Sapphire versus Avance

[markod59]

Hello everyone,

I have been using Avance for awhile and am very satisfied with the performance and appearance. Namely it has very little residual tint. Is the Sapphire similar ? I am thinking of switching but would like to know if the tint is overwhelming or if its very light like Avance ? Thanks

[jpways]

The only difference between Avance and Sapphire is the difference between reflex color (Avance: Yellow-Green, Sapphire: Blue-Violet). There is also a difference in reflectance between the two coating (Avance ~2%, Sapphire ~0.5%) making the brightness of the reflex color for Sapphire vs Avance.
Downside: Speed, I don't know of any commercial labs that do Sapphire in house, so the jobs go to Dallas it generally adds 2-3 days vs. jobs with Avance.

[Uilleann]

The biggest differences were well described above - you'll pay more, wait a LOT longer, and have a blue reflex (though all ours we've seen in the past years have been light blue/turquoise instead of the nicer cobalt/violet reflex when it first launched) instead of green. We typically see a time increase of a week or more from all of the ELOA and partner labs we've used. Bearing in mind that if there's any spoilage, that time will multiply with each remake. That alone has led us to dump Sapphire entirely unless specifically requested by a client.

It used to be a nice lens when the reflex QA was much more tightly controlled. But the lead time, and extra cost has more or less put us off for now. As always, YMMV...

[bretk0923]

From what I've come to understand from lab reps, Sapphire is index-matched, where Avance is not.

[iaxbbcp]

the Sapphire 360 is the newest version of this, they have added a layer to the AR stack that is supposed to block reflection from 40 degree angle, as well as directly in front of you. I will say that this is the first AR in a long, long time that I have tried where I actually noticed a difference compared to previous ARs.

[ajonesgirl]

When I switched to Sapphire, I could go from cleaning my lenses 3 - 4 times a day, to every three days. They really are much more smudge resistant. I would say the reflection is really a true, but soft, sapphire blue. No violet color at all. I think the lenses are the most invisible in the frame, too. We sell all the Essilor coatings here and Prevencia and Sapphire are definitely the top two sellers.