Archive for the ‘Spectacle Reglaze’ Category

The debate about the p.d continues to rage on in Optics! When you have an eye test and they either use a ‘trial-frame’ (that odd looking pair of adjustable specs that opticians use) or the automated machine that swings down in front of you with all the lenses inside it (phoropter), the Optician must set the instrument up with the correct p.d to be able to test you properly, so it is routinely measured during a sight test, but it is never noted! So much so that if you request the measurement in most cases it is refused.

The p.d is needed so that the optical centre (the optimum vision point of the lens) is positioned directly in front of your pupils when your wear the specs as intended. This is very important both for visual comfort and clarity. If this is set incorrectly there may be visual consequences the higher the prescription the more important it is.

Some online retailers use average values depending on the gender of the customer, this may mean that the p.d could be many mm out! Some will give you videos and demonstration how to measure it yourself. It isn’t difficult to do, but it does need to be accurate. You can see this on You Tube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvO2gwt3Rak&feature=related 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o18-PIaIro4            

There is even now an ‘app’ for the iphone for measureing the p.d it will cost £3 to download and seems to work quite well.    http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/id381060059?mt=8   This seems allot to pay when we can do it for nothing!     

As the p.d is a measurement between your eyes this is generally fixed during adulthood unless there have been changes in facial structure or characteristics. This is why ciliaryblue are happy to take this measurement from your existing glasses, old or new. We prefer to use p.d’s measured by your Optician, but this isn’t always possible. When we measure it we tell you what it is so that you can use it in future with us or other online retailers.

So please ask for your p.d during the eye test, as it has to be measured and the Optician will find it very difficult to refuse the information when put on the spot!

Our owner (the Optician) designed a michine a year or so ago, for measuring and plotting the exact positioning of varifcoal fitting points. These measurements are taken from an existing pair of your spectacles that have varifocals fitted. Once the measurements are taken they can then be applied to any other frame, this can be done at the same time or any time in the future.

This, we feel, puts ciliaryblue right at the forefront of optics on the internet. The new machine we have, we think, is the only one of it’s type and gives our company a flexibility and an edge that few others have at the moment.

We have seen a 10 fold increase in orders from France recently, all of the customers are English. I spoke with one of the customers today and found out why the increase. Cost, of course! He wanted to order uncoated bifocal lenses only for his own frame, the cost was a staggering 390 euros  in old money £325+! We charge £30! So if you live in France, call or email and we will beat any prices the French have to offer!

ciliaryblue have been asked by many customers if we can supply mirror coatings for prescription and non-prescription lenses. It is often the case that your expensive sunglasses have a coating that is damaged, or you want your glasses to look just that little bit special, different?

We can now do it, the coatings are blue, red, silver, gold and gunmetal, the lenses come with a tint and full UV protection. This can be done with single vision, varifocals and bifocals.

Single vision lenses cost £50, with wrap-around styles £60.

Bifocals and varifocals please ring for details.

We think we are one of the first to offer this on the internet for prescription lenses, other than some specific sports-specs suppliers.

Pictures to come soon!!

phone : 01455 290675

email: info@ciliaryblue.com

website: wwww.ciliaryblue.com

For the next 3 months ciliaryblue we will be offering 1.50 index single vision lenses with anti-glare/scratch for £30, these would normally cost £40 with us, the high street equivalent is £80-130!!! These lenses have the full 85% suntint, are available in grey, green and brown. They perform and look fab, the surface coatings makes them look more like cosmetic lenses than prescription ones’. They are not available to order through the website but can be ordered over the phone. So if you interested in the £22 standard titned lenses, consider the advantage of paying only £8 more!

email us at : info@ciliaryblue.com

phone us on : 01455 290675

website : www.ciliaryblue.com

Ciliaryblue do not sell frames and have no intention of doing so. We get asked all the time where can good quality, branded frames be bought safely and with no risk. We are always very guarded about our response, but we have forged an alliance with an ebay based company selling frames only. We have seen the stock and know it’s authentic and they are to be trusted completely. If you buy their frames you will be offered a 10% dicount code for the reglazing of the glasses with us, making the combined product cheap and of great quality.

Have a look the link to them is http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/eyewearwh/  they are called Eyewear-Warehouse.

When we set up ciliaryblue, the aim was to make the reglazing of spectacles cheap, easy and professional.

Doing it cheaply was always going to be easy when compared to the high street as our overheads are considerably less, we could supply the same products from the same suppliers much more cheaply.

Making it easy took more thought. Sending the customer the pre-addressed and pre-paid packaging to send the frames to us was the first step. It meant there was no looking for bubble wrap or boxes then a trip to the post office for stamps. Just place the specs in the box with the presciption and post back. The website was designed to be easy to navigate and to understand, and the presciption entry and lens order page simple and informative. 

The pricing structure was simplified too. No extra charges for rimless or semi-rimless glazing (all of our competitors do this- at time of writing). No pitches saying free coatings, 241’s etc, you just pay for what you want.

Professional, I am the Optician who runs the business, I run this with the same constraints and guidlines as I did on the high street, no corners cut. Honest advice is given, no hard selling. We try to answer all emails promptly, reply to messages and even phone back missed calls.

We try to offer the same quality of service you would expect to get at your favourite Opticians while saving you money.

I hope we manage to achieve our goal.

We get asked more and more this time of year if we can replace lenses in non-prescription sunglasses. We can. The lenses get scratched when on the beach, scratched in the bottom of the handbag, left in the glovebox etc, etc. We can sometimes change non-prescription lenses for full prescription lenses. The quality of the lenses is the same and are manufactured and tinted the same way. Some use reactions lenses for the replacments, all of the lenses can be coated with anti-scratch/glare. So please contact us for details.

email: info@ciliaryblue.com    tel: 01455 290675

url: www.ciliaryblue.com

P

At ciliaryblue we glaze everything from high fashion to swimming goggles. We get new frames and some very old frames too, sometimes we see frames that we haven’t seen before and have put this post in to tell you about the really good ones we see.

Recently we have had some fantastic Ferrari rimless that are beautifully made, nice to glaze and look brilliant glazed up, Range Rover (the car company) also make lovely frames too, we glazed one recently, the quality of the frame and materials really impressed us. They are expensive, look it and are deserving of the price. Oakley’s are a favourite here as they are always great quality.

This article clearly states in the Optican Magazine that the recession has and is affecting the growth of sales in the optical sector. Mintel reports known and respected for their accuracy, found that in 2009 sales fell by 2.2% compared the same period in 2008. Interestingly, 4 out 10 customers still buy glasses from their sight test providers! Have they not heard of the internet? Have a read of the article and see what you think.

The optcial sector in the internet I’m sure would show a very diffrent set of results!

link: http://www.opticianonline.net/Articles/2010/03/19/25116/recession-dents-steady-growth-in-optical-sector.html