The digital age has seen many jobs become easier, less time consuming and producing increased quality. This is very true in manufacturing optics, and especially in the case of supra glazing.
This is true because many of the modern day lens edging machines have the facility to groove the lenses as well just edge them, making the supra glazing process much simpler. In many instances the supra glazing process can be easier than glazing full-rim plastic and metal frames. I for one would choose to glaze supra frames over full rim metal frames any day of the week. The big question is, why oh why, when you take into account how much easier it is to glaze supra frames today, do many manufacturers still charge more for supra glazing than they do for plastic and metal frames?
I fully understand extra charges for rimless glazing, as there is a lot more time, effort and skill that goes into glazing rimless frames. I also completely agree, in years gone by, on extra being charged for supra glazing, as it was a completely more involved process. Before there were digital pattern makers, we even had to cut all formers for supra frames, by hand. Then, after the lens edging process, we had to groove the lenses on a separate supra grooving machine, before we could pull the nylon cord in place around the lens. Because of this, supra jobs were often put to one side and finished after most other jobs had been completed. So, paying more for these jobs was worth every penny! However, in today’s modern optical industry, that convoluted process is just a distant memory and for our younger colleagues not even a memory. These days, the lenses come off the lens edging machines already grooved and in many instances ready to have the nylon cord pulled round the lens, job done. In other words, it’s just a job that takes less than a minute. Now, when the machine does all the work for you and you only have to pull a nylon cord round the lens, an easy process and one quicker than placing a screw in a metal frame, why do we have to pay more? The pricing difference just seems something that has carried on and as long as people pay it and don’t question it, then it will continue.
