Fall into Paris!

September has been a real roller coaster month for us!

I guess in many ways September is a real transitional month.  You know that summer is coming to an end, you start to get in to the various tasks getting ready for winter.  The city is buzzing with the sudden arrival of thousands of students, so although the leaves are beginning to fall, there is also an air of excitement and new beginnings.

Five months in and things have been going better at Ocean than we could have dared to imagine, opening up any new business from a cold start is always going to be a challenge.  Doing it during a global recession surely is economic suicide and who in their right minds would open a business when you are just about to go into its annual quiet spell!  Well, that's us, Ocean Optometry!  Doing things by the book would be so boring!!

We knew that when we opened in April we would face an uphill battle to begin with.  We were a brand new clinic, people didn't know who we were and we didn't have a list of current patients to get us going with.  Part of our reasoning, though, was that this would give us time to tease out some of the issues that every new business faces.  We've got on top of our computer systems, we've settled into our examination routines, all of our equipment is working perfectly and completely integrated.

The best thing about September ... it's starting to get busy, busy, busy!  In the optometry world Fall has always been our busiest time of the year.

The other really exciting event in September is Silmo. 

Silmo is one of THE eyewear expos that happens each year which is a real must for any eyewear geeks.  First held in 1967, it is a perfect occasion for many companies to launch their Fall/Winter collections and for us to meet with designers and manufacturers to find out what's hot and upcoming in the world of eyewear.

Understanding the collections and only choosing ranges which inspire and excite us is something which really distinguishes Ocean Optometry.

At a busy time of the year, it is a real leap of faith to take a week out of our schedule to go to France for this exhibition.  Many people may think of these trips as being like this:

 

or this:

 

 

For us, Paris will be:

 

 

and

 

 

and

 

 

and you know what ... we can't wait!

 

 

 

 

Students - change your underwear!

At this time of year we have many students filling the streets of our fair city.  The sense of excitement the arrive with is almost visible in the air, their heads are filled with big thoughts, big dreams, great plans and (hopefully) a thirst for knowledge.

It can also be a somewhat scary time for the young students.  Taking their first real steps towards adulthood and independence and starting to make their way in the world.  Amazing opportunities will be open to them, the ability to create their own rules, the fun of making new friends and bundled along with this comes the boring bits of life - the responsibilities.

We all have these day-to-day mundane tasks put upon us.  They are chores, every day necessities, perhaps even the drudgery of life, but without them life's a whole lot less pleasant.  To some of the students it's perhaps a bit of a shock to the system that these items just don't seem to magically take care of themselves, a recent conversation on our twitter feed was a perfect example!

@OceanOptometry @ILOVELOCALHFX Awesome! My 1st yr Uni student just phoned in a panic- 2 weeks of dirty laundry & no coins for the machine :)
— ScaryReads (@skodejs) September 4, 2013

Ah, bless them, the little darlings!

What's this got do with optometry, you may wonder.  One of our challenges in the office, though, is in making sure when we are discussing contact lenses we make sure we share our feelings about the importance of a good contact lens wear regime.

Contact lenses bring many advantages over glasses and many people enjoy wearing their contact lenses, either as an almost full time alternative or as an option for sports or social occasions.  One of the main drawbacks of contact lenses, though, is that you are placing a foreign object on to perhaps the most important and sensitive organ of the body.  If our vision becomes compromised the results can be devastating, and yet the approach that some people take to contact lens wear can often be shocking.

When we start chatting about contact lens wear we often ask current wearers simple questions about how often they change their lenses, their lens cases, do they always use fresh cleaning solution.  Many wearers follow good care with their lenses, however, there are unfortunately those that don't.  People may answer that they wash their hands before handling the lenses ... but then they're putting the lenses in to week old stale solution in a case which is several years old! Worst still, people maybe try to get away with saline or some other solution!

As eye-geeks we're fairly protective towards people's peepers and this kind of thing just fills us with dread!  There are some really simple rules about safe contact lens wear:

1 - always wash and dry your hands before handling your contacts;
2 - always replace your lenses as per their proper schedule (most lenses are now either monthly, two weekly or single use daily lenses);
3 - always use fresh solution to disinfect your lenses overnight, allow for the minimum disinfection times necessary and swap out your case as per the solution recommendations;
4 - if you have a problem seek advice as soon as possible.

When we talk to people, reminding them of the basic rules they probably knew at the beginning of their contact lens wearing life, they often admit that they know they've just got in to bad habits, but they haven't had a problem yet.  The important word is the last one ... "yet".  Unfortunately, we have seen what happens when problems arise and they can take hold very rapidly without much warning.

A good contact lens regime can not guarantee that there will never be any adverse problems, but it will greatly reduce the risk of complications.  Just like changing your underwear and doing your laundry (students) will greatly enhance your general quality of life!

I know we've posted this elsewhere, but we do love this video from Acuvue also showing why regular replacement is important:

Interviews with a designer ... Claire Goldsmith

Earlier this year, in a New York loft, we were privileged to meet with Claire Goldsmith, so we are really pleased to be able to post her answers first in this series.  Now, we have tried to stay completely impartial in our reporting, however, Claire supplied us with digestives and haggis flavoured crisps (chips) - how can you not be impressed!

Here's our interview with Claire:




What was your inspiration to become an eyewear designer?

1966 Press Cutting

With three generations of eyewear designers in my family, and the heritage that comes with the Oliver Goldsmith brand, it was a vocation that was hard to ignore! But aside from that, I love design and the beauty in well-designed products, whether it glasses, cars or architecture.  I work alongside a fantastic design partner, Jesse Stevens, who has worked with me on the Goldsmith collections for the past 5 years. We make a good team. We tend to be on the same page with stuff and agree on the majority of things. I guess you could say we are a design team pair! I think that our healthy partnership is visible in the collection itself. I love the collaborative process of designing the way Jesse and I do.

Do you have an all-time favourite frame that you designed?

It’s hard to say – sometimes it’s hard to separate your emotions between popularity and passion, it sounds a little fickle, but if a certain frame is selling well and everyone is gushing about it, it soon becomes your favourite! It like always supporting the winning team! 
That aside, I have always been enamoured with the Carters and Irwin, they seem to encapsulate the ‘future vintage’ aesthetic I wanted to create.

Which city would like to travel to next?

I travel to a lot of cities for work – which is great fun.  But I would love the time to escape from cities and explore remote islands in Asia! I've also never been to South America so that is on the ol’ bucket list too!

Is there a particular material that you like working with or that you would like to work with?

OG was made predominately only from acetate, in fact, they were one of the first (if not THE first) companies to use it for making eyewear.   In acknowledgement to this, we have always worked exclusively with acetate.  This year is the first time that we have introduced metals, and it’s nice to have a contrasting material to add a new dimension to the collection.  There are many wonderful materials out there, and who knows what we may start producing in the future, but whatever the material we work with, I want to be confident that we are always producing the best quality frame, and to do so, I need to trust the material and the factory who produces it and this takes time. 

How long does the process take from initial design to finished eyewear?

The time can vary, but I would say an average of 6 months.  The production side of eyewear is a tough job! The devil is in the detail and that it always the hard bit to get perfect!

What influences do you draw on when creating your ranges?

I always struggle to answer this question in interviews, not because of lack on inspiration, simply because it’s never one thing, or the same thing(s).  The market obviously has an initial input; what has been selling well, what hasn’t etc., but as we all know, trends, style, what’s hot, what’s not changes on such a regular basis that I often go with my gut.  Living in London (and travelling as much as I do) I am surrounded by so many beautiful influences; art, architecture and design.  I find looking back incredibly inspirational – looking at what worked in the past and looking for ways on how I can improve on it!

Thank you Claire for taking the time to answer these questions!

More details about Claire Goldsmith eyewear can be found here:

www.clairegoldsmith.com
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and of course ... by coming in to Ocean Optometry!

Interviews with a designer

One of the great things about being a completely independent office is that we get to pick and choose who we wish to work with and what ranges and products we wish to carry.  Being knowledgeable and excited about a range of frames is incredibly important to us.  It allows us to share our enthusiasm for the range with everyone and while we may be slightly geeky in our thirst for this knowledge, we are sure you will love the energy and passion with which we can discuss any of our products.

Attending the leading global eyewear exhibitions gives us an opportunity to not only find some fabulous eyewear, but also to meet the creative people who are responsible for it.  What we would love to be able to do is also enable all of our followers who are also passionate about eyewear to also meet these people, but that is unfortunately not possible.  Therefore, we are hoping to do the next best thing!

Having come up with a series of six questions, we are going to ask our favourite eyewear companies these questions and let's see how they answer!

Here are the six questions we've asked:

What was your inspiration to become an eyewear designer?

Do you have an all-time favourite frame that you designed?

Which city would like to travel to next?

Is there a particular material that you like working with or that you would like to work with?


How long does the process take from initial design to finished eyewear?

What influences do you draw on when creating your ranges?

Knowing what you are looking for ...

Sometimes people looking for new glasses already have an idea in mind about the type of glasses they would like.  It perhaps has come about through what are the current 'hot styles' in frames being sold, or it could be that they have seen a celebrity in a photograph wearing a particular frame.  There are even websites out there dedicated to telling you what glasses are being worn by which celebrities!
 
Having inspiration in your glasses selection can often be a good thing, but sometimes it can perhaps also be a restriction.

I was recently watching a television documentary and towards the end the producers had used the most wonderful incidental music to help capture the mood of the programme.  It was a simple series of about five chords, played on the piano.  It was melancholic, almost haunting, it was simple, elegant, beautiful ... and it was somehow familiar.  This was annoying - I thought that I knew the piece of music, but I couldn't remember where from, so the hunt was on.

I initially began to look for it having been used on some other television programmes, I searched all through all sorts of online forums relating to TV programmes and their incidental music (who'd have thought such a thing even existed!).  I was getting quite frustrated ... and quite distracted, but in a good way!

As I was searching for the source of the music I was finding many recommendations for other pieces by other composers and performers.  It is amazing how with only a few clicks of a mouse you can stumble on to something completely unknown to you.  To my delight I found a whole discography of albums that five minutes before were completely off of my radar.  I found out more about this music and was amazed at some of the performances on YouTube.  I was definitely going to have to find out more about this new discovery.

So what has this got to do with choosing new glasses?  Well it got me thinking ... and being an eye geek that means thinking about glasses!  While it's great to have an idea in mind as to what  you may like, but it's also good to be adventurous and open minded in your search.  Try on lots of different frames, look for styles around a particular theme, perhaps even try on something daring and different.  Whatever you do when you are choosing glasses, bear in mind that it is a tactile and a emotive decision, let your passion take over and enjoy the process!

Oh ... and that music ... well it was the piano chord progression from the song This Endless Rain, from the album Never Said Goodbye by Cerrys Matthews.

Yes, I did know it, we have that album on our music server at work!