Why Crizal Sapphire HR is a ‘Must-Have’ for Your Patients

Since 1997, Crizal has represented a different approach to lens surfaces, providing patients with attractive, durable eyewear.

Last year, Essilor introduced Crizal Sapphire HR, the latest, most advanced version of its anti-reflective technology. Featuring the same advanced technologies found in previous generations of Crizal Sapphire, and with the new addition of High-Resistance Technology, Crizal Sapphire HR features nanoscopic layers that result in an invisible and powerful shield for patients’ eyes. 

As an optician, providing my patients with the highest quality products is one of my top priorities. This has certainly been the case with Crizal Sapphire HR. Crizal No-Glare coatings are integrated into the lens itself, which is why they are so durable. The High-Resistance Technology found in Crizal Sapphire HR represents another step forward in durability. The oxides used in the anti-reflective stack have been optimized in three ways: 

  1. The more durable oxides in the stack have been made thicker. 
  2. The oxide layers are denser.
  3. A new oxide (that I hear is strong enough that the aerospace industry is using it in very demanding environments) has been incorporated into the stack. 

All of this results in an anti-reflective stack that has extreme durability. Many of us are familiar with Crizal Sapphire 360° UV and Crizal Rock. If you put those two technologies together, you get Crizal Sapphire HR — a No-Glare coating with the best in clarity, reduced reflections, and durability.

Anti-Reflective Coating is for Every Patient
I’ve been an optician for a long time. I remember when hard coating was a $20 option back in the 1980s. Most people purchased it for their plastic lenses, but some didn’t. Then, manufacturers quit making non-hard coated lenses, so we just added the cost of the hard coating into the base price of the lens. 

Guess what? When we included the cost of scratch coating into the lens, 99% of patients happily paid for the increased durability without comment (and for the 1% who requested lenses with no hard coating, we took $10 off and called it a day). 

I believe if opticians included no-glare as part of their recommendations, the results would be similar. When I go to trade shows such as Vision Expo, every pair of glasses I see has no-glare. However, less than half of all Americans who wear glasses have no-glare on their lenses. For heaven’s sake, you know no-glare will improve your patient’s vision, so why wouldn’t you encourage your staff to ensure it is recommended to every patient?

If you want your patients to see their best, their lenses need to have no-glare, as this improves contrast perception at night. If you want your patients’ glasses to look their best, their lenses need to have no-glare. (Would you wear glasses that didn’t have no-glare?) If no-glare is a “must have” for your own glasses, it should be a “must have” for your patients as well.

This Coating is Highly Accessible
Although I’ve been employed by EssilorLuxottica for some time now, I still oversee operations of our employee optical shop. So, I still get the chance to get into my “optician groove” and fit eyewear. I can’t remember the last time I ordered a lens without a Crizal No-Glare surface.

Now that Crizal Sapphire HR is available, it is my go-to. I personally spend a lot of time hiking and riding in the woods, and I’ve had the opportunity to witness firsthand how durable my own lenses are. (I’m not the best patient when it comes to taking care of my eyewear.) The technology is also available on almost every lens type and material available and covered by all major managed vision care plans, which makes it a viable option for just about every patient who walks into your optical. 

Focusing on Patients’ Needs
Crizal No-Glare lenses with High Resistance Technology may be the toughest lenses on the market. They’re harder to scratch and easier to clean than non-AR coated lenses. I’ve sat through a lot of market research over the years, and other than being able to see better, patients want their glasses to last a long time. Statistically, American consumers replace their eyewear every 2.4 years on average, and I know a Crizal Sapphire HR No-Glare lens is going to probably be in great shape at the end of that time span. Of course, any lens can be scratched, but it takes some “really bad behavior” on the part of your patient to scratch a Crizal Sapphire HR No-Glare lens.

Crizal Sapphire HR lenses are the most attractive No-Glare lenses you can put in a pair of eyewear, due to its best-in-class transparency. You’re always going to have the patient who regrets their frame choice, but I can’t recall a patient who has ever regretted the addition of Crizal to their eyewear. The repurchase rate for Crizal is 97%,1 which pretty much speaks for itself.

I take a needs-based dispensing approach, which means I listen to the needs of the patient and base my recommendation on what they say. Anyone over the age of 16 who wears glasses is going to value seeing better during night driving, and no one wants their glasses to look unattractive. With Crizal Sapphire HR, you’re going to see your best, look your best, and your glasses are going to be incredibly tough. That’s not very hard to recommend!

References

1 (2016) Consumer study of 896 participants who purchased Crizal lenses in connection with a promotion, conducted by Essilor.

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Author
  • Pete Hanlin, VP, Professional Services, EssilorLuxottica and ABO Master Optician

    Pete Hanlin began his career in the ophthalmic industry in 1989. He managed several optometric practices and ophthalmic laboratories until his employment by Essilor of America in 2002, where he is currently Vice President of Professional Services and Ophthalmic Operations. Hanlin serves as an industry representative on the ANSI Z80 standards committee and has been a CE speaker for over 20 years. A graduate of Lee University, Hanlin is designated as a Master Optician by the American Board of Opticianry. He resides in Hickory Creek, Texas, with his wife Debbie and grandson Ayden.

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