About Sightline Progressive Readers
Sightline started as a division of a 70-year-old company that sold tens of thousands of eyeglass frames and traditional reading glasses each month to optical stores throughout the United States.
In 2007, while on a buying trip in Milan, Italy, I was introduced to a French lens designer who had just completed a new lens design and patented a process for producing progressive reading lenses in volume. I had never seen anything like it.
As a reading-glass wearer myself, I immediately recognized how different these lenses were from the reading glasses I had used before. I could see the words on the page, look at my laptop, and see across the table at my colleagues—all without changing or removing what is now Sightline progressive readers. It was a revelation!
So, I took a few thousand of our optical eyeglass frames, fitted them with these new progressive reader lenses, and started selling Sightline readers to our optical shop customers. We were among the first to bring this type of progressive reader to the U.S. market.
Why Sightline Became an Independent Company
Our optical shop customers included some very large companies with dozens, and in some cases more than a hundred, retail stores.
But, most did not want to sell an optical-quality, ready-made progressive reader for $30 to $60. They preferred to sell expensive occupational lenses, office lenses, computer lenses, and office progressives in equally expensive frames at prices that could run into the hundreds of dollars.
I cannot tell you how many of our customers have told me stories of spending hundreds of dollars on progressive glasses that are now sitting in a drawer because they could not adapt comfortably to them. I saw a different approach.
We knew our lens design was easy to adapt to, and we knew we could produce a great product at a reasonable price. So, in 2018, Sightline became an independent company offering a ready-made progressive reader directly to consumers. No middleman markup. Great customer service. Optical-quality frames and progressive lenses at a reasonable price.
That direct-to-consumer approach remains at the heart of the company today.
The Same Formula Since 2007
The basic formula has not changed: Take an optical eyeglass frame, add Sightline progressive lenses, and ship the finished readers directly to you.
The result is a ready-made pair of progressive reading glasses designed to provide useful vision at more than one distance.
Sightline readers can be used for reading, computers, phones and tablets, and many other everyday activities: cooking, crafting, car repair, card playing… and those are only things that start with "C."
See the point?
And because buying glasses online means you cannot try them first, Sightline backs its products with free shipping and returns for a full refund, a six-month warranty, and a satisfaction guarantee.
What Makes Sightline Progressive Readers Different?
A conventional pair of old-fashioned reading glasses has one magnification throughout the lens. That works well for close-up reading, but it can be limiting when you look from a book to a computer screen or across the desk.
Sightline progressive readers use a lens with different areas of magnification that transition gradually through the lens. There is no visible line like you would find on a bifocal.
The idea is simple: one pair of glasses that can be useful at more than one distance.
This is also why Sightline readers are sometimes described as multifocal reading glasses, progressive power readers, or no-line progressive readers.
Sightline's Experience in the Optical Industry
Sightline's history is rooted in the optical industry. The company did not begin as an online eyewear business looking for a product to sell. It began with decades of experience supplying wholesale eyeglass frames and reading glasses to optical professionals.
That background continues to influence how Sightline selects frames, develops its products, and thinks about fit and lens performance.
Sightline's goal is not to offer the cheapest reader available. It is to provide a well-made progressive reader, that is easy to adapt to, is comfortable, and fits your face.
A Few Things You May Not Know About Sightline
Sightline began offering its progressive reading glasses in the United States well before multifocal reading glasses became widely available.
Sightline frame styles are designed in the USA.
Many pairs are assembled here too, and everything ships from the Chicago area.
Over half of Sightline's customers are repeat purchasers.
Many customers find Sightline through their eye doctor. - especially in the great state of Minnesota.
Advertising is not our favorite expense. We would rather put money into the product and keep prices reasonable than spend heavily on online advertising.
The Sightline Philosophy
The company has always been built around three things:
Quality. Value. Integrity.
Quality means starting with an optical-quality eyeglass frame and a beautifully designed progressive lens.
Value means offering quality readers directly to customers at a reasonable price.
Integrity means standing behind the product and treating customers fairly.
That philosophy has remained the same since Sightline's beginning.
Meet Bruce Malter
When I am not designing or shipping readers, you can usually find me out West skiing, underwater diving, at the track wrenching on (with readers on) my Spec Miata.
Sightline is still a small, hands-on company. We literally build and adjust (if needed) every pair of readers we ship.
Give Sightline a Try
Sightline offers a complete satisfaction guarantee and free shipping both ways.
If you have been using ordinary reading glasses and find yourself constantly taking them on and off, progressive readers may be a better fit for the way you use your glasses.
Sightline is the one pair you will always want to wear.
Sightline is the one pair you will always want to wear.
