Eyewear Distributors and Wholesalers Key Terms

Understanding key terminology important to eyewear distributors and wholesalers

By Kim Finn

As an eyewear distributor or wholesaler, you should know great sales techniques, but it’s even more important to know your product. With roughly 64% of the U.S. adult population wearing eyeglasses, there’s a huge market, but eyewear distributors and wholesalers must understand the terminology your customers use if you're going to make the sales.

This guide provides definitions to some of the terms dealing with measurements and lens types used throughout the eyeglasses industry. Terms include: pupillary distance, Abbe value, diopter, CR-39, polycarbonate and Trivex.

Pupillary distance

Pupillary distance is the distance between the center of the pupils; it's measured in millimeters when eyes are looking off into the distance. Pupillary distance is also called pupil distance or PD.
Try: Learn more about pupillary distance and how to measure it at EyeBuyDirect.com.

Abbe value

Abbe value is the index used for measuring chromatic aberration in lenses. It is also referred to as the constringence of a transparent material or as the V number.
Try: Learn more about Abbe values, and view a list of examples at Allentown Optical Corp.

Diopter

Diopter refers to the refractive power of a lens. It's a unit of measurement that equals the reciprocal of focal length. When optometrists or ophthalmologists issue prescriptions using diopters, higher diopter measurements will require more vision correction.
Try: Read more about diopters at the Focusers website.

CR-39

CR-39, a plastic polymer, is frequently used in the lenses of eyeglasses. The material is approximately 50% lighter than glass. Though more susceptible to scratching, this flaw is easily corrected with a scratch resistant coating.
Try: For more information on CR-39 lenses, read about CR-39's history, marketing and continuing evolution at PPG Optical Products, the company that created CR-39.

Polycarbonate

Polycarbonate is a type of plastic that's commonly used in eyeglasses for children and anyone participating in sports because of the material's strength, light weight and impact resistance. Scratch resistant coatings added to polycarbonate lenses lessen the material's susceptibility to scratching.
Try: Visit the All About Vision website to learn more about the history of polycarbonate lenses, how they're made, how they're improved and the importance of selecting the right frame for the lenses.

Trivex

Trivex is a monomer developed in 2001 by PPG, the same company that created CR-39. Trivex is considered a vast improvement over CR-39 based on the material's light weight (lighter than polycarbonate), impact resistance and superior optical quality. Trivex lenses are sold under different names like Trilogy and Phoenix.
Try: Get more details on the pros and cons of Trivex lenses at Wholesale Optical Lens Laboratory.