Nissel PMMA Contact Lens Trial Set
 Catalogue Number: 3157 Nissel PMMA Contact Lens Trial Set Category: Spectacles and lenses Sub-Category: Contact lenses and accessories Corporation: G Nissel & Co. (Aust) Year Of Publication/Manufacture: 1950s Time Period: 1940 to 1999 Place Of Publication/Manufacture: Melbourne Publisher/Manufacturer: G Nissel & Co. (Aust) Description Of Item: Blue leatherette case 95 mm x 95 mm x 23 mm with central clasp. Top is imprinted with G Nissel & Co. (Aust) Melbourne and a GN logo. Inside lid is padded with padded silk insert. The body of the case has a blue insert with ten recesses each containing a trial lens of 12 mm diameter. Lens base curves are engraved on the insert and the lens edge, which also has its dioptric power engraved. An elongated recess designed to hold a lens remover is in the centre of the lower section of the insert with the words Nissel Melbourne engraved below it. Historical Significance: G Nissel and Co. Australia Pty Ltd was set up about 1952 with its premises in Union Road Surrey Hills Victoria Australia. It was an associated but separate company to G Nissel and Co. in London. The company later changed its name to GNL Contact Lens Australia Pty Ltd. The original owner was a Mr Agnew who sold the business to Victor Lowe about 1954 and returned to England. Lowe had trained in optical dispensing and had worked for John Langley Pty Ltd a Melbourne wholesale optical laboratory. He and his associate Gordon Douglas studied precision optical manufacture at the Royal Melbourne Technical College and their company had a reputation for the optical quality of its contact lenses. It was one of about four Australian contact lens manufacturing companies in the mid 20th C. The company closed about 1986. See Cat No 1933 for John Strachan's recollections of the contact lens industry in Australia dated 2007. How Acquired: Donated by David Cockburn, Honorary Member of the College Date Acquired: 3/10/2016 Condition: Good Location: Archive room. West wall. Unit 6 Drawer 2 |