Seiko
Seiko launched its Sensity Fast photochromic at 100% Optical but commercial director, Jonathan Cohen, was equally keen to discuss the company’s recent investment of £3.5m in UK production and training facilities.
‘The fact that we started local production in Wrexham is easily the most important thing for us to share with people at the show,’ said Cohen. ‘The rationale behind that, first and foremost, is because at Seiko we are genuinely prioritising the independent sector and, within that, the top tier of practices. The patients of those kind of practices have elevated expectations in terms of product and service quality.
‘If you really step back and think about the opportunities and the challenges of being a successful independent practice, service is paramount. And that is why we’ve made that massive investment in Wrexham, both in the production and in the Seiko Academy, to better support them.’
The company’s product offering for its client base was further bolstered by the Sensity Fast launch.
‘One of the key pinch points we found with photochromic wearers was that they love the depth of tint, but find it too restrictive when they move indoors,’ said Cohen. ‘With Sensitive Fast, we have got a really fast fade back speed so when someone returns indoors, they have got a very functional pair of specs as quick as possible. You can literallyyou willsee the colour drain before your eyes.’
Additionally, Seiko displayed its measurement device, the Seiko Vision Experience Centre and in-practice lens display cases, all designed to fit the ethos of a high-end independent practice.
EssilorLuxottica
The lens part of optical behemoth EssilorLuxottica was paying particular attention to the photochromic category at the Excel, as well as previewing a new addition to its Varilux range.
‘We’re in a moment where the importance of photochromatic lenses continues to grow, particularly in terms of performance and colour palette,’ said Alan Pitcher, commercial director for wholesale lenses at EssilorLuxottica UK.
‘Partly this is because photochromics are increasingly important for smart eyewear. We have Ray-Ban Meta and to make it an all-day wearable pair of frames that is comfortable in any light, Transitions Gen S is the secret sauce.
‘It’s a similar dynamic with our Nuance Audio Glasses, which we are exhibiting for the first time at 100% Optical. We think that 80 to 90% of the patients that buy the Nuance product will need prescription lenses so we think it’s a huge opportunity,’ he added.
As announced earlier this year at the Transitions Academy event in Florida, EssilorLuxottica previewed the five additional style tints in gradient or washed effect. These shades will be amethyst, amber, sapphire, ruby, and emerald.
‘With original Gen S colours of grey, brown and graphite green, we now offer eight colours in total,’ said Pitcher. ‘I would say that, while they go from clear to fully reactive and back very well, there’s also a reality where in certain light conditions you need a position of semi-tint and these new colours work really well in that state. The ruby shade is very popular at the moment, particularly with women.’
Pitcher also shared that Varilux Physio Extensee will be launched into the UK imminently.
‘Varilux Physio Extensee is a new product that we’ll launch in a couple of months time,’ said Pitcher. ‘It is a middle of the range progressive that is designed to provide optimised correction for each wearer’s pupil dynamics and reduce high order aberrations.’
Rodenstock
Rodenstock launched its new Big Exact Sensitive lenses at Opti earlier this year and its activities at 100% Optica
l were centred around the lens’s introduction to the UK market. The lens builds on the company’s Big Exact biometric data-informed lens to additionally take into account an individuals’ visual sensitivity.
‘So, depending on your sensitivity, we can adjust the design to the best perceived vision,’ said Jason Halsey, product and training manager at Rodenstock UK. ‘The patient will both perceive a wider field and smoother transitions. It runs against the grain a bit at times. If somebody had said to me before, to put some aberrations in the corridor, I would have questioned it. However, it makes sense and achieves a better result because it allows for an individual’s visual sensitivity.’
‘If a practice is already an Exact customer, they order Sensitive in the same way. The only extra bit of information we ask for is visual acuities. We can make an estimation based on the existing data, but two biometrically similar eyes can have very different visual acuities.’
Millmead Optical
Millmead Optical’s lens business, Jai Kudo, offered attendees the opportunity to experience its virtual reality (VR) fitting device for the award-winning Kudos range of lenses.
‘Kudos, at its core, is a lens design system and a lens,’ said Matt Holmes, head of lens technology at Millmead Optical. ‘The lens design system is inside the VR headset. It is the first varifocal where there is no base design until we study the patient’s natural behaviour via the VR system. Once we know about the patient’s gaze dynamics, we send that to the software, and it builds a lens truly bespoke to that customer.
‘We’re here promoting the newest feature, which is an occupational version. For Kudos Office, the headset recreates your working environment and allows us to generate a heat map that informs the design of the lens.’
Caledonian Optical
Aberdeen-based Caledonian Optical, part of the Duncan and Todd Group, was in London to present its existing lens products and promote its strong sustainability credentials.
‘A key reason that we are here is to bring all the great things that we do to a wider audience,’ said Mat Norris, CEO at Duncan and Todd. ‘Our focus is on our technology-based lens products like Arc Steady 2.0 HD Lenses and sharing our values around sustainability. Every year we invest more in the kind of technologies that help save water and energy at our manufacturing lab in Scotland.
‘We are also launching a Transitions promotion, which is a graduated scheme with the aim to help our client base of predominantly independent opticians, to grow their businesses. It is a rebate scheme where the practice gets 20% of the value of their orders back.’
