THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Customised lenses from Zeiss and Mellins i-style are the future of eye-glasses and will even make you a better driver.

YOU KNOW AN EYE EXAM IS GOING TO GET PERSONAL when the optometrist asks whether you were born prematurely. My strong astigmatism was the root cause of the question after she reviewed my current prescription, but it was a glimpse of the accuracy I would later encounter.

My journey to a fully customised set of Zeiss single vision lenses starts with a look down the barrel of the i.profiler plus. This machine samples the shape of my pupil through 1 500 points on my eye lens (the optometrist likens it to taking a fingerprint). It needs moisture for an accurate reading, but my slightly dry eyes provide enough data points for analyses. Next is the standard eye exam with the endless selection between lens options and the board of everdiminishing letters.

Data from the two tests are then combined to give a holistic picture of how poor my eyesight is. Then a regular customer would choose a frame and get measured by another Zeiss machine which plots the position of your pupil in the frame.

Mellins i-style is South Africa’s preferred Zeiss supplier and each i.scription lens is individually manufactured in Germany according to the data gathered from the tests. From there customers can select various lens treatment technologies such as the newly released “Drivesafe” which enhances night-time vision, minimis- es glare and extends the primary field of view in multifocal lenses.

My journey ended with a price, because I just got new glasses two weeks before this screening. With all the trimmings (including Drivesafe and a photochromatic coating) my lenses came to around R3 500 each, R650 each for a standard i.scription single vision lens. Which isn’t that much for the absolute latest lens technologies, perfectly mated to my eyes. It’s eyecare awareness month in October, so you might find a few special offers.