Sterling Precision Optics, Inc. has been making Optical Lenses since 1956. Our first shop was in a store front in Blue Island, Illinois, USA. However the oldest lens artifact is the Nimrud lens, dating back 2700 years to ancient Assyria. David Brewster proposed that it may have been used as a magnifying glass, or as a burning-glass to start fires by concentrating sunlight. Another early reference to magnification dates back to ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs in the 8th century BC, which depict "simple glass meniscal lenses". Sterling Precision Optics, Inc. manufacturers very wide range of high quality lenses for a variety of applications. Listed below are the major types of lenses that Sterling manufacturers in its facility in Evanston Illinois, USA. We have been making lenses since 1956 and have thousands of radius gages and tooling to make your lens quickly. We also stock NBK7, Crown Glass, Pyrex and UV grade fused silica, which are the most common materials used to make optical lenses.