Glasses
Quality Assurance
General supervision of Prescription Spectacles
Brilliantspec’s supervising dispensing and ophthalmic opticians "the supervising optician" supervise the sale of each pair of spectacles ordered from Brilliantspecs. The supervision process involves utilising professional skill and judgment as a clinician over the sale. The supervising optician shall have absolute discretion to exercise his/her professional skill and judgment as a clinician over each sale. This discretion includes but is not limited to deciding that a consultation with an optician is necessary, discussing the order with the customer and otherwise advising the customer and, where necessary, rejecting the order if the prescription or other circumstances are such that it would not be appropriate for Brilliantspecs to fulfill the order.
Every spectacle order placed with Brilliantspecs must be reviewed, checked and approved by one of Brilliantspecs’s supervising opticians and the supervising optician must certify that the order has been reviewed, checked and approved before any spectacles ordered by any customer are sent out.
The check performed by the Brilliantspecs supervising optician is the second check of two checks, the first of which is performed by the laboratory technician.Both in-house and external glazing labs aspire towards the highest standards with continued investment ensuring that the service stays at the forefront of glazing technology. To ensure that the external glazing labs provide the best quality, only labs using a Quality Management System conforming to British Standards ISO 9001:2000 are used.
The supervising optician who reviews the order is responsible for identifying any anomalies or potential problems with the order and has absolute discretion to exercise his/her professional skill and judgment as a clinician over the sale. If, for example, the supervising optician considers that the difference in power of the two lenses in a prescription is such that spectacles made to the prescription could cause discomfort for the customer, then the supervising optician may contact the customer to advise. The supervising optician is expected to act in the best interests of the customers and has absolute discretion over the sale. Should the supervising optician's decision be to not allow the sale, this decision is final.
The Brilliantspecs Spectacles Team will endeavour to:
- Check that the spectacle lenses are clean and match the prescription ordered to the correct person using the Order details entered by the customer as a guide
- Check that the prescription is current using the expiry date of the prescription as entered by the customer as a guide
- Check that the frame supplied to the customer are those specified in the customer's order and correct for each spectacle wearer in the case of a single dispatch of multiple orders
- Ensure the customer knows which pair of spectacles is for which spectacle wearer in the case of a single dispatch of multiple orders
- Ensure that important information on care of spectacles and adaptation to spectacles is directly available to each customer
- Ensure as far as reasonable, without breaching the Data Protection Act, that the client is not registered as visually impaired or severely visually impaired
- Reinforce the need for regular eye exams
- Check that adequate records are kept for each customer and ensure that any errors that may occur are drawn to the attention of the registered opticians or optometrists.
General supervision of Contact Lenses
The sale or supply of contact lenses by Brilliantspecs as it relates to UK customers takes place under the general direction of General Optical Council registered optometrists. Whilst the optometrists may not be in a position to ensure that no untoward consequences occur, they will ensure that the systems used for verification and supply are robust and followed correctly. Therefore, Brilliantspecs ensures that a traceable audit trail exists.
Brilliantspecs protocol includes adequate training of its customer service team to ensure that they are trained in the procedures to be followed and possess a working knowledge of the types of contact lenses available and the different care regimes.
The Brilliantspecs Contact Lens Team perform the following checks prior to the dispatch of any contact lens order:
- Check that the lenses are for the correct person using the written specification as a guide
- Check that the specification is current and that the supply of lenses will not be for a longer period of time than the expiry of the specification
- Check that the lenses supplied to the customer are those specified in the customer's contact lens specification
- Ensure the customer knows which lens is for which eye by providing clear labels and written details
- Ensure that important information on care solutions and how to handle lenses is given
- Ensure as far as reasonable without breaching the Data Protection Act, that the client is not registered as visually impaired or severely visually impaired
- Reinforce the need for regular contact lens check-ups, advising the customer when their next scheduled contact lens consultation is due when the prescription has expired and not supply contact lenses should the customer not provide the updated prescription.
- Check that adequate records are kept for each customer and ensure that any errors that may occur are drawn to the attention of the generally directing optometrists.
Optical assistants and Support Staff
Brilliantspecs partner, 20/20 Optical Store, employs and works in collaboration with a framework of optical assistants, dispensing opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists across the UK and abroad.
Limitations of online supply of contact lenses and spectacles
Brilliantspecs have checks in place requiring each customer to certify that the person for whom spectacles or contact lenses are being ordered is over 16 years old, and that they are not registered blind or partially sighted. When ordering, customers are required to provide Brilliantspecs with all details of their prescription including their name, date of birth and any notes on the prescription.
Brilliantspecs will only supply contact lenses upon receipt of a valid, unexpired prescription and in accordance with the exact lens type specified by the prescribing optometrist.
Brilliantspecs will not supply spectacles or contact lenses to any person under the age of 16 years, registered blind or partially sighted.
At this time Brilliantspecs supervising opticians will only permit the online supply of spectacles where the spectacle prescription falls within the prescription ranges of SPH +4.00 to - 6.00 Dioptres, CYL +/- 2.00 Dioptres and ADD power of between +1.00 and +3.00 Dioptres.
In cases of spectacle prescriptions for lenses with a high power sphere or cylinder (between - 4.00 to -6.00 SPH, at +4.00 SPH and at +/-2.00 CYL) or a difference of more than 2 Dioptres between the 2 eyes, a Brilliantspecs supervising optician may contact the customer to discuss the order. The supervising optician must verify the prescription, advise the customer on lens thickness, lens weight and frame suitability, and on any potential intolerance. If no pupillary distance measurement is included in the prescription, the supervising optician may request that the customer submits a pupillary distance measurement.
Prescription Checks
Spectacle Prescriptions: Brilliantspecs requires each spectacle wearer placing a spectacles order to certify that they are currently in possession of a written prescription for the spectacles ordered, where such prescription has been issued by a registered medical practitioner or registered optometrist ("the spectacle wearer's optician") following the testing of sight by him or her within the last 24 months if the spectacle-wearer is under 70 years old, or within the last 12 months if the spectacle-wearer is aged 70 or over, and that any recommended retest date has not elapsed. Brilliantspecs will perform verification checks on spectacle prescriptions if necessary.
Contact Lens Prescriptions: To process a contact lens order Brilliantspecs must receive a copy of the contact lens prescription provided by a registered optometrist, registered contact lens or medical practitioner which is less than 12 months old. When supplying a contact lens prescription on behalf of someone else ("the contact lens wearer"), Brilliantspecs will check that the full name and date of birth of the contact lens wearer is clearly indicated. Brilliantspecs will perform verification checks on contact lens prescriptions if necessary.
Pupillary Distance Requirement for Spectacles
Brilliantspecs supervising opticians recommend that spectacle wearers provide a pupillary distance (PD) measurement. In the absence of this Brilliantspecs shall use an appropriate average pupillary distance set by its supervising opticians. Based on over 100 000 pairs of spectacles made, the average distance PD is 63mm, the average intermediate PD is 61mm and average near PD is 60mm.
A pair of spectacles performs optimally when the spectacle lenses are inserted into the frames matching the distance between the customer’s eyes such that the center of each lens is aligned with the center of the customer’s pupils. To achieve this, the pupillary distance measurement or PD, the distance between the pupils of the eyes, is required. Most prescriptions given by high street opticians will not include a PD measurement. You will need to request this and your opticians may make a small charge to specifically measure your PD.
Should an average pupillary distance measurement be used and this generally works very well for most customers, some customers who have always had very particular PD measurements taken, strong prescriptions and those whose pupillary distance is significantly different from the average, may experience problems. The spectacles will not damage or harm the eyes but they may cause discomfort or eye strain.
If a customer experiences difficulties using their spectacles after deciding to use an average pupillary distance measurement, Brilliantspecs will replace their spectacles using the customer's specific pupillary distance measurement, which must be provided to Brilliantspecs by the customer, or give a full refund.
Customers can also send in existing spectacles made to their prescription to be copied by Brilliantspecs to ensure the same PD measurement is used.
Best fit Frames
Customers may enter existing frame measurements into the search box provided by the website using our Help page section "Finding the right sized frames" as a guide. Frames that most closely match the measurements of the customer’s existing pair will be shown. If a frame fits poorly (too large or too small), some physical discomfort may be experienced, but the spectacles will not damage or harm the eyes.
Quality of Products and Glazing Standards
All Brilliantspecs frames, sunglasses, accessories, contact lenses and spectacle lenses meet the requirements of all relevant European legislation and are CE marked. Brilliantspecs only purchase spectacle lenses from suppliers that are registered with the MHRA and whose work complies with applicable British standards. No cellulose nitrate or celluloid is used in the manufacture of spectacles.
Both in-house and external glazing labs aspire towards the highest standards with continued investment ensuring that the service stays at the forefront of glazing technology. To ensure that the external glazing labs provide the best quality, only labs using a Quality Management System conforming to British Standards ISO 9001:2000 are used.
Each spectacle lens produced by Brilliantspecs is quality checked and tested using a regularly calibrated focimeter to confirm that it matches the customer’s prescription and all spectacles are checked visually for frame faults prior to dispatch.
Aftercare Provisions
Brilliantspecs provides each customer a Care Guide for both spectacles and contact lenses. This advice is prepared by the supervising optometrists and is updated regularly. This Care Guide recommends regular eye exams, regular contact lens consultations, offers advice on the proper fitting and use of contact lenses and spectacles as well as advice on cleaning with associated care products. The guide also provides customers the email address of the supervising opticians: optician@brilliantspecs.co.uk
The supervising optometrists have absolute discretion and all orders are covered by Brilliantspecs’s 28-day money-back guarantee. If the spectacles are unsuitable and the customer feels, for whatever reason, that they need to be returned, Brilliantspecs offers a full refund or replacement. Contact lenses and Accessories may be returned in accordance with the conditions stated in the returns policy.
BrilliantSpecs has taken every effort to ensure that the information on this website is correct, accurate and up to date. BrilliantSpecs shall not be liable to you where any loss or damage which results from information provided by you that is inaccurate, false or misleading or that otherwise results from a breach by you of the Terms and Conditions. It is your responsibility to ensure that your prescription is valid, up to date and accurate and that you attend regular eye examinations as recommended by your optician.