American Optical main plant today. Now Southbridge Hotel and Conference Center

American Optical (Southbridge, MA) was originally formed in 1833 and is well known for for its contribution to the optical industry including many “firsts” in frame and lens design. Just to name a few of them:

1833 – first in America silver eyeglasses made by jewelers, 1843 – first steel spectacles made in America, 1848 – first gold frames, 1874 – first rimless spectacles, 1884 – first spherical lenses made of glass, 1893 – first toric lenses to correct astigmatism, 1907- automobile goggles, 1913 – UV protective glass lenses, 1921 – first lensometer introduced to measure lens power (which we proudly still use at Providence Optical, beside others), 1924 – progressive lens design, 1943 – development of anti-glare coating for small and large surfaces, 1980 – first scratch resistant hard coating on a lens, 1983 – first plastic photochromic lens, that change color when exposed to light…

We have a few pairs of sunglasses with original cases, made by American Optical. Lenses – tinted glass.

AO sunglasses with original case. Size 54

AO round, size 42 and 48

Size 53 x 19, tortoise

Size 53 x 19, black. But marked as 55mm