The Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Company was founded by a Royal Charter in 1629; it was granted the status of a Livery Company in 1809. The Company was empowered to set regulations and standards for optical devices; such a power was eroded away by the Industrial Revolution, after which trade restrictions were rendered difficult to enforce. The Company acquired the right, however, to set examinations that opticians had to pass before practising. Such a power was given up to the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) (now titled the College of Optometrists) in 1979, followed in the 1980s by examinations for dispensing opticians going to the Association of British Dispensing Opticians.

It was granted its charter by Charles I in 1629 and gave up its examining function in ophthalmic optics but continued a separate existence as one of the London Livery Companies.

Now, the Company supports charities and research in the field of optics, and conducts training and professional development including the two-year correspondence course for optical technicians that has national accredication in the British National Qualifications Framework. The Spectacle Makers' Company ranks sixtieth in the order of precedence for Livery Companies.

External link

• The Spectacle Makers' Company

See also

• College of Optometrists
• Association of British Dispensing Opticians
• / Optometry