Living on the Edge
Treat your practice to higher profits and patients to great-looking eyewear with the finishing touch of lens edge treatments
By Karlen Cole McLean, ABOC, NCLC

Savvy ECPs are always on the lookout for new ways to set their practices apart from the competition and elevate their product and service offerings. Lens edge treatments--like roll and polish, liquid applications, and color pen systems--offer all this and are easy to introduce.

Roll and polish has been an optical standard for years and is currently experiencing a resurgence with rimless eyewear. Color edge treatments had the spotlight a couple of decades ago, but failed overall due to difficult application and quality issues. Today's crop of color lens edge treatments have passed tests for durability and are available in a rainbow of shades that are easy to apply and remove.

"Edge treatments are an excellent source of income in the lens add-on category. It's the best thing since tints, UV, and AR," says Daryl Squicciarini, vice president of OptiSource, a multi-product supplier based in Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., and the exclusive distributor of Camouflage Lens Edge Treatment Pens in the U.S.

This primer on lens edge treatments will help you edge out the competition and expand your practice horizons. So, go ahead and live on the edge.

Before and after edge treatments. Shown: Camouflage Lens Edge Treatment Pens from OptiSource

ROLL AND POLISH

Many dispensers use the old "R&P" to enhance the appearance of eyewear from two standpoints.

A roll. This edge finishing technique fines down the sharp edge on a lens, especially on high-minus jobs.

A polish. Common with today's rimless eyewear, this eliminates the frosted edge of the lens and offers a polished appearance that the majority of consumers prefer.

When to R&P. "We polish all lenses, plus or minus, with exposed edges," says Sandi Shannon, optician owner of Classic Eyes Optical in Ocala, Fla. "A roll is only done when the lens edge interferes with temple closure or the nosepad arm, or if it's cosmetically more appealing."

Cosmetics are key for optician Diane Charles of Woodlawn Optical in Redmond, Wash. "We polish all edges beyond a three diopter power because it's more cosmetically pleasing," she says. "We don't usually recommend rolling. Although it makes the edge look thinner, from the front it shows the ring, and that's not cosmetically appealing."

Adding AR. While a downside of edge polishing can be internal light rings or glare, Charles notes that, "AR alleviates much of this problem by eliminating visual reflections, including from the edges."

AR also ramps up the luxe appearance of eyewear to its highest level when combined with a rolled and polished edge, especially popular in today's rimless styles.

H.I. alternative. High-index lenses can eliminate the need to roll and polish edges, as these lenses are naturally thin, offering very little lens edge when the Rx is matched with a small eye size. When working a patient's Rx with frame style and eye size, it's important to affirm whether a roll and polish or just a polish alone will be necessary for the chosen material.

	The options in tint pens expand. Above: Stormin' Norman's Hint of Tint; below: BPI's Touch of Tint

Edging advances. Some ECPs have invested in state-of-the-art edging equipment, which can produce good-looking, uniform roll and polish results more easily than by hand.

"We recently purchased an edger that does R&P beautifully," says Patti Galko, director of retail operations at Northeastern Eye Institute in Scranton, Pa. "It will also polish the safety bevel only, which dresses things up just enough."

EDGE TINTS

While many dispensers offer a small selection of lens edge colors, some have plunged into a rainbow of colors and lens treatment options and made them a central part of the eyewear selection process.

Custom edge color on three-piece rimless mountings is a hit at Woodlawn Optical, Charles says. "This gives the look of a tint without reducing light to the eye. Edge coatings eliminate internal glare. We tint or edge color lenses approximately 10 to 15 percent of the time."

Bundling benefits. With several locations in New York City, Gruen Optica stores average around 150 rimless jobs a month, and 95 percent of those feature a roll and polish with AR, says lab manager George Pineda. Color lens edge treatments are "very successful in our semi-rimless frames."

A bundling of color edge treatments with edge polish and AR creates a total "elegant touch of color to rimless jobs and on fully rimmed frames to make frosted edges disappear," Squicciarini says. "Our recommended selling price for the lens edge treatment itself is $10 to $20."

Another option is to build it into the price of the eyewear and include it on every job, he adds.

Color preference. Typically, the lens edge color is matched to the frame color. "If it's a tortoise frame, we use a tortoise-brown shade on the lens edge to blend with the frame, so the lens appears to be an extension of the frame itself," Pineda says.

Northeastern Eye Institute's most typical edge tint application is a beige color chosen to blend with many skin tones for a natural finished look on rimless eyewear. The offices also output edge treatments on polarized lenses and children's eyewear: "Kids think it's cool, and it adds excitement to the selection," Galko says.

Target market. Retailers suggest color edge treatments for a variety of wearers, including kids, teens, and anyone who wants to play up their unique nature through expressive eyewear.

In-office display. Displays play a key role in effective patient communication. "Edge color kits are generally affordable, and we use the displays in each office to assist dispenser communication to explain the features and benefits," notes Galko. "Our lab also fabricated samples with one lens edge tinted and the other lens without tint in rimless, children's, and polarized."

For many patients, edge colors can be an impulse item. Colorful displays can help create that impulse to buy.

"A great way to promote edge colors is to feature them on demo lenses on your frame boards, including the kid's section," recommends Norman Opper, president and CEO of Stormin' Norman's based in Boca Raton, Fla. "Dress-up over-the-counter readers by applying lens edge tints and charge a little more for them, and use unique displays to highlight colors."

Lens pens add a profitable finishing touch. Shown: Hilco's Lenz Penz

Pricing. Currently, Northeastern Eye Institute is creating edge tints at the rate of "a few dozen a day for 20 stores. But that number is growing each week. We feel that patients are more than willing to pay the $19 add-on charge; I fully expect this area of revenue to grow significantly in the next six to 12 months."

PEN SYSTEMS

Color pen systems offer shades from clear and pastel to bold and metallic. Several pen systems also offer neon, and at least one has glow-in-the-dark colors. They allow for patterns, gradiation, and mixing for the ultimate in creativity.

Most of them include a blender and/or color remover pen, so in addition to softening applied shades, ECPs can take off one color and apply another--yet another way to earn repeat profits as patients can change their edge color as often as they desire.

ECPs and patients can create their own fashion statement, so everyone can be an artist. In addition, for those patients who want a lens tint and have opted for a non-tintable AR, getting a lens edge treatment gives the effect of a tinted lens without risk to the AR process.

"Don't forget to mention that the color can be removed, or changed at any time; this will create repeat customers," advises Debbie Fitzgibbons, marketing communications manager at Hilco in Plainville, Mass. "Suggest adding color for special occasions such as weddings, proms, and holiday parties."

But don't apply the lens color in front of patients, she cautions. This will take detract from the value of the service.

OTHER ALTERNATIVES

Several suppliers offer lens edge treatment alternatives to the standard rolled edge or lens pen coloring and tinting systems. One example is clear lens edge treatments that glaze lens edges for the look of a polished edge without the work or risk. Some liquid edge treatments have been developed for specific lens types, like polycarbonate and Trivex, to offer the best clear edges with safe application and attractive shine. These treatments eliminate work at the buffing wheel trying to achieve the perfect roll.

Liquid applications are also available in colors from primary and pastel to neon and can be mixed to create custom colors. Traditionally, these types of edge coating products are brushed onto the lens and then heat-cured. According to manufacturers, liquid applications bond with the lens material to create a strong permanent adhesion but can be removed by using a special solution.