Eschenbach Optik Nurnberg has celebrated its one hundred year anniversary at Opti – the international trade show for optics and design – held in Germany each year.
The Fair was held in snow bound Munich during January and by all accounts, the company made its presence known with an elaborate exhibition stand and a party for no less than 700 guests, who included Brett and Graham Sheil from Australia’s European Eyewear.
Eschenbach has much to celebrate. Having begun as a distributor of supplies (including Luxottica) to opticians, that ranged from geometric drawing instruments through to barometers, binoculars, driving goggles, optical frames, lenses and sunglasses, the company is now a leading eyewear manufacturer.
In fact, Eschenbach now supplies 12 per cent of all eyewear sold by German opticians, making it that country’s number one supplier (Luxottica comes in second). Eschenbach is also the world’s number one supplier of magnification products for the visually impaired.
A World Leader
The company’s transition from wholesaler to manufacturer, initially came from Eschenbach buying up its own suppliers. This resulted in Eschenbach for some years becoming Europe’s major manufacturer of compasses (which it no longer produces) and Germany’s main supplier of drawing instruments. In time, Eschenbach also became the world leader in research and development in such specific areas of optics as asphericity, diffraction optics, and lenses that enable L.E.D. lighting to be used to its full potential.
The company sealed its future as an eyewear manufacturer when it secured the licence to produce eyewear using the then revolutionary material TITANflex.
Then, in 1994, Eschenbach introduced Humphreys, a range designed for the youth market,
which, the company says “has grown to become one of the the most sold eyewear range in the world produced by a company with no retail outlets”.
The designer label Bogner came next and was followed by the fashion ranges Brendel and Fineline. More recently, Eschenbach secured the licence to produce the designer label Marco Polo and, not surprisingly, there are more brands in the pipeline.
A Commitment to Lens Development
As well as designing and manufacturing eyewear, Eschenbach is a world leader in lens technology. The company’s developments have contributed to L.E.D. lighting and lighting used in magnifiers such as Makrolux, Powerlux and Mobilux.
In eyewear and vision aids, Eschenbach’s research in the field of Performance Design Technology has enabled sheet material TITANflex to be used on the bridges of TITANflex frames, which no other manufacturer has achieved, and which opens up immense design possibilities.
Soon to arrive in Australia will be new developments in electronic magnification, in a unique mounting system for low vision telescopes, new designs in binoculars, and new children’s plastic models as a segment of its Humphrey’s range.
While many of the great names of German optics have either faded away or come under the ownership of international companies, Eschenbach has maintained its German identity, and its connection with its Franconian home city of Nurnberg. The company’s global position in eyewear, magnification, and specific areas of lighting technology, attest to the success of Eschenbach’s long held objective to be a leading provider of optimum vision.
In Australia, Eschenbach products have been distributed by European Eyewear since 1972.
