Willich, January 2007

Left: conventional lens at 85 degrees. The surface is cracking. Right: fully organic SEIKO ORGATECH lens at 85 degrees. Intact.

Willich, January 2007. The times when spectacles were a mere visual aid are over; nowadays they are a lifestyle accessory, too. In Germany alone there are about 42 million spectacle wearers. It is the combination of the right frame and suitable lenses that makes perfect spectacles. Even the best spectacles, however, can break or crack in everyday life: if one leaves them lying on the dashboard of the car in the blazing sun or if one sits down on them by mistake … The industry has always made an effort to improve the resistance of the spectacles. For the first time worlwide the decisive step forward has now been taken by Seiko Optical, a subsidiary of the well-known Seiko Holdings Corporation based in Tokyo. Seiko Optical has developed SEIKO ORGATECH, a lens product line that is incredibly resistant to everyday strains such as high temperatures, pressure, shock and sharp objects.

The new SEIKO ORGATECH lenses are heat-resistant up to 85 degrees Celsius and remain intact under pressures of up to 100 kg. This is due to a new approach in organic lens coating. Once more Seiko Optical is a trailblazer in the worldwide lens manufacturing sector. The SEIKO ORGATECH line will first be introduced in Germany and then in the complete European market. It will be officially launched at the Opti, the leading trade fair for opticians, in Munich from 26 to 28 January 2007. With immediate effect the new SEIKO ORGATECH lenses are also available in 200 different tints and as sunglasses.

Akira Nakashima, Managing Director of Seiko Optical Europe GmbH: „For over twenty years Seiko Optical has been inventing and implementing success factors in tomorrow’s lens manufacturing. Our activities are determined by the question what the design of spectacles must be like so that they make our customers feel good - regardless of the place they are in. Our new, extremely resistant lenses have brought us one step further in our constant search for perfection. Our vision: One day all components of organic lenses will be organic! Because the production of fully organic lenses including all coats is the key to unequalled resistance.”

SEIKO ORGATECH = heat-resistant		SEIKO ORGATECH = scratch-resistant		SEIKO ORGATECH = shock-resistant		SEIKO ORGATECH = stain- and water- resistant

Since organic lenses have come up and since the beginning of lens finishing more than 30 years ago, new approaches in technology and new products have been developed. So the quality of spectacle lenses has been improved substantially in the past years.

One important problem, however, had not been solved: Up to now organic lenses as well as scratch-resistant hard-coats and stain-resistant lotus coatings were made of an organic material, which is able to dilate and contract flexibly under heat and cold. All over the world the highquality anti-reflection coating preventing irritation through reflexion could only be produced from an inorganic material. But inorganic materials are much more inflexible and less resistant to heat and cold, for example. Every spectacle wearer has therefore been warned not to expose his glasses to extreme heat or cold in order to avoid annoying hairline cracks in the lens or even breakage.

In many ways the new fully organic coated lenses ensure extra quality and longevity. They can endure pressures of up to 100 kg without being damaged. This is equivalent to the clamping pressure of automatic edgers used by opticians. The scratch-resistance quality has also been improved. Consequently, the lenses are less delicate and the coat is less liable to peel off - a proof of increased longevity. The appearance of scratches has also become better due to the more elastic quality of the organic coat. A scratched surface generates less scattered light through reduced diffuse reflections, so that scratches are less apparent. And last but not least the heat-resistance up to 85 degrees Celsius makes SEIKO ORGATECH lenses ideal for everyday use.

As a subsidiary of the Seiko Holdings Corporation in Japan, Seiko Optical Europe GmbH (Willich) has been developing and distributing high-quality organic lenses and frames far beyond Europe for more than a decade. Its products have established in the market in no time. In all divisions of the Seiko Group - comprising chronometers, integrated circuit elements, printers and robotics - the brand name Seiko represents two unmistakable features: precision and trailblazing technology. In the field of optical products the company has by now created a varied, well-designed and fully developed frame collection as well as up-market spectacle lenses meeting the highest demands. The Seiko Group employs more than 120,000 people worldwide and reaches an annual turnover of over $ 15 billion.

Silke Hoffmann

SH/Communication – Public Relations

Hardt 9 (Nielenhof), 47877 Willich

Tel.: +49 (0) 21 59 – 69 49 80 Fax +49 (0) 21 59 – 69 49 89

E-mail: info@shcommunication.de