Clearlight Optical Co.

February 1, 2010

We are a small company of opticians in beautiful Ashland, Oregon.  Our little company is dedicated to the restoration and sale of antique and vintage frames for regular use. We started in ophthalmic optics in the early 1970's, and apply those decades of experience to preserving the rich history of eyewear from 1850-1999. Most of our newer inventory is New Old Stock and has never held lenses, and most of our older frames are restorations. Either way, when we say a frame is ready for regular use, it really is.

We operate a 2,500sq. ft. facility with two main components; an eyewear restoration lab, and a lens lab.

Eyewear Restoration
Our restoration lab does just that, restoring frames dating back to the American Revolution, and preparing them again for regular use. Most of the frames though, date from the last half of the 19th Century and the first half of the twentieth. We clean polish, inspect, and adjust every frame to return it to new or near-new condition. Some of the steps we take, like hand-polishing the butt-ends of the temples (ear pieces), exceed the original standards used at the time of manufacture. We replace screws, temple tips, and nose pads with new parts, inspect every solder joint for integrity, and polish frames, both by hand and in vibratory and rotating tumblers using proprietary media. The 75% of frames that do not make the final cut are recycled for parts, sold for scrap, or donated to charitable organizations. Everything that can be recycled. is. Our counters and work benches are even built from recycled wood.

Vintage Lens Laboratory
Our lens lab uses the gentle precision required to make lenses for our antique and vintage frames. Some of our equipment and tools are over a century old. This helps us to authentically reproduce lens types that have not been made in fifty years or more, like the "notched" lenses of Bausch & Lomb's mid-century cateyes. We also make many lenses for film work, and this has become something of a specialty. One aspect of that is knowing which types of anti-reflective coatings work best in studio settings. Another factor is matching the actual curves used in a period. Lens science changed frequently and dramatically over the past hundred and fifty years, so a reading lens made a century ago looks quite different than one made today. Also, different curves create different challenges in managing reflections. We bring all of these factors to bear in helping make the best possible lens for your needs. We are also among a dwindling number of labs willing to cut real crown glass. We also make a wide array of high quality polarized lenses for sunglass use.

Local Resources
For "regular" lenses, particularly in newer "dead stock" frames that have never been worn, it often makes more sense to get your prescription filled locally by an experienced optician in your area. Our lens lab is here to provide support and convenient access to lenses, but we completely support you purchasing lenses from someone local to you. We are big believers in patronizing small businesses and local economies. To help with that, we maintain a Directory of Vintage Opticians you can use to look up or suggest skilled eyecare professionals in your area.

We we will open a public showroom in Spring, 2010. Right now, our sales are almost entirely Internet based, and are likely to remain that way. We really, really appreciate the support of our thousands of customers in all fifty U.S. States and almost fifty countries. Without your support, we couldn't exist.

 Most of our vintage frame sales are on Ebay , although we are busy building a sales area here at ClearlightOptical.com.