Latest News Briefs
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News briefs
WCO announces leadership changes
The World Council of Optometry (WCO) has announced the installation of Dr. Sandra S. Block (U.S.) as president of the organization for the 2023-25 period. Dr. Block is a Professor Emeritus at Illinois College of Optometry and has held previous leadership roles at the National Center for Children Vision and ...
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News briefs
Safilo expands portfolio and partnership with Tapestry
Safilo Group is expanding its partnership with Tapestry by adding a license agreement with the U.S. luxury fashion group’s Stuart Weitzman brand of women footwear. Safilo will design, produce and distribute globally Stuart Weitzman-branded sunglasses and prescription frames until June 2029 and starting with the Fall/Winter 2024 season. It is ...
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News briefs
Zenni Optical to supply lenses for Meta Quest 3
Zenni Optical, which presents itself as “the world’s leading online eyewear retailer,” has announced that is has signed a partnership with Meta for the supply of prescription lens inserts for Meta Quest 3, the new $500 VR headset presented by Mark Zuckerberg, along with the new generation of Meta Ray-Ban ...
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News briefs
Vuzix opens new waveguides factory
Vuzix, a key player in the burgeoning smart eyewear market, has completed the construction of its new optical waveguides production facility. The U.S. tech company said that it has started sampling waveguides, which are targeted for use in products based on its Ultralite platform, for both in-house and OEM programs ...
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News briefs
EssilorLuxottica launches new and united practice management platform
EssilorLuxottica has announced the launch of HELIX, a new division of the company that will focus on leveraging modern technology for eye care professionals (ECPs) to improve the efficiency of their practices. The new web-based service will unite existing online tools of EssilorLuxottica - including VisionWeb, CLX, Patient Care and ...
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News briefsSmart eyewear about halfway to consumer awareness, according to report
More than a third of Americans plan to buy smart eyewear within the next year, according to the 2023 edition of The Vision Council’s report Focused inSights Smart Eyewear. Keenest to buy are men aged 18 to 44, city-dwellers and early adopters of the tech. American consumer awareness of smart ...
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News briefs
Fittingbox adds PD measurement to toolbox
French tech company Fittingbox is launching its new pupillary distance (PD) measurement online tool. The software, whose measurements are based on the company’s card protocol in which a credit card is used as reference for calculations, is mobile-first, does not require the installation of a smartphone application and can be ...
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News briefs
Innovatek gears up to start operations at Longarone plant
The Italian eyewear company Innovatek plans to begin eyewear finishing work in November at the Longarone, Italy plant, which it is acquiring from Safilo Group. This will happen after the first 30 Safilo employees it has agreed to take on as part of the transaction agreement, start working on Nov. ...
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News briefs
SightGlass Vision releases first white paper on DOT
SightGlass Vision, the myopia management glasses joint venture between EssilorLuxottica and CooperVision, has released on its website its first white paper on its Diffusion Optics Technnology. Aimed at eye care professionals, the document provides information on the relationship between artificially high contrast signals at the retina and myopia progression, on ...
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News briefsStrong children myopia increase in Spain, research finds
A fifth of Spain’s schoolchildren suffer from myopia, whose incidence over the past six years has increased by 17.8 percent. So says this year’s edition of the “Barometer of Myopia in Spain,” a report put out by the Alain Afflelou Foundation and Madrid’s Complutense University. Myopia is most prevalent (30%) ...
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News briefs
Fielmann appoints a U.S. eyewear industry veteran as group COO
Fielmann Group is adding another high-profile executive to its top management team with the appointment of Peter Lothes as chief operating officer for the whole group. In his new position, Lothes will oversee the German retail group’s manufacturing and logistics operations worldwide. This role was previously held by CFO Alexander ...
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News briefs
Coburn and SDC find synergies in photochromic system
Coburn Technologies has announced the launch of a new photochromic system for optical labs. Called CrystalChrome, the new system is the first major product developed in partnership with SDC Technologies, an entity of the Mitsui Chemicals and Coburn’s new parent company since the end of last year. CrystalChrome allows optical ...
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News briefsMister Spex appoints new CFO
Mister Spex has announced the appointment of Stephan Schulz-Gohritz as its new CFO and member of its management board effective from Jan. 1, 2024. Schulz-Gohritz will lead all aspects of the company’s financial operations, including mergers and acquisitions, Mister Spex noted. The seasoned executive joins the German-based omnichannel retailer from ...
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News briefs
Nexeye expands fashion eyewear brands’ offering
Nexeye has announced that it was expanding its asortment of fashion eyewear brands with the addition of the latest collections from labels such as Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein Jeans, Hugo Boss, Levi’s, Guess, GANT, Max & Co and Vogue in all of its 300 eyes + more stores across Germany, ...
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News briefs
Sunglass Hut partners with Ready Player Me for virtual eyewear
Sunglass Hut, the retail banner of the EssilorLuxottica group, has started collaboration with Ready Player Me, an avatar platform for apps and games, to offer digital sunglasses to users who want to customize their digital avatars. Since last Sept. 14, customers can visit a selection of eight of Sunglass Hut ...
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News briefs
Gibaplast adopts Eastman Tenite Renew
Gibaplast, the Italian-based supplier of cellulose esters and other materials for the eyewear industry, has adopted Eastman’s Tenite Renew material, the U.S. specialty materials manufacturer has announced. Tenite Renew is a more sustainable version of the company’s Tenite cellulose acetate propionate that is widely used in the production of injection ...
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News briefsNew logo for Johnson & Johnson
U.S. health care company Johnson & Johnson is updating its brand visual identity and uniting its meditech and pharmaceutical segments under the same brand name and logo. Janssen, the group’s pharmaceutical segment will be named Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine while the medical technology segment retains its Johnson & Johnson ...
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News briefs
New podcast by Kirk & Kirk
Kirk & Kirk is launching The Eyes Have It, its own podcast in which Jason Kirk, co-founder of the British designer eyewear brand, is discussing with celebrities and friends from the worlds of sport, music, cinema or fashion on a variery of topics including their eyewear. The first guest of ...
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News briefs
Bold Optical Fair gathered 2,750 eyewear professionals
Organizers of the Bold Optical Fair, which reunited for the first time three Dutch trade shows under the same roof, said that their 2023 edition had been “the hottest show of the year,” in reference to the unusually hot weather at this time of the year but also to its ...
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News briefs
Spectaris has a new chairman
SPECTARIS, the German industry association for optics and other related sectors, has announced the election of Dr. Bernhard Ohnesorge as its new chairman. Ohnesorge, who is the managing director of Carl Zeiss Jena GmbH was elected with over 90 percent of the votes at the last general meeting of the ...
