Plastic lenses account for only five to six per cent of the estimated 70 million

[Chris Ryser]

Just came across an interesting recent (July 26, 2008) article on India's use of optical lenses and Essilor going to change it.

Plastic lenses account for only five to six per cent of the estimated 70 million correctional lenses market in India. Essilor aims to increase its share in double digits in the next five years.

That is 66.5 million glass lenses versus 3.5 million in plastic

So we should not forget that glass must be still dominant across the world.

Check it out at: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...2651080500.htm

[Kyle]

Those numbers are staggering.

Of course I know we're talking about India but I wonder if (what I would guess to be) nearly polar opposite statistics here point moreso to a US lack of concern for optical clarity (not that a glass lens is necessarily indicative of that) in its love affair with poly OR if it just speaks to our generally litigious nature. Perhaps glass is just cheaper to produce in India?

And btw, how many cases of eye trauma are reported in the US due to an impact resistance issue? In speculation, how many go unreported?

kk

[KStraker]

Somebody needs to warn these people that if they get kicked in the face by a wandering Yak, they'll have no one to sue. :hammer:I doubt there are many cases of eye trauma in the US either. In 17 years of business we have never had an issue. We have had a couple patients get hit in the face while wearing cr39, but I don't think it broke. The frame broke though. What about that? Should everyone have an ansi approved frame to avoid litigation?

[Happylady]

Glass lenses over there are much thinner and lighter then glass lenses here. I think plastic lenses took off here when impact laws were passed in the early 1970's for glass lenses. It really increased their weight.

[DragonLensmanWV]

Yeah, most of us have seen some of those Taiwanese people wearing minus 6 glass lenses with a 0.3 CT. Dangerous? Heck yeah!! A head-on collision with a June bug will break those. Or trying to adjust the frame will also break them.

[chip anderson]

If you are really concerned about India's terrrible plight here.
All we need to do is round up a few hundred US lawyers and ship them over there to sue the poor people in the optical business there.

Get Ready Sandeep!

[obxeyeguy]

Yeah, most of us have seen some of those Taiwanese people wearing minus 6 glass lenses with a 0.3 CT. Dangerous? Heck yeah!! A head-on collision with a June bug will break those. Or trying to adjust the frame will also break them.

We have a lot of eastern europeans here working in the summer. I have put my thumb thru a couple of those thin glass lenses, just taking them out of the frame. Centers dot something thick, most with AR.

[Chris Ryser]

Yeah, most of us have seen some of those Taiwanese people wearing minus 6 glass lenses with a 0.3 CT. Dangerous? Heck yeah!! A head-on collision with a June bug will break those. Or trying to adjust the frame will also break them.

Heck NO.............Dragon there are still some people alive, including myself that grew up doing glass lenses day in and day out.

Up to the late 1970s glass lenses were still the standard in Europe, Canada and the USA.........and that is not so long ago. Making them as thin as possible was the real art and still is. They were also much cheaper to purchase on the lab level than the new plastic lenses.

I used to hire "Bob Bieber" in the 70s to give sales courses to my salespeople and he used to hammer nails through poly lenses and explained that Lens Crafters were having parents sign a waver if they would not spend the money for poly lenses for their kids glasses. (that is how it started)

During those days also opticians actually managed to adjust frames without breaking the lenses. Seems to be a lost art. Maybe that is why plastic has become so popular on this continent.

Of course it is a lot cheaper to make plastic lenses............either cast or molded instead of having them individually surfaced as it used to be.

[eoptics]

Just came across an interesting recent (July 26, 2008) article on India's use of optical lenses and Essilor going to change it.

Plastic lenses account for only five to six per cent of the estimated 70 million correctional lenses market in India. Essilor aims to increase its share in double digits in the next five years.

That is 66.5 million glass lenses versus 3.5 million in plastic

So we should not forget that glass must be still dominant across the world.

Check it out at: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...2651080500.htm

I guess not in the countries that know the convenience , safety, performance and durability of plastic lenses. India may follow the trend, also. Taji Mahal in Agra was fantastic when I visited. :)

[Chris Ryser]

India may follow the trend, also.

Of course they will. they already make most of the websites and answer the telephones for many American companies.

[DragonLensmanWV]

Heck NO.............Dragon there are still some people alive, including myself that grew up doing glass lenses day in and day out.

Up to the late 1970s glass lenses were still the standard in Europe, Canada and the USA.........and that is not so long ago. Making them as thin as possible was the real art and still is. They were also much cheaper to purchase on the lab level than the new plastic lenses.

I used to hire "Bob Bieber" in the 70s to give sales courses to my salespeople and he used to hammer nails through poly lenses and explained that Lens Crafters were having parents sign a waver if they would not spend the money for poly lenses for their kids glasses. (that is how it started)

During those days also opticians actually managed to adjust frames without breaking the lenses. Seems to be a lost art. Maybe that is why plastic has become so popular on this continent.

Of course it is a lot cheaper to make plastic lenses............either cast or molded instead of having them individually surfaced as it used to be.

When I first started, it was years before I did any plastic lenses. Price has nothing to do with it. My point is, was, and forever will be that glass lenses, untempered with a 0.3 center thickness and AR is EXTREMELY dangerous.

[Chris Ryser]

My point is, was, and forever will be that glass lenses, untempered with a 0.3 center thickness and AR is EXTREMELY dangerous.

I fully value you opinion..............................

However if you go to Europe or the far East where glass is still in the majority the most valued and best looking jobs are the ones with the thinnest edges or centers.

Poeple in those places do have a different mentality, if they break a lens they go and have it changed and pay for it. Even next door in Canada only childrens glass lenses have to be tempered. Adults are on their own responsibilty........and there are no ambulance chasers in sight.

[chip anderson]

Chris:
Was that the same Bob Bieber that used to be one of the optical engineers at Modern Optics in Houston?

Chip

[Fezz]

I used to hire "Bob Bieber" in the 70s to give sales courses to my salespeople and he used to hammer nails through poly lenses and explained that Lens Crafters were having parents sign a waver if they would not spend the money for poly lenses for their kids glasses. (that is how it started)

Really?

When did poly make it to the lens market? When did Lenscrafters begin? Was U.S. Shoe opening up opticals in the 70's?


;):cheers::cheers::cheers::D

[harry888]

At least glass has 100% UV protection.

Harry

[Scrumblydumpus]

Quoth the mighty wikipeida:

Ordinary, untreated eyeglasses give some protection. Most plastic lenses give more protection than glass lenses, because, as noted above, glass is transparent to UVA and the common acrylic plastic used for lenses is less so.

So sayeth the one true and infallible source of all human knowledge.

[MarcE]

Of course it is a lot cheaper to make plastic lenses............either cast or molded instead of having them individually surfaced as it used to be.

Sure. CR lenses are cheaper to manufacture. And unlike most Asians, Indians are not moderately high to high myopes. So no reason for high index with super thin centers. I don't see why they don't sell more CR instead of glass.

Holding on to the old ways like many of us I guess.

[chip anderson]

Glass is made from sand. Environmentally neutral. Labor cost in India is free by our standards. Glass is probably a whole lot cheaper in India.
High tech machinery for plastic is probably in very short supply in India.
Glass if cared for last a long long time, like decades. Most plastic turns to junk in 3 years with meticulous care. Probably most of the population in India can afford product with a 10-20 lifetime. Probably can't afford replacement every year or two.
So why is it hard to understand that glass is the material of choice?

Anyone ever read about Jim Corbet who worked killing tigers in India? In many cases a single tiger would kill 200 to 450 people before he was called in. Why, because the whole damn village didn't have enough money to buy a rifle collectivly.

You must understand the whole world doesn't have the US taxpayer/wage earner to provide for them (at least yet, perhaps over the next four years.)

Chip

[MarcE]

Labor cost in India is free by our standards. Glass is probably a whole lot cheaper in India.
High tech machinery for plastic is probably in very short supply in India.
Glass if cared for last a long long time, like decades. Most plastic turns to junk in 3 years with meticulous care. Probably most of the population in India can afford product with a 10-20 lifetime. Probably can't afford replacement every year or two.

You make good points. If machinery for plastic is in short supply in India, it is abundant in Thailand and Malayasia. I'm sure they could import plastic lenses for less than the cost to fuse and grind glass. But I'm sure there aren't any pesky tempering requirements.

Anyway, you are probably right on about the longevity of the lens. If glass is the tiger's share of lenses, I bet they don't have more than a few hardcoaters in the whole country. Without SRC on plastic, glass is a no-brainer. . . until they get VSP and have a lens benefit every year:D.

[jjm_1965]

Really?

When did poly make it to the lens market? When did Lenscrafters begin? Was U.S. Shoe opening up opticals in the 70's?;):cheers::cheers:

As far as I know, Gentex started making rx polycarb lenses sometime in the 70s. I started as an apprentice optician at Lenscrafters in 1987, and at that time the older Licensed Opticians would only let me sell poly for kids and safety glasses/rec secs, mainly because of the poor abbe value (it seemed even worse back then) as well as scratch coating issues. I don't remember a waiver at LC for people declining poly. However, they eventually adopted a poly-only policy in regard to kids glasses sometime in the early 90s.

Lenscrafters started in 1983. U.S. Shoe bought them in 1985. That was U.S. Shoe's first time in the field. They sold to Luxottica in 1995.

:cheers:

[DragonLensmanWV]

At least glass has 100% UV protection.

Harry

Only in sun tints and photochromics. White glass passes a huge amount of UV.

[RT]

According to data supplied by The Vision Council, glass lenses account for less than 1% of shipments in the US. The number of lenses sold in the US annually exceeds the 70M reported in India. Therefore, the number of non-glass lenses sold in the US exceeds the number of glass lenses sold in India.

It is an invalid conclusion that glass lenses are the dominant material worldwide based on the reported breakdown of lenses sold in India.

[Chris Ryser]

Lenscrafters started in 1983. U.S. Shoe bought them in 1985. That was U.S. Shoe's first time in the field. They sold to Luxottica in 1995.

You are correct...................... did some checking :

Statistics:
Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Luxottica SpA
Founded: 1983
Employees:14,000
Sales:$903.5 million (1996)
SICs: 5995 Optical Goods Stores

Company History:

A subsidiary of Italy's Luxottica SpA, U.S.-based LensCrafters Inc. is the world's leading retailer of eyewear. Celebrating its 15th anniversary in 1998, the company was a pioneer of the "superoptical" segment. Its phenomenal growth under U.S. Shoe in the 1980s culminated in Luxottica's 1995 acquisition. With over 700 outlets across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, the chain boasts a seven percent share of the domestic retail eyewear market. The company was expected to cross the $1 billion sales mark in 1997, a tripling of revenues from 1987's $305 million.
Founded 1983
LensCrafters was founded in 1983 by Dean Butler, a 38-year-old who had previously worked at Procter & Gamble. A knowledgeable marketer, Butler had managed the Ivory liquid, Cheer laundry detergent, and Folger's instant coffee brands for the venerable Cincinnati consumer goods company.
At that time, the eyewear industry was on the cusp of radical change, a shift spurred by two vital legal decisions passed down in the late 1970s. The Federal Trade Commission freed patient choice by compelling vision professionals to give patients their prescriptions. .......................

http://www.fundinguniverse.com/compa...y-History.html

[Chris Ryser]

It is an invalid conclusion that glass lenses are the dominant material worldwide based on the reported breakdown of lenses sold in India.

You are probably right that it is an invaslid conclusion, but there is a huge population in those far eastern countries that are still using donkeys to pull the carts and buy glass lenses................even if I would not want to make them anymore.

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