Glasses Maker Has New Vision

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Glasses made by Superfocus LLC are certainly more advanced than other spectacles on the market. Designed for people who need bi- or trifocals, Superfocus glasses let wearers adjust their glasses for looking at things up close, far away or in between. A lever on the bridge presses a liquid-filled membrane in the lenses to change the focus.

Thing is, until last week, the Van Nuys company’s specs came in basically one style, called Icon: round, minimalist metal frames – John Lennon-ish.

“Some people love it,” said company Chairman Stephen Kurtin, who invented Superfocus lenses. “Some say, ‘Eh, it’s a little too technical for me.’”

But this month, the company started offering a new model. Called Leonardo, the new Italian-made models are plastic and come in either light or dark tortoise shell. Like the company’s original Icon frames, they’re round – the technology requires that shape.

Kurtin said the new Leonardo frames are also a bit cheaper. They sell for $525, lenses included, compared with $625 for Icons. That’s because Leonardos use a different lens adjustment system that’s less expensive to manufacture.

At $525, Kurtin said Leonardos cost about as much as progressive lenses, which correct a range of sight problems by partitioning lenses into different areas that wearers look through to see different distances – the bottom of the lens for reading, the top for driving.

While progressive lenses can only be purchased through optometry shops, Superfocus glasses can be ordered online, direct from the company.

“With progressives, they have to be fit to the user very carefully,” Kurtin said. “With Superfocus, the whole lens changes, so it’s not nearly so critical where the glasses sit in front of the user’s eye.”

– James Rufus Koren

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