Tag Archives : lenses

NOV 2011. MAHWAH, NJ—Seiko Optical Products of America, the pioneer and global leader in digital ophthalmic lens technology, extends its free-form product offering with new SEIKO Surmount Ws (Wide & Short), 100% internal free-form progressive lenses. Mike Rybacki, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing stated, “SEIKO Surmount Wide & Short is a new addition to our vast free-form product line, the most advanced in the U.S. market, and the first to incorporate recently patented technology in internal free-form design. This new technology places a complex convex surface onto the concave side of the lens. This lets us use lower base curves than ever before, creating much flatter, more cosmetically appealing lenses.” New SEIKO Surmount Ws is a hard design progressive lens offering a 42% wider reading area with clear distance vision to the periphery. Mr. Rybacki continued, “Progressive lens wearers who rely heavily on their eyewear for near vision tasks will find SEIKO Surmount Ws lenses easy to wear and use. This advanced design features an automatic variable inset of the corridor and reading areas based on patient distance Rx and PD. ECP’s can also specify the...

Dallas (October 31, 2011) — A recent survey commissioned by Essilor of America, the leader in eyeglass lenses, revealed the situations where eyeglass wearers find it a problem to have foggy glasses. To help four-eyed consumers see their best, Essilor has unveiled lenses with Optifog™ technology, an exclusive anti-fog property. These lenses offer the best and most durable protection against foggy vision and are available through eyecare providers. It’s no surprise that 78% of glasses wearers found foggy lenses most annoying when moving from indoor to outdoor temperatures, but interestingly enough, the survey found the most troublesome activities are common everyday tasks: cooking (52%) and bath time (40%). Other problematic situations include: playing sports and exercising outdoors (16%), driving (16%), working out in a gym (8%), when at work (7%) and hunting (3%). The survey revealed nearly half of glasses wearers (45%) find foggy glasses a problem. The survey also revealed safety issues as an alarming three in five (59%) reported feeling unsafe with foggy glasses when driving. Also, not surprisingly, a majority (61%) of respondents found their glasses fogged up...

October 2011, MAHWAH, NJ—Seiko Optical Products, the global leader in digital ophthalmic lens technology, announces their Surmount Internal Free-Form lens is now available in 1.50 plastic and 1.59 polycarbonate materials. Mike Rybacki, Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing stated, “Seiko Surmount is the first lens in the U.S. market to incorporate recently patented advancements in internal free-form design (No. 7,341,344). This new technology allows the lab to process convex curves on the concave side of the lens, which means that Surmount lenses can be produced on lower base curves than traditional back-surface free-form designs, resulting in much flatter, more cosmetically appealing lenses, especially in high Plus Rx’s. Surmount lenses are currently available from select independent optical laboratories in Trivex, as well as in 1.60, 1.67 and 1.74 materials. We are pleased to extend the availability to include 1.50 plastic and 1.59 polycarbonate materials.” Surmount availability in 1.50 includes polarized (gray & brown) lenses and gray and brown Transitions VI lenses. Surmount polycarbonate availability includes polarized, Transitions® VI, Transitions XTRActive™...

September 2011 Mahwah, NJ – SEIKO Optical Products of America, the global leader in digital ophthalmic lens technology is pleased to offer a new product in the free-form single-vision lens category. New Wrap Tech Thin, in 1.67 index clear and polarized (gray & brown) lenses utilizes advanced SEIKO free-form technology to create lightweight and thin high-base lenses for wrap style eyewear. Michael J. Rybacki, Seiko’s Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing stated, “The demand for highly curved prescription frames in clear and sunglasses is increasing, as wearers look for high tech fashions along with comfort and advanced optics. Conventional high-base designs induce asymmetry, which can cause eye fatigue and visual discomfort. Our new Wrap Tech Thin lenses use a free-form panoramic, aspheric and asymmetric design that corrects power error and astigmatism, creating a 50mm wide ‘sweet spot’ of comfortable, natural vision centered at the fitting point. Advanced free-form style-thinning technology is then incorporated to produce the thinnest lenses possible.” Wrap Tech Thin lenses are available clear & polarized (gray & brown) in 6.00 and 8.00 base curves in...

Sun Valley, CA (September 26, 2011) – Tumi, the premium brand known for its innovative, high-quality, and stylish travel and business accessories is partnering with REM Eyewear to announce the launch of Tumi Eyewear, a partnership that will expand the product range of this global leader to include a complete collection of Sunglasses and Optical. The Tumi Eyewear collection consists of 12 Traverso sunglass styles launching in January, followed by 10 optical styles and the Compatto reader in March 2012. Tumi and REM Eyewear will launch global distribution of Tumi eyewear in 2012 through REM’s worldwide extensions and will be sold through prestigious fashion and eyewear retailers, and Tumi stores. “Tumi enjoys a remarkable reputation for dependability and innovation that has successfully extended its product range, making it a perfect fit for the eyewear category,” states Mike Hundert, REM’s CEO.   “We have invested more than two years of product development to create visionary eyewear that weaves creatively with its core attributes.   Tumi consumers love their experiences with this brand, and our eyewear will build on that tradition.” The components of the eyewear...

MUNICH, Germany—The Rodenstock Group announced that it is restructuring its organization in order to increase its effectiveness and competitiveness. “The focal point of the new organizational model is the improved integration of the sales and marketing departments to enable them to work even more closely to their relevant markets,” said Rodenstock CEO Oliver Kastalio. Rodenstock said Kastalio will take over direct responsibility for all sales and marketing organizations to ensure that they are focused on being close to their markets and customers. The position of chief sales officer, held by Marc-Oliver Schneider, is being eliminated, and Schneider is leaving the Rodenstock Group by mutual consent. The human resources department will also be placed under the control of the CEO. According to Rodenstock, the changes are based on an overall plan that includes the structure of the organization, its processes and the personnel responsible for them. “Over the last three months we have undertaken a thorough analysis of the company and taken a close look at every single department. The main aim of the restructuring is to strengthen the competitiveness of the Rodenstock...

Carl Zeiss Vision, in association with VSP Vision Care, recently launched i.Scription by Zeiss, a new approach to measuring, designing and dispensing eyeglasses. The technology package employs wavefront aberrometry to create customized lenses that deliver better night vision, improved contrast and richer color perception to eyeglass wearers, according to Zeiss. i.Scription includes special package pricing and is available exclusively to VSP’s 27,000 private practice providers. i.Scription technology consists of three elements: i.ProfilerPlus by Zeiss (pictured), an instrument that combines corneal topography, autorefraction and aberrometry; i.Scription software, an algorithm that combines the aberrometry data from i.Profiler with the doctor’s subjective refraction to create a prescription that is accurate to 1/100th of a diopter and is optimized for the effects of the patient’s high-order aberrations; and Zeiss and VSP Reveal free-form customized lenses. The i.Scription technology is available exclusively on Zeiss customized lenses, including Zeiss Individual progressive and single vision lenses, and VSP Reveal Freeform lenses. The lenses can be processed through...

CHARENTON-LE-PONT, France—Essilor International (Reuters: ESSI.PA) announced it is has entered into a joint venture agreement with Wanxin Optical, a leading Chinese ophthalmic lens manufacturer and is taking a 50 percent stake in the company. Wanxin Optical has more than 2,000 employees, produces nearly 35 million lenses a year and generates annual revenue of approximately €24 million. Intended for both the domestic and export markets, its products are highly regarded by eyecare professionals, especially in the mid-range segment, according to Essilor. Wanxin Optical will continue to be led by its current management team, Essilor said. “The transaction will provide the company with additional resources to speed its growth,” said Tang Langbao, chairman of Wanxin Optical. “We intend to leverage Essilor’s technological capabilities and marketing expertise to broaden our product range and strengthen our positions in our core market segments.” Estimated at 200 million to 220 million lenses a year, the Chinese market is comprised mainly of myopes and presbyopes. With more than 900 million people suffering from faulty vision but fewer than half of them effectively...

Essilor’s Visioffice is a universal measuring device for all products from single vision to progressive. The all-in-one system takes patients through the entire sales process, from frame selection to measurement to sales support. The system allows ECPs to deliver the highest level of individualization available based on dynamic 3D measurements . This patented, state-of-the-art measuring device provides ECPs with a fast, accurate way to measure patient fitting parameters critical to the next generation of lenses. Takes all standard eye measurements and exclusive Essilor measurements, including behavior measurements for Varilux Ipseo lenses, as well as eye rotation center and natural head posture measurements for Essilor’s proprietary “eyecode” lenses. Patients can see the features and benefits of premium designs, materials and lens treatments through interactive videos available on the Visioffice system. For more information, contact your Varilux sales representative. For updates on the Visioffice system, bookmark  http://mobile.essilorusa.com on any smartphone browser. Or visit http://www.essilorusa.com

ROANOKE, Va.—PixelOptics announced that it has obtained commitments from four leading optical laboratories to support the regional rollout of its emPower! electronic eyewear in early 2011. U.S. Optical, Robertson Optical, Luzerne Optical and Pech Optical have all signed agreements to manufacture emPower! lenses starting with the launch of the Southeast U.S. region. An additional two labs based in the Southeast are expected to join the network within the next 60 days, the company said. According to Larry Rodriguez, senior vice president of global sales and marketing for PixelOptics, these laboratories were initially chosen because of their high market share in the Southeast region and their strength in launching high-technology products. “…Each of these labs are well-respected in the industry, provide high quality products, and encompass a strong sales force in our first targeted region, all of which were critical factors in agreeing to partner together for the initial launch of emPower!,” said Rodriguez. The four labs are being trained by PixelOptics’ laboratory support teams and will be equipped to manage the anticipated high demand for the electronic eyewear,...

ROCKVILLE, Md.—On Sept. 2, the U.S. Food and Drug Adminstration issued a revised Q&A document regarding impact resistance guidelines for lenses. The document, which is based on a draft issued by the FDA on Oct. 26, 2007, represents the first changes to the FDA’s lens impact Q&A since 1987. The Vision Council, which represents lens manufacturers and optical laboratories, issued a statement saying its technical experts are currently reviewing the revised FDA document and will meet to formulate the association’s response prior to International Vision Expo West. “Upon reaching a consensus, The Vision Council’s government and regulatory affairs department will work with the appropriate channels to convey the organization’s stance to the FDA,” the Vision Council’s statement said. For technical questions regarding the Q&A document, contact Jeff Endres, technical director for The Vision Council at (619) 988-4231 or jendres@thevisioncouncil.org. For questions legal or regulatory questions, contact Rick Van Arnam, The Vision Council regulatory counsel, at (212) 725-0200 ext. 126 or at rvanarnam@barnesrichardson.com.