CraftOptics

Now she can see the detail. I’ve been making tapestry for years and years. I guess you could say it’s in the genes—my grandmother was really artistic and I guess I picked a bit of that up. The piece I’m working on right now is for my son’s new family. My daughter in-law is expecting a child in February. So I guess I’ve got a deadline now. I’ve got a little less than 5 months to finish and I have quite a way to go yet.

I’ve got cataracts and it’s hard for me to see. I can’t really work at night because it’s hard to read the charts—they’re so detailed and each of the dozens of colors has a code. I’m constantly referencing the chart—it’s back and forth between working between the tapestry and chart. It’s detailed work and the patterns I work on take months to finish. So if you make a mistake it’s a huge deal.

Before I wore these telescopes I would wear two pairs of glasses to do this work, one stacked on top of the other, to get the magnification I needed.

I’m a bit obsessive about things, and once I get started I just have to keep at it until it’s done. When I’m working I can just go for hours and hours—I just get into the flow of the pattern and it’s really relaxing.

She fixes time. I’ve worked on watches for years and I’m used to being hunched over and scrunched up with a monocle in one eye to focus on extreme detail, leaving the other eye to see the bigger picture. It’s a disjointed experience, but one that with time I got used to. With the telescopes it’s a much more seamless experience. The biggest challenge was to remember not to hunch over and to allow myself to be comfortable. The telescopes have been great for my neck and spine. I have arthritis that affects my back and it’s been a real challenge to work for long periods of time, but now I can do everything and it’s much more comfortable. When I’m not at work I also do a lot of beading/jewelry-making with turquoise and the telescopes are great for that detailed work too.


She knits to relax. Being a wife, mother and full-time social worker is hard work. I don’t get a lot of time to myself. I’m almost always helping people who really need me. When the day is done I need to do something wholly different with my brain—I need to create something, even if it’s a gift to someone else, for me.



I think making things by hand is my therapy prescription to myself. It makes me feel human again and part of something bigger, something historical. It’s so easy to go out and buy a sweater, but it’s never as satisfying as wearing one you constructed from the very first to the very last stitch. It’s a feeling that everyone should have an opportunity to experience.



As I’ve aged it’s gotten harder for me to knit for as long comfortably because of changes in my eyesight. I think it’s just as important to be comfortable doing what you love as it is to do that thing. The telescopes have allowed me to really relax and enjoy knitting again. It’s something I really look forward to again.

He looks for bugs. When I’m not looking for bugs on my computer as web programmer, you can find me looking for them outdoors as an entomology enthusiast.

During my graduate years in the entomology department I tried a variety of magnification tools. There was usually a trade-off between magnification and ease-of-use and comfort. CraftOptics Telescopes provide me with a perfect combination of magnification, clarity and comfort. Plus they’re hands-free. Previously I would have had to remove whatever device I was wearing so that I could see with just my eyes. With CraftOptics Telescopes I am able to use the magnification feature and also just my eyes when I want without taking them off.

It’s really easy to focus and get lost in what I’m doing when I’m wearing CraftOptics Telescopes. They free me of the inconveniences other devices present—my hands are now always free, I only need one pair to get all the features I want, and I don’t have to put the subject right in my face in order to see it.

He preserves the past. I use the telescopes to help inspect these works of art—to hinge and unhinge works on paper. The thing that these telescopes are super useful for is when I have to peer up under a mounting of a print or a drawing. Almost all the art come to us matted and many times the mats are so funky and need to be reworked for exhibition. Sometimes they’re mounted with up to 40 little hinges and I need to reach in with a scalpel and carefully tear the hinges without tearing the paper. I used to use a visor—but that required that I get really really close to see. And that would mean that I’m breathing all over the art and sometimes it means I have to be all hunched over and still not really able to see deep underneath the art. Using the CraftOptics Telescopes allows me to work in a more natural position and I can see a much larger area.

I don’t do any conservation but I can imagine that theses would be really helpful when working on really large work–murals and artwork that isn’t easy to get under a microscope.

He sees the groove now. At my core I’m really just a frustrated musician—I noodle around on my guitar some. When I was in college I thought I knew what music I liked—and then in college I got introduced to jazz and my eyes were opened—and I grew into a very dedicated listener. And I began to collect records and try to get the best components I could buy. Over time I graduated from my tape deck to a Riga Planar 3 and now on to this.

Anyone can tell the difference between a recording of a Stradivarius and the real thing. There’s a richness of tone a sense of space in the music that we naturally detect and that some of us crave. As an audiophile my goal is to minimize any of the distractions or artifacts of the recording, reproduction, and amplification of music while capturing all the nuances that go with the real thing. So naturally I prefer the analog recordings onto vinyl. This process captures the whole of the sound and not just a sampling. As the needle is dragged over the record if it’s not aligned properly it will catch one channel more than another —and the sound isn’t reproduced accurately—so aligning the turntable is essential to the listening experience.

If I’m aligning the turntable tonearm to within half a millimeter then I’m doing pretty good. That said, the difference between good enough and just right is huge. With the telescopes it’s like 100 times easier and faster. Adding on a light to the telescopes would be really helpful too.

She creates jewelry and sculpture. I was trained as a goldsmith, but for years I’ve worked with gold, silver and gemstones to create conceptual objects—things like rings that are all too small or pieces of jewelry that I’ve created in the style of different time periods, but that also tell their own interesting, sometimes ironic story. I’ve been a professor in the Art Department at UW-Madison for the past 9 years and before that I was head of the Jewelry Design Program at Parsons in New York City. My work is small and I haven’t been able to work without magnification for years. I need it for just about everything I do—sawing, soldering,and setting gem stones. Before I found these telescopes I wore a visor. It did the job—but these are much better—they’re more comfortable and they have the flexibility to let me see multiple distances clearly. The work is very time consuming and the materials are valuable—so seeing that I can get it just right is so important.

Antonio was born to create beauty in details. He began making art at the age of 13 in Bolivia where he was born. After high school he moved to Europe. While in France, he traveled with a couple who made a living crafting housewares and other goods out of various materials such as copper. After being exposed to these new mediums, he began working with jewelry.

Antonio prefers working with metal because it requires precision and attention to detail not required in other forms of art. His jewelry is intricately sculpted and carved often with details that wrap themselves around uniquely shaped, semi-precious stones. It’s clear that a lot of care goes into the crafting of each piece in an interesting way while allowing the natural beauty of stones and metals to dictate the composition of each piece.

CraftOptics Telescopes allow Antonio to see the details better when he’s creating his work. The comfortable and hassle-free magnification helps him see his work more clearly allowing him limitless opportunities for beautiful handmade treasures.

I can’t believe how much I love these telescopes! I worked for years with two pairs of glasses to get close to the magnification I needed. When I needed to see other things I’d take both pairs off and then have to readjust them when I put them back on. With my prescription installed in the CraftOptics frame, all I have to do is flip the telescopes up or down. I can also easily see above the telescopes while they are flipped down.

I no longer have shoulder pain from holding the canvas up close to see the details and my ability to see the details is amazing. I can keep my threads equal and straight and I am able to see problems quickly and take care of them right away. It’s so nice to be comfortable and needlepoint without pain.

Thank You for such a great product. I love them.