumers are not into lenses and usually more interested in their frames which is understandable as the frames are what we all see and notice rather than the lenses unless the lenses are thick and ugly of course! But there is a lot more to it than just the cosmetics and fashion. I found an interesting consumer survey about this subject  on Trivex’s website.

I think the results of this eyeglass wearer study confirms that optical consumers need to know a lot more about lenses and if they are educated about the advantages of superior optics they are likely to be very interested in lens options.

Here are  some of the highlights:

KEY RESEARCH FINDINGS FROM PPG/TRIVEX SURVEY:

LENS MATERIAL AWARENESS: The survey found that the vast majority of adult eyeglass wearers (78%) think more about their frames than their lenses when picking out eyewear. Eighty-four percent of women were more focused on frames than lenses. The percentage of respondents that were focused more on lenses was the lowest among those 25 to 34, but then increased with age.

Almost 70 percent of respondents did not know what material their own lenses are made from.

When asked to name as many lens materials as possible, plastic was listed most frequently (by 38% of respondents), followed by glass (34%), followed by polycarbonate (6%). There were also many non-lens materials that were named, such as metal, titanium, aluminum, sand and various lens options (like Transitions, scratch coating and AR).

Over half (54%) of respondents were unaware that their choice in spectacle lens material can impact optics.

Eighty-nine percent of spectacle-lens-wearing participants assumed that good quality optics were a given in prescription lenses.

Ninety-four percent of survey participants reported that if they knew that optics were better in some materials than others, it would influence their lens choice.

LENS MATERIAL PREFERENCE: When listing the most important attributes of an eyeglass lens, respondents most often mentioned scratch resistance (24%), followed closely by optical clarity (22%), then durability/impact resistance (16%) and light weight (15%). Thinness ranked seventh on the list (7%). When asked to pick the response that most closely described their thoughts on choosing a lens material, the majority (63%) of respondents agreed that a combination of lens attributes (optics, thinness, light weight, impact resistance, etc.) are important. Sixteen percent said that they would always choose the lens that offers the best vision, while 15 percent said that the price of the lens was their primary concern.

Seniors (65+) were much more likely than any other age group to choose the lens that offers the best vision.

Concern over price peaked in the 25 to 34 age group, and then decreased with age.

When selecting a lens material, 37 percent of survey participants reported that they were very likely to defer to the recommendation of an eyecare professional. One a scale of one to five (five being very likely), 74 percent of respondents ranked eyecare professional recommendation a three or above. Those in the 65+ age group were nearly twice as likely to defer to their eyecare professionals’ recommendation as those in the 18 to 24 and 35 to 44 age groups.

Source: Trivex Consumer Research (To read the whole survey please click on the link)

Welcome Vision-Ease Our Newest Sponsor

The tree-hugging soul in me was elated to add Vision-Ease to our family of sponsors! See our previous post on  Vision-Ease Sustainability Statement, in which their manufacturing is all done with 100% renewable energy! Did you know that 100 pair of lenses saves the carbon release of one barrel of oil. I love the fact they are helping us reduce our addiction to oil.

Jody Foster

In this day of brands, they offer Coppertone Lenses a branded name since 1944. This will age you, remember Jody Foster as the Coppertone Baby?  The Coppertone Brand is also recommended by the Skin Cancer Foundation and meets the AOA specifications for blockage of UVA and UVB rays.

In addition they offer the SunRx polycarbonate,  polarized , sun lenses for active sport enthusiasts.  Plus the LifeRx photo-chromatic lenses.

In the progressive products: The Outlook and Illumina, (with extra wide close vision) plus  their latest lense product Thindex 1.70, a thinner, lighter hi-index lens.  Last and very important- Tegra, a premium scratch-resistant coating.

They also offer Optical and Eyecare education and CE on their site. The courses are through 20/20 Magazine.

• From Correction to Prevention: The Paradigm Shift in Vision Care for the New Century Credits:  1.00
• Tomorrow’s Technology, Today’s Opportunity Credits:  1.00
• The Second Pair Sale – A Focus on Presenting and Not Quoting Price Credits:  1.00

Most Importantly if you are a Vision-Ease supplier and use their products, go to their site, download the Point of Sale Material and get your office listed on their Provider Locator.

Hi-Index Eyewear Wraps it Up a Notch!

Most eyewear consumers don’t know the difference between hi-index, polycarbonate, Trivex etc. let alone what a lens base curve 8 is so if they want a wrap frame or thinner, lighter lenses they have to rely on their ECP to guide them through their best options. Eyewear consumers are getting more and more choices for their wrap prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses as the lens companies are providing improved products and “hi-index eyewear wraps it up a notch!”

Costa Del Mar - Permit

Shamir has updated their SuperLite 1.60 and SuperLite 1.67 hi-index material lines to include Ultra Wrap which will provide patients an optimized lens blank for wrap frames that can accommodate both minus and plus prescriptions. Some patients who may not have been able to wear their prescription in a wrap frame before now have more frame selection.

Hi-Index materials are getting even thinner Shamir has just introduced SuperLite 1.74 which enables production of a thinner, aesthetically pleasing lens for those patients with a high minus or high plus prescritpion. Hoya’s 1.70 material is Hoya’s thinnest lens composite an it’s an ideal material for rimless mounting frames.  Trivex is also an ideal material for rimless mounting frames and available from many lens manufacturers and designs. I keep hearing lots of good comments about this product when I talk to retailers and lens providers.

Penn Moody, OD talks about atLast from Pixel Optics

I personally wanted to find out more about Pixel Optics and the atLast lens because this is new technology and I want to know more about the benefits it offers. I looked for an ECP that was prescribing this lens and came across Dr. Moody, a frequent prescriber of the atLast lens. Dr. Moody’s patient base is mainly adults, aged 18 – 60 which as you would expect, results in a high proportion of emerging presbyopes.

I asked him a few questions and apart from being a fan of European football (soccer to you Americans) and supporting U.K. teams like Chelsea and Aston Villa I believe Dr. Moody to be reliable. Here is a summary of our conversation about atLast.

1. How long have you been recommending Pixel Optics Lenses to your patients? Since I first learned about them from a fellow OD in early 2009. I tried them myself first and really liked the lens.

2. What do you like about atLast lenses? I like the wider field of view, especially at computer distance vs regular progressives = more comfortable near work. I tried the lens with three existing patients that had been having difficulties with regular progressive lenses and who I thought would benefit from the wider field of view.

3. What do your patients have to say about them compared to other lenses? The same as I do – they don’t feel as restricted while on the computer. For example one of my first three atLast patients is a bank teller who was using reading glasses, had tried progressives and found that she could not read the computer screen well enough. This patient was very happy with the results of atLast.

4. What value do these lenses bring in terms of cost and benefit? They are great for those who do a lot of concentrated near work at about the same price as a premium progressive.

5. Are some patients more suitable than others? Three groups of patients:

a) those who do a lot of computer work

b) those who must be able to see near and far without changing glasses

c) first time multifocal wearers.

6. What is the Pixel Optics like to work with? Very professional and informative – a really innovative approach to product development which carries over into their marketing efforts.

7. What if anything do you expect in terms of new technology from Pixel Optics? I’m really looking forward to the lens that changes power which may be released in 2010. I also look forward to how they use composite technology to maximize the benefits of different optical lens materials. I expect to see a big leap forward for mankind in terms of patients’ lens options.

8. Anything else you would like to add? I believe optometrists and opticians should be recommending AtLast to all of their patients who fall into the three categories mentioned above. Try it with some patients and monitor their response. Also, existing lined bi-focal patients can be hard to switch to a progressive lens but we have more success with atLast as they can still see the line above the reading area on the inside of the lens but it is invisible to everyone else.

9. What about in general just talking about the industry? I would like to see the insurance companies position patient benefits more realistically i.e. recognize that reimbursements are much too low to cover complete exams and eyewear needs. Moody Eyes offers all the major insurance plans and most patients expect the insurance to pay for everything but as we all know it is really partial coverage.

Eye How-To Make a Prescription Eyeglass Lenses

Jake Demonstrates the EDGE OUTREACH optical lab by showing how to grind a prescription lens beginning with a glass blank and progressing to the finished lens.