How long does it take to make glasses in the Philippines?

It is the question every customer asks right after choosing a frame, usually because there is a trip, a job interview or a licence renewal on the calendar. The answer ranges from half an hour to about two weeks, and the range is not arbitrary.

The two things that decide your wait

Whether the lens exists yet. Common prescriptions in common materials are held finished in stock. The lens already has its power. All that remains is cutting it to the shape of your frame and fitting it. That is a 20 to 30 minute job.

Stronger prescriptions, progressives, and anything personalised to your measurements are surfaced to order. A blank is cut, curved, polished and coated specifically for you. That is a manufacturing process with a queue, and increasingly it happens at a laboratory abroad.

Where the lens is made. Lens houses in France, Israel, Japan and Hong Kong each have their own production and shipping rhythm. A Japanese premium lens is not slower because anyone is being careless. It is slower because it is being made to order and flown in.

Roughly what to expect

• Same visit, around 20 minutes. Stock single vision in common powers. Basic 1.50, Opulens Advanced 1.60 and Opulens Ultra 1.60 are held in stock and finished while you wait.
• One to two days. Stock photochromic and some coated options, such as Essilor Photochromic Elements White 1.56 and Essilor Transitions Classic HMC 1.56, plus entry progressives in the Essilor Elements White 1.56 range.
• Three to five days. Lenses surfaced in France or Japan, including Essilor Blue Light Single Vision and Nikon Seemax Infinite Z.
• Seven to nine days. Shamir lines made in Israel, including Shamir Opulens Exact and the Shamir Autograph progressives.
• Ten to twelve days. The thinnest and most individualised work, such as Tokai BIR-W and Tokai HR-W from Japan.

Ask the store to confirm the current lead time for your exact lens on the day you order. Production schedules and flights move.

What adds time that people do not expect

• A high prescription. Strong powers need thinner, individually surfaced material. The stronger your grade, the less likely a stock lens fits.
• Progressives. These are personalised to your frame, your fitting height and how you hold your head. They are surfaced, never stocked, above the entry tiers.
• Tints and polarisation. A prescription sunglass adds a tinting or polarising step after surfacing.
• A rimless or drilled frame. The lens has to be shaped and drilled precisely, which is careful bench work.
• A remake. If something in the final check is off, the honest answer is to remake it rather than hand it over. That resets the clock, and it is the right call.

How to plan around it

• Book the eye test at least two weeks before any trip or deadline. That covers even the longest lead time comfortably.
• If you need something on the day, say so at the start. The team can steer you toward the stock options rather than letting you fall in love with a lens that takes ten days.
• Consider a stock pair now and a premium pair on order. With the store-wide Buy 1 Get 1 50% offer, a fast everyday pair plus a made-to-order pair is a sensible split rather than a compromise.
• Do not throw out your old pair until the new one is collected and checked.

Book a Vision7 eye test at your nearest Vision Express store

Our seven-step comprehensive eye exam gives the laboratory an accurate prescription to work from, which is the single biggest factor in a pair being right the first time rather than going back for a remake.

If you need glasses today, ask for Opulens Advanced 1.60 at the counter. It is held in stock, so your pair is cut and fitted in around 20 minutes, and the 1.60 material keeps the lens slimmer than a basic stock option would at the same grade. If you can wait and you want the thinnest possible lens for a strong prescription, ask about Tokai HR-W instead, made in Japan in 10 to 12 days.

Whichever you choose, you get free lifetime ultrasonic cleaning, free lifetime custom fitting and adjustment, and a one-year warranty on all eyeglasses and sunglasses.