Hand Painted Lens. Yes, you are reading this absolutely right. Did you think it was only the special effects in the background that made movies interesting? Think about the characters and how do you think they look different completely? Do you remember the character of Le Chiffre in Casino Royale? He wore the hand painted lenses by No7!
As opticians, you would always want the best for your customers. No7 Contact Lenses are standing out with their energy, enthusiasm and commitment to help opticians achieve this goal, delivering innovative products and services that claim to add value to their business.
They are known to focus on providing exceptional quality in every product that they offer. No7 Contact Lenses are carving a niche for themselves in the optical trade with their state-of-the-art vision care solutions along with focusing on creating the required awareness.
Humble beginnings
Headquartered in Hastings, Sussex on the south coast of England, this privately owned company started in London and has grown considerably. The laboratory provides lenses for patients throughout the world and is known to take up even the most challenging prescriptions without hesitation. The lenses are crafted to perfection to provide maximum comfort to the patients.
Variations in lenses
Hand-painted lenses for therapeutic use and TV work, mini-sclerals for irregular corneas and keratoconic patients, RGP lenses for Ortho-k overnight correction and myopia control, plus lenses for extreme power corrections are all part of No7 Contact Lenses portfolio.
Drawing on more than 500 years of collective contact lens manufacturing experience, the team has close collaborations with all of the UK’s leading hospital eye departments.
Optician partners of No7 enjoy an enviable reputation for providing solutions to the trickiest cases, and a business strategy un-challenged by internet sales. Yes! The unique factor that ensures No7 Contact Lenses business continues to grow in spite of the growing threat of online is that they have never hesitated to take up even the tricky cases. As vision care providers, they are extremely dedicated to their duty and are known to strive to deliver only the best.
Eye care for patients
Painstakingly hand-painted, many of the orders received from hospital eye departments and optical practices reveal tragic cases, as Lee Adams, specialist lens painter at No7 explained, “Some of the patients have been in accidents, while others have congenital conditions, albinism, iris and corneal injuries and heterochromia. Sometimes our lenses are used to improve the appearance of strabismus or as a cosmetically acceptable occluder to eliminate double vision in patients with diplopia. We can paint the lenses to cover up damage and match them to the good eye, hiding any disfigurement. Working from photographs, we use a very fine brush on soft lenses – sometimes the work is so fine we are working with just a few hairs.”
No7’s Sales and Marketing Manager, Danny Pepper added, “Our range of Reflex colours and painted lenses offer a variety of options for patients with damaged or diseased eyes, from complex hand-painted designs which are designed to closely simulate the patterns and colours of the natural eye to printed lenses and tints which are highly reproducible and a lower cost alternative to hand paints.
No 7 works with great care to produce lenses which will replicate the patient’s other eye. This ensures a look which is as natural as is physically possible. By supplying these lenses optical practices are positioning themselves as a centre of excellence and one that will attract patients from far afield.
It is not just coloured lenses but also highly specialised lenses which are tailor-made to meet the needs of patients with irregular corneas and keratoconics. The No7 Comfort 15 lens for irregular corneas and a host of other options can be manufactured up to powers of -35.00 dioptres. In many cases these specialist lenses are able to delay, and in some cases prevent, the need for surgery. Shipping lenses twice a week, optical businesses can be assured of a swift service.
Product innovations: Lens
Through its three decade old history, No7 Contact Lenses have provided various iconic products. There are various new developments in the pipeline too that are likely to create quite a few ripples in the market. A few examples of these innovations among others include:
- Ortho-k – First of its kind lens with topographer based system
- SynergEyes – Hybrid lens
- ICD – First to bring mini-scleras to a wider audience
- Printed therapeutic lens in development
The movie connection
No7’s hand-painted lens service is expanding its therapeutic and theatrical offering as demand increases throughout the world. Awareness of the options available is ensuring that patients in need of therapeutic corrections are now making the most of their lives with life-enhancing lenses.
At the same time, its specialist production techniques are producing lenses for sci-fi movies as well. In fact, the foray into movies is seen as a significant part of the business growth for No7, with the company’s lenses worn by X-Men, Jenna Coleman in Victoria, characters in the Penny Dreadful series and Tom Cruise’s character in Valkyrie, with others in the pipeline.
“Hand painted lenses are a growing sector – not just for TV and film work, but also for therapeutics as expectations for realistic lenses increase. This is part of our extended portfolio of products and, with a substantial investment, has contributed to the need for an expansion of our laboratory,” said No7 Sales and Marketing Manager, Danny Pepper.
