Whatâs up Fuse Heads! Today I wanted to go over some of the main differences between our Fuse Lenses and our Fuse+ Lenses (Fuse Plus). While our Fuse Lenses are some of the best quality lenses in the lens replacement realm, we saw a need for a high end lens that rivals the optical industryâs standards of quality for Rx lenses. I mean, if you think about it, Plano (+0.00 power) is still, arguably an Rx. In fact, I think itâs more important for the quality of vision to be dead on in a plano lens. There are tolerances in the optical industry for lens power. Someone with a + or â 5.00 can tolerate a slight deviation from this power and still see fine. If you put the same deviation in front of an eye that needs no power, you can cause waviness, blurriness and headaches for the customer. I donât know, maybe itâs my optical back round speaking, but perfect vision requires perfect lenses.
So, we contacted some of our industry friends at Carl Zeiss Vision and came up with a plan. We would distribute lenses under our name (Fuse+) that were optically made to Carl Zeiss specifications and tolerances. This Italian company is well known in both the optical and photography fields for excellence in quality. Their lenses are made to such tight specifications that we are still trying to get approval on some of our color options.
See, the hard coating of a lens is what provides it with its scratch resistance. This coating is literally spun on the lens or the lens is dipped into a coating bath. The harder the coating, the more brittle it is under pressure and heat, the harder they are to tint and apply mirror coatings. There is a fine line between scratch resistance and durability. The perfect example is glass. If you own a pair of Ray-Bans or Costa Del Marâs, you probably have glass lenses. Glass is great because it is hard to scratch. However, it is also heavy and shatters when you drop them. Zeiss uses their own proprietary coating formula to obtain a hard coating that can withstand temperature changes while also having the ability to be tinted and mirror coated. This coating is as close to the scratch resistance of glass that you are going to get (without being glass). Because of its density, there are currently some mirror colors that we have been unable to adhere to the surface. The scratch resistance and durability of the mirror coating is just as important to us as the hard coating.
Glass lenses have long since been discarded in the Rx industry of optics and aside from a few stragglers (Ray-Ban, Costa and Maui Jim) sunglasses manufacturers have gravitated to a very hard, durable, lightweight and optically crisp lens called polycarbonate. Even the the previous mentioned brands are starting to move towards Poly. Polycarbonate is used in many applications including CDâs and bullet-proof glass. In America, it is the most commonly used material for Rx glasses with CR39 close behind. CR39 is a composite plastic that is heavier, easier to break and cheaper to make. We do not like CR39 for our application, because you can easily break the lens inserting them into the frame. The main purpose for CR39 is economical value to the customer. In fact, most states deem the material unsafe and illegal for children to wear.
There is another lens commonly used in the sunglasses arena that I was completely unaware of until we started Fuse. It is called Triacetate or TAC. This material is also very durable and light weight. But is usually thin, flimsy and optically inferior to polycarbonate. It is also cheaper to make and is what is used by 100% of our direct competition. No exceptions that weâve seen to date.
So, we use polycarbonate. Go ahead, try to break themâŠ.They wonât. We use this material for 2 reasons. We want to stand out optically in our field. Optics, after all, have been my passion for many years. And, most of the name brand shades on the market are using polycarbonate in their models to start with. We want to be as close or better than the original lenses that you had to begin with.
Zeiss lenses help us achieve a better quality than what youâre used to optically. They are so strict on their tolerances that any level of waviness or deviation from +0.00 power in their lenses get tossed in the garbage. Because of this, they are a little more expensive (But, well worth it). In fact, after dealing with Zeiss for a while, we have become made aware that about 90% of all frame manufacturers use the same lenses that we do.
So, why do frame manufacturers charge more for the lenses? If you can even get the lenses replaced from the manufacturer, they will charge you up to 3 times what we do for a couple of reasons. 1. Because they can. Up until recently, they were the only place to get this kind of quality anyways. So, why not charge more for it. 2. Because they want the price to be high enough that it convinces you to buy a new pair of glasses, not replace your lenses. Donât be mad at them for thisâŠ.itâs what Iâd do too if I was manufacturing frames.
Since our business is lenses and we donât have the brand recognition that some of the bigger frame vendors do, we try to competitively price and market our lenses so that you get a great value and great product rolled into one. Itâs proven challenging, but with the great customers and advocates that we have met along the way, we see a big impact in the sunglasses field. We are really on to something here. We see that you guys are willing to sacrifice a little dough (and I do mean a little) to get a better product.
We are currently working towards a new material range of lenses all together that will completely blow your mind! Itâs one of those ah ha moments when you put the lenses on. Kind of like HD is for television. Stay tuned!
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. Since the Fuse+ lenses ARE actually stronger and ARE acutally better optically, we through in a 2 year warranty for the product. No questions asked. Scratch them, break them, beat on them, return them. Youâll get a brand new set. This warranty is free and lasts a year longer than most of the frame vendors will give you on the frames themselves.
Anyways, Iâm not really trying to sell you on FuseâŠjust inform you about Fuse+.
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