Recently our largest eyewear manufacturer, Luxottica, held a training evening for Cameron-Davies staff, focussing on two of their most popular quality brands – Versace & Prada.

These luxury frames are  made in Italy where Luxottica has been manufacturing spectacle frames since the 1960’s. We were surprised to hear that all the tiny jewels, which help to create such striking frame styles, are still fixed on by hand – machines were tried but the company has come to the conclusion that nothing can compare to the delicate human touch!

We also found out that the new frame designs from these brands often complement the annual themes on the catwalk from the fashion houses; several of this year’s styles from Versace are incorporating ‘bows’ as they are featured on Versace clothing this season.

Many thanks to Stuart Graham for presenting the evening, a good time was had by all!

Our trainee, Laura Ruse,  recently sat her final theory and practical dispensing exams, set by the Association of British Dispensing Opticians.  

We are delighted to announce that she has passed with flying colours and now joins our team of qualified Dispensing Opticans– entitling her to use the letters FBDO (Fellow of the Board of Dispensing Opticians) after her name.

Well done Laura!

On June 23rd a group of our dispensing opticians attended a Tom Davies Bespoke Frame workshop at their head office in Boat Race House, Mortlake, London. During the day they fine- tuned their ability to dispense and order truly unique hand-made Tom Davies spectacle frames.

The website www.tdtomdavies.com is well worth a look; however the best way to find out more is to visit our practices to talk to our dispensing opticians, try on our ‘ready to wear’ Tom Davies range, & discuss the many possibilities for creating a bespoke frame of your very own.

The Financial Times described Tom Davies bespoke frames as ‘the most exclusive glasses in the world’.

Ørgreen Optics was founded in 1997 by a young Danish trio and is now represented in more than 40 countries. It is a world-leading eyewear company, famous for innovative design and colour combinations, using more than 300 different shades of colour. The frames are constructed from titanium, beta titanium and acetate, making them ergonomic, lightweight and comfortable as well as architectural and edgy pieces of art. They are handmade in Japan, taking 4-6 months to individually craft as each one undergoes more than 100 production steps.
We carry a great selection of frames from this contemporary company at our Southsea practice, and are delighted to see that the stars can also have an excellent taste in specs, judging from the following news item :-

‘Sam Worthington, star of “Avatar” and the upcoming “Clash Of The Titans”, wore Ørgreen Chill 34 while presenting at the 2010 Oscars!’

Why not drop in and try on some of the models we have in stock – maybe you could look as good as Sam !

On the evening of Wed 3rd February, Cameron-Davies staff and partners watched a presentation & took part in interesting discussions with our area contact lens representative and other colleagues from J&J (Johnson & Johnson Vision Care.)

J&J supply the Acuvue range of contact lenses and we are delighted to be one of only 150 Premium J&J Partners in the UK. This gives us several benefits, not least the fact that we can obtain early access to their latest lenses for our patients before they are readily available nationwide. We are currently having great success with the new Oasys for Astigmatism contact lens and are trialling new lenses for presbyopia.

Clinitas – New generation of ‘Dry Eye’ Drops

We have recently introduced the Clinitas range to our existing assortment of ‘Dry-eye’ supplements.
Dry, irritable, sore or watery eyes have increasingly become a problem in today’s society through factors such as air conditioning, central heating, computer use, air travel and pollution,
What does ‘Dry Eye’ mean?
‘Dry eye’ syndrome covers a wide range of conditions – all of them have in common that the salt/water ratio of the tear film becomes out of balance. This results in more concentrated tears, which reduces the moisture in the ocular surface. This mechanism very often results in dry, irritable eyes.
Why does that happen?
There are basically three ‘parts’ or ‘layers’ to our tears, mucin (sticky) aqueous (watery) and lipid (oily.) Dry eye is caused by not making the right quantity of one or more of these layers, which results in too few tears, or tears that evaporate too quickly from the front of the eye. This may also be linked to factors such as environment, age, gender or medication.
Have I got dry eye?
Signs and symptoms of ‘Dry eye’ can range from any of the following:
• Itchy scratchy sensations around the eyes
• Stinging or soreness, which worsens towards the end of the day
• Redness of the white of the eye
• Watery eyes
• Occasional blurred vision
• Sensitivity to normal light.

Clinitas Dry Eye Drops:
There are 3 different types available Clinitas Soothe, Clinitas Ultra3 and Clinitas Hydrate.
Which one is right for me?
Clinitas Soothe:
A preservative free eye drop, available in single dose sachets. It consists of the highest available dose of sodium hyaluronate which is a natural lubricant found in the eye. Soothe is ideal for supplementing the sticky and watery parts of the tears. This is a good general lubricant for environments such as computer use, air conditioning, central heating and for those sensitive to preservatives.
Clinitas Ultra3:
A sterile eye drop which can mimic all three layers of the tear film. The key components restore the protective lipid layer, increase the aqueous layer and improve the wettability of the eye through enhancing the mucin layer of the tear film.
Ultra3 is advantageous if a reduced lipid (oily) layer is the main cause of dryness, resulting in moderate to severe dry eye symptoms due to factors such as air conditioning & computer use.
Clinitas Hydrate:
A liquid gel, which possesses excellent mucoadhesive (sticky) properties, leading to a longer retention time on the eye (6-8hrs) compared to older lubricating ointments. Clinitas Hydrate is the first choice as an overnight treatment if the eyes feel dry on waking, but also for dry eye due to medication or systemic disease.
Our experiences so far:
The Clinitas range has become a useful  addition to our portfolio and patient follow up has shown improved results in relief of dry eye symptoms. It is not always straightforward for us to assess which part or parts of the tear film are lacking, so it has proved effective in many cases to have a range of possible products .