New York / Vision East Expo Day 3

The day started bright and clear, but cold.  We shouldn't really complain, though, as we'd escaped the snow storm which had battered Nova Scotia over the last 24 hours so we were fortunate to be in New York.

This day was going to be a very special day - TD Tom Davies's Creative Lab.  We were invited to spend a whole day with Tom and his team to have further training in the creation, design and modification of spectacle frames.  We have carried the TD Tom Davies range since we opened and already felt very comfortable and confident with our abilities to bespoke the measurements for specific requirements and create unique colour combinations as one-off eyeglasses for our patients.  It is always good, however, to refresh our knowledge and we wondered what else the day would bring.

A short stroll from our hotel brought us to the very cool Ink 48 hotel, one of New York's fine boutique hotels.  In we went and straight up the elevator to the penthouse floor.  While this may seem lavish, the cost was a fraction compared to exhibiting at the main show and many of the frame companies we work with choose this option as it helps protect their concepts and designs from the prying eyes of those who would simply wish to copy them.

The Creative Lab awaits

As we come out of the elevator, at the end of the corridor an open door and sign beckons - this is kind of exciting, I have to say!

Wow!  We walk in to the suite and are greeted with 180° views of the Manhattan skyline and out over the Hudson River.  We meet with Tom and Nathan, it's great to quickly catch up with them since we last met in Paris.  While we chat regularly by phone and e-mail, there's nothing better than meeting face to face to really catch up.

One of the limited edition pieces

To start the day we review the collection of frames that Tom has with him.  This represents not only his full collection, but also some limited edition pieces and also some prototypes which are current works in progress. 

We were looking to choose five or more frames that we liked or inspired us to then work on.  This particular blue on blue titanium/acetate limited edition model definitely caught my eye.

Lots of choices

With the pieces chosen, the next thing was to download all of the CAD files from Tom's database.  With the CAD printed off we were then set to work.  Tom gave an introduction to designing and modifying frames from the drawings.

This is a very different experience to modifying a frame for a particular patient, here you are given a complete free reign - you can change a thickness here, an angle there, even modify the position of different components on the frame.  Whatever you can imagine can be achieved, of course, whether it will work or not is another matter!

CAD with modifications

It's almost overwhelming to begin with.  Perhaps inside every eye geek is an inner feeling that they could be an eyewear designer.  Now we were having a chance to try our hands at it, it's almost like being a kid in a candy store and being told you can pick anything ... everything!  Where to start!?

With a few swoops of a pencil, though, we started to get in to a groove.  I like how the frame is here, but I'd change the frame there.  I like the bridge from this frame, so I'll use it on that one.  All the time Tom, Nathan and Josh were coming around; checking how we were getting on, making gentle suggestions; explaining what would and wouldn't work.  We also started comparing each other's designs and it is amazing the variety of different options that you can come up with you start to look at this.

The setting was inspirational as well, with so many beautiful frames laid on every available surface we were never short of different designs to look at.  Even gazing around the skyline, though, you start to notice different elements from the architecture around and the colours of the city.  Could they be incorporated?  Why not.

When we were happy, Tom would review each individual design and if it was acceptable, it was photographed for e-mailing to his CAD designers to get new drawings made up.  All of this before lunch!  Amazing!

In the afternoon we worked with Tom on the next level of customisation available with the TD Tom Davies range - Couture.  With the Bespoke service we can make an adjustment of up to +/- 5mm on any measurement, with Couture we take it even further.  This opens up the possibility to complete re-design a frame for a customer.  To take the concepts of the morning's work of modifying CAD's and actually applying them for real.  By taking this next step we can be assured of an absolutely perfect fit when creating unique eyeglasses.  We take additional measurements of head dimensions and use a fitting set of frames to be sure that the nosebridge will fit perfectly.

Just as with the morning's exercise we will receive a CAD before production and have a software tool to use in office to modify the design as much as necessary while working with the design on picture.  This level of service ensures that at Ocean we are offering the very best eyewear options, bar none, so we are incredibly excited to be incorporating it into our office.

Buffalo Horn Plate

We also spent some time looking at the development of Tom's line of natural buffalo horn frames.  Buffalo horn is not a new material for eyewear, but there is definitely a growing interest in it.  Like many natural materials it is slightly unpredictable in its nature and has certain nuances or quirks which you have to respect when working with it and wearing it.

For all of these drawbacks, it is an incredible material - light, strong, comfortable and with wonderful colours.  Tom also has a wonderful take on it.  As with all his eyewear, the horn frames can be made to order, starting with the customer choosing the very two plates of horn which the frame will be cut out of - unbelievable!

It is amazing how the day passed, soon it was evening and our training day was over.  We had taken in so much information during the day and really covered so much ground, all of us were enthused with new ideas and a thoughts about how to share these with Ocean Optometry.  There's really not much more to add, the sun set, a few drinks were poured and we were reassured that by working with TD Tom Davies we were working in a relationship of mutual respect and friendship.


A few more thoughts from the day are best captured by pictures:

The finished CAD from Dr McG's design - looking forward to seeing him in this one!

The sun shining over the Hudson River

Prototypes and limited editions

The inspiring skyline

A special thanks to TD Tom Davies, Tom himself and Nathan for creating such an informative, enjoyable and fun day!

New York / Vision East Expo Day 2

Phew, we made it!

That was our immediate thought on arriving in New York, but now the sun is rising on our first day and we have something which is a little strange to us all, some free time!  What to do?  There were many different options.  Should we just have a fun day seeing the sights and soaking up the atmosphere of The Big Apple (of course this would really be work as a staff bonding exercise and a review of the levels of service provided by various outlets which we may visit - honest).  Perhaps we should try to see our suppliers early or even we could visit other optometry and optical offices in the city and do a little covert research.

In the end a compromise was reached, we'd do some sightseeing in the morning and in the afternoon Dr McGinty and Dr Wilson would go to a continuing education symposium.

Times Square

So we headed out from the Yotel to Times Square, looking to find a suitable establishment for breakfast.  This time of the morning is always a great time in any of the global hubs.  The city feels not quite awake, like it's slowly sipping a coffee and gently opening its eyes.

A great time to see the workers hurrying to get to their place of work, to see shops and offices sleepily opening up, cabs crawling around hopefully looking for fares which are thin on the ground.

You also get to see things without being surrounded by crowds of tourists, it's like a private moment with the city.  We got to Times Square at around 7.30am and although it was cold and grey, the lights of the advertising boards were blazing, crying out their messages to an empty audience.  We stop for just a moment to take it all in, it's all very surreal as it feels like we've really stolen a moment from time - we are starting to hear the news reports from home - school and business closures ahead of the storm, weather warnings as the storm starts to move through the province.

With breakfast taken care of in a friendly diner, we decided that the best way to tackle the sightseeing would be an open-top bus tour.  This would allow us to get a real overview of the city in the few hours that we had.  We choose our company, bought our tickets and when the bus arrived found our way to the top.

Looking down 7th Ave

With a slightly raised view and a great tour guide on the bus, although we felt like tourists, it was great to hear the stories and take in the scenes.

It's not our first time in New York, all of us have visited before, but it's a fun way to spend some time with friends who are also colleagues, in an environment which is not our normal one.

Despite the chill weather we also know that we are not suffering anything like the storm that is now landing on Nova Scotia.  There are definite wind blowing here, but as we speak to family and to Mike, who is holding fort at Ocean, we realise how lucky we are to have made the decision to get away ahead of the storm.  What a winter it's been and we really have escaped what seems to have been the really big storm of the season.  So help you understand just how we are empathising, here's a few more photos from New York!

Empire State Building

This is the new World Trade Center.  The tower on the left with the spire is actually the tallest tower in the Western Hemisphere, although the angle of the photo doesn't show it.  We loved the mix with the old church in the foreground and these utterly modern buildings behind.  Don't be fooled by the blue sky, it was all terribly hard work and we were suffering for you to get these photographs as it was bitterly cold.  Honest.

We wrap up the end of the tour with a walk from the Rockefeller Center to Central Park, down 5th Avenue.  So many iconic names and buildings just filling us to the brim with New York buzz.  It's time for our party to split up, though.  Our Docs, John & Euan were going to go to the international contact lens symposium - a world's first; and Erin was going to enjoy some fine artwork at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The afternoon's continuing education was a great opportunity just to make sure we are completely up to speed with current trends and thinking in the contact lens world.  There is always additional knowledge and development to be gained in optometry and this gift day provided an unexpected opportunity for Euan and John to do just that.  The room was well set with some high-brow lecturers and they both enjoyed the various topics covered, especially the final panel debate between three speakers covering the different options for lens modalities (daily V's two-weekly V's monthly lens disposal).

In particular our Docs were really pleased to hear Nick Rumney give an overview of current contact lenses as Nick was a tutor of Euan's at Cardiff University.  It was also great to listen to what Dr Justin Bazan from Brooklyn had to share with the symposium on social media and its use within the modern optometry office and in particular in relation to contact lenses.

Erin, in the meantime, headed for a walk further up Central Park to the Met.  This is not her first visit to the Met, but it provides a rare opportunity for Erin to really soak up the atmosphere of the museum at her own pace.  There are so many wonderful exhibits spanning a massive timeline throughout history it is hardly surprising that this is the largest collection of art in the United States.  We'll add some photos when we have selected just the right ones, after all it's not like we have almost seven hundred to sift through to find just the right ones!

In the evening the group of friends re-convened to share their experiences, swap stories and tell tales.  All in all it has been a wonderful day, a real gift given to us.  Nova Scotia ended up being battered by blizzards, sure enough, so we made the right decision to get away early.

That evening we had a wonderful Indian meal.