Our lens lab in Cape Town
Torga Lens Manufacturing
See how your lenses are made, from the moment your order arrives to the final check, in the lab we have run in Cape Town since 1998.
Torga Optical Lens Manufacturing
The lab behind your lenses
Torga Optical Lens Manufacturing (Pty) Ltd, known as Torga Lens, is our own lens laboratory in Maitland, Cape Town. It makes the lenses we sell, from fashion eyewear to high-prescription spectacles, with German precision technology and raw materials sourced from around the globe.
Made to order, in our own lab
Your lenses are made, coated and fitted in the same lab. Because it belongs to Torga, your order goes straight to it, and your glasses are ready quickly. Your practice gives you your collection date when you order.
Need them urgently? Tell your practice: it deals directly with our lab.
Cape Town
No middleman: we make the lenses we sell, so a second pair for another part of your day is affordable.
How your lenses are made
From your order to your glasses, step by step
This is the road an order takes through the lab. With each step, what it means for you.
- The order arrivesYour practice sends the lab your prescription, the lens your optometrist recommended, your frame and the measurements taken on your face. That is how multifocals and specially made single vision lenses can be made around your frame and the way you wear it.
- Your lens is calculatedGerman lens design software works out the surface of your lens for your prescription, your frame and the way it sits on your face. We keep our designs up to date: in February 2021 the lab moved to version 4.0 of the software, which cut the unwanted blur at the sides of our multifocals. For you, that means wider, clearer zones to look through.
- SurfacingFreeform machines cut the back surface of the lens to the calculated shape, in plastic, polycarbonate, Trivex or glass. For you, that means a lens in the material that suits your prescription and your frame: thinner, lighter or stronger when you need it.
- PolishingA computer-driven process, and still a craft. Every curve and every material, from a flat rimless lens to a deeply curved sports lens, has to come out with a smooth, clear surface. For you, that means lenses that are clear to look through in the frame you choose, rimless or wraparound.
- Hard coatingBoth surfaces of every lens get a scratch-resistant hard coat, in fifteen stages, with the temperature, humidity and chemistry controlled throughout. For you, that means scratch resistance on the front and the back as standard, at no extra cost. It is scratch-resistant, not scratch-proof.
- Vacuum coatingIn a vacuum chamber the lab adds anti-reflection layers, water- and oil-repellent top coats, mirrors and the Clarity Comfort anti-fog coating, as your lenses need. For you, that means fewer reflections and lenses that are easier to keep clean.
- Edging and fittingAutomated edging machines cut each lens to the exact shape of your frame, including rimless and wraparound sports frames, and the lenses are fitted. For you, that means lenses that sit properly in the frame you chose.
- CheckingEvery pair is checked before it leaves the lab, then goes back to your practice for you to collect. For you, that means your glasses have been checked before they reach you.
The lab team includes lens technicians, process engineers, a coating department and a quality assurance team. Here are a few photos from inside the lab.
.jpg.webp)
At the bench
A member of the lab team at work, with orders stacked in trays beside them.
Computer-controlled machines
The lab's machines are run from touchscreens. Here a member of the team works at one.
Every pair is checked
A screen in the lab shows the result for a right and a left lens, with a green tick.
What the lab makes
Lenses, coatings and tints, all from one lab
The lab makes our whole lens range: single vision, bifocals and Flexivue freeform multifocals, in plastic, polycarbonate, Trivex and glass, with our own coatings, tints, polarised and light-reactive lenses.
Multifocals and single vision
Flexivue digital multifocals and specially made single vision lenses are surfaced in the lab for your prescription and your frame. For you, that means wider, clearer zones than a ready-made lens can give.
Hard coat on every lens
A scratch-resistant coat on the front and the back of every lens, at no extra cost. It protects your lenses from everyday wear and tear.
Anti-reflection and anti-fog
Clarity, Clarity Plus and Iridio reduce reflections at the screen, under office lights and when you drive at night. Clarity Comfort adds anti-fog, so your lenses stay clear.
Tints and light-reactive lenses
Tints from light to very dark, polarised prescription lenses that cut glare, and Flexi-Tint, our own light-reactive lens, clear indoors and darker outside. The lab has made Flexi-Tint itself since January 2024, and Torga Custom Tints since November 2025.
Read more about sun tints, polarised lenses and light-reactive lenses.
Thinner, lighter, stronger
When your prescription or your frame calls for it, the lab makes lenses in thinner, lighter or stronger materials, glass included. We recommend the thinnest lens that is right for your prescription and your frame.
Unusual prescriptions
If your prescription is unusual, our lab can usually make a plan. It also makes lenticular lenses for very strong prescriptions, which keep the lens thinner and lighter, prisms, and prescription lenses laminated into diving goggles. Please ask at your practice.
Standards
Registered, licensed and certified
What the lab holds
- ISO 9001 registered
- Licensed by SAHPRA, South Africa's health products regulator, to make medical devices
- Certified by Uvex to make its prescription safety eyewear
One-year manufacturer's warranty on all materials. We warrant all materials purchased, including frames and lenses, against manufacturing defects for one year from date of collection. Fair wear and tear, accidental damage and misuse are excepted.
The lab works with technical partners, including Automation & Robotics Belgium, OptoTech, MEI System and RX Office.
How the lab has grown
From a couple of double garages to 2,000 m²
- 1998Torga sets up its own lens laboratory in Cape Town, in a couple of double garages.
- 1998 onwardsThe lab adds dip coating, freeform lens manufacturing, vacuum coating for anti-reflection and mirrors, automatic edging and blocking, and a larger fitting department.
- February 2021Version 4.0 of the German lens design software, which cuts the unwanted blur at the sides of our multifocals.
- May 2021Clarity Comfort, our anti-fog anti-reflection coating.
- October 2021Personalised single vision lenses, the Invisible Bifocal and the Pilot multifocal.
- April 2023Backup power, so the lab keeps working through load shedding.
- January 2024The lab starts making Flexi-Tint, our own light-reactive lens, itself.
- November 2025Torga Custom Tints, as a standard tint or on Flexi-Tint.
Visit the Factory Outlet
Our Cape Town Factory Outlet, next to the lab
Maitland, Cape Town
Our Factory Outlet in Maitland is right next to our lens lab. At the outlet you can have:
- An eye test, with retinal imaging
- New lenses fitted to your favourite frames
- Your medical aid claim processed on-site. Most major medical aids are accepted, and the practice will confirm yours.
Location: Unit 28, M5 Freeway Park, Upper Camp Road, Maitland
Phone: 021 023 2613
Lenses made around your day
Book an eye test and your optometrist will talk you through the lenses that suit it.
Book an eye test