OPTIMA CELEBRATES 20 YEARS OF OPTICAL INNOVATION
Industry Leader Marks Its’ 20th
Anniversary
Stratford,
Conn. (March 2, 2004) – Twenty years ago, Optima
opened its doors determined to fill a void in the optical industry.
Founder Nick Niejelow had a vision to use technology to revolutionize
eyewear for the millions of people wearing thick, heavy eyeglasses.
While working with frames and CR-39® lenses, he came to realize
that plastics held the key to radical improvements in lenses, and
so his mission began. In just a few years, in a joint partnership
with Asahi the fruits of Optima’s R&D efforts were realized
with the introduction of the first 1.60 finished lenses. The lenses
called HyperIndex® 1.60 set a new standard with their 1.3mm
center thickness. But the race for the thinnest lenses was just
beginning.
A year later
Optima introduced a scratch-resistant coating for its 1.60 lens.
This enhancement dramatically improved lens wearability.
Soon to follow was the
first 1.60 flat top bifocal. In 1990 the company introduced the first factory-applied
hyrdrophobic AR coating to the finished lens and the first finished minus
aspheric design on a 1.60. By 1992 the lens that heralded the new
dawn of lens technology
hit the market, the first of its kind and the new gold standard, Optima’s
HyperIndex 1.66 with a 1.0 center thickness. The world’s thinnest and
lightest lenses were born. Even wearers with the strongest prescriptions
were freed from
heavy thick glasses. The thinner, lighter lenses spurred innovation in the
frame industry also. Eyeglass wearers wanted sleek sexy glasses and the industry
complied.
Consumers were the big winners.
In a steady, consistent stream Optima has continued to introduce innovation
after innovation; in 1995, it introduced the first 1.66 progressive and flat
top bifocal,
in 1996 a 1.66 backside aspheric and in 2002, RESOLUTION®, the first
birefringence-free polycarbonate lens.
Now in its twentieth
year Optima is developing an AR coating that promises to change
the standard forever. The company has also announced it will be
doubling its polycarbonate lens manufacturing capabilities with ground
breaking
set
for
a new plant in mid 2004 in Milford, CT. “I have always believed that
technology holds the key to improving the quality of life for lens wearers,” says
Nicholas Niejelow, president and CEO of Optima Inc. “Our most recent
breakthrough has resulted in a polycarbonate lens, RESOLUTION®, that
exceeds the optics of a 1.60. Innovation in our manufacturing processes
has spurred dramatic gains
in productivity to the point where our optically superior, thinner and
lighter lens is affordable to the masses. We have the product that meets
the needs of
today’s lens wearer. And our new plant will incorporate new innovations
and further efficiencies so that we can meet the demand.”
Optima’s
products, the HyperView 1.60 and 1.66 product lines, HyperView
1.66. POLARTEC polarized lenses and its RESOLUTION line of lenses
are available
nationwide through wholesale laboratories. For more information call
Optima at (800) 621-1216.
