Since
1984, when Optima set a new industry standard with the
introduction of a High Index Plastic Lens with an
unheard of 1.0 mm C.T. (Center Thickness), to 2001
when it introduced its new olycarbonate lens, called
RESOLUTION™, the company has shown industry leadership
and has developed a reputation as an innovator. With
the introduction in 2007 of COLOR FREE AR — The
Invisible Lens™, Optima continues to assert its
leadership position.
Although the company's start was
in the high index lens category, the company saw
the great potential for polycarbonate, if it could
just improve its optical qualities. With a team of
scientists and a hunch, the company developed a new
process, which they patented and named ECM-9™ (Extrusion
Compression Molding). This new process eliminated
the material stress that was caused by the injection
compression process used by all the other manufacturers
in making their polycarbonate lenses. The result
of Optima's revolutionary new process was a lens
that had the optical qualities of glass but retained
the lightness, thinness and legendary impact resistance
of polycarbonate.
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In
its state-of-the-art, highly automated plant in Milford,
CT, the company started producing the world's first
birefringence-free polycarbonate lenses. A simple
demonstration was all that was needed to separate
RESOLUTION® from the other polycarbonate lenses.
By simply placing both lenses under polarizers on
a light box (Figure 1), the material stress in the
other polycarbonate lens was very apparent.
Soon, the
company was not only selling its lenses in the
US but shipping them around the world, including
China. The ability to manufacture lenses in
the US and export the lenses overseas, when other
manufacturing had experienced an exodus, was taken
note of by CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight." The company
and plant were featured on their news broadcast,
as an example of how American ingenuity and brawn
could help stem the tide of job losses in this
country.
Optima is
proud that its entire line of RESOLUTION® lenses,
including RESPONSE® progressive and new COLOR
FREE AR — The Invisible Lens, continues to
be made in the USA.
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