Glasses & Production
The OneDollarGlasses are made of flexible spring steel wire. They are very light and extremely stable at the same time. The material cost of a pair of glasses is about one US dollar.
The OneDollarGlasses
OneDollarGlasses are made from a lightweight and flexible spring steel frame that is extremely strong and durable. The shatterproof plastic lenses are clicked into the frame according to the strength determined by the eye test. The size of the glasses is determined by the width of the frame and the length of the temples. The glasses can be made to measure.
The retail price of the glasses is 2–3 local daily wages.
Why "OneDollarGlasses"?
The material for a pair of glasses costs about one US dollar. This includes the spring steel, the shrink tubes and two lenses.
The bending machine
A wooden box (30 x 30 x 30 cm) contains all the tools and equipment needed to make the OneDollarGlasses. The centrepiece is the bending machine, a device on a metal plate that allows the spring steel wires to be bent into precise shapes. There is also room in the box for hand tools for bending the middle piece, for turning the ironing spirals, for files and for shrink tubes.
The bending machine is extremely accurate. It bends to within 100ths of a millimetre and is very robust. The bending machine is manufactured centrally in Nuremberg, Germany. This ensures that the frames can be manufactured to the same high quality throughout the programme countries.
OneDollarGlasses: quality "Made in Germany" – made in Africa, Asia and South America.
Glass bending without electricity
The bending machine works without electricity. This means that the production of OneDollarGlasses in our program countries is not dependent on electricity.
Precision in detail:
Bend a pair of glasses with us.
The final touches
Up to 30 mistakes can be made when making a pair of glasses. This is why the final alignment of the frame is very important.
Just one click
The lenses can be clicked into the frame with a single movement.
Color markings
Glasses in different sizes can be produced on the bending machine: The yellow marking is for small spectacles, the red marking for medium spectacles and the blue marking for large spectacles.
Comfort is important
A shrink tube is applied by hand to the temples and nose bridge so that the glasses fit comfortably on the nose bridge and behind the ears.
The final touches
Up to 30 mistakes can be made when making a pair of glasses. This is why the final alignment of the frame is very important.
Just one click
The lenses can be clicked into the frame with a single movement.
Color markings
Glasses in different sizes can be produced on the bending machine: The yellow marking is for small spectacles, the red marking for medium spectacles and the blue marking for large spectacles.
Comfort is important
A shrink tube is applied by hand to the temples and nose bridge so that the glasses fit comfortably on the nose bridge and behind the ears.
The glasses
The shatterproof plastic lenses are easy to replace and can be bought separately at a reasonable price. This makes them easy to replace when needed. The standard lenses are always the same size, so they fit all sizes of glasses.
The opticians trained by EinDollarBrille association will bring ready-made frames in a variety of sizes and a large selection of pre-cut lenses to the eye camps. A lens kit contains a selection of ready-ground, unbreakable plastic lenses in diopters from –10 to 8 in 0.5 or 0.25 diopter increments.
The manufacturers
The frames are pre-manufactured in central production facilities in the countries of the global south. Once trained by EinDollarBrille association, the producers are given a permanent job and a monthly salary. In this way, we create valuable jobs in the countries of the Global South. Find out more:
Glasses for every occasion
OneDollarGlasses are available in a variety of styles to meet the different needs and desires of our customers.
Plastic frames complete our product range
Where possible or necessary, we offer conventional plastic frames in addition to the classic OneDollarGlasses made from spring steel. This is the case, for example, with glasses for people with corneal curvature (astigmatism).