Every colour contact lens sold in South Africa is imported — including the Meetone and Mesiru ranges. There's no local cosmetic lens manufacturing here; what we do produce locally is limited to specialised medical lenses fitted by optometrists.
That's because the real centre of cosmetic lens innovation is East Asia. China, Japan, and South Korea are widely regarded as the countries at the forefront of the industry, together producing the vast majority of the world's cosmetic contact lenses. Japan pioneered the technology, Korea drove cosmetic design innovation, and China built the manufacturing scale that supplies the world.
Both Meetone and Mesiru are made within this ecosystem, and both carry CE marking and ISO 13485 certification — the international standard for medical device quality management. ISO 13485 doesn't just certify one lens; it certifies the entire factory system: materials, production controls, testing, and quality checks, independently audited.
Two innovations make these lenses what they are:
- HEMA hydrogel material — a soft, water-retaining material that made all-day cosmetic lens wear genuinely comfortable rather than something you simply endure.
- Sandwich painting technology — pigment is sealed between two layers of lens material rather than sitting on the surface, so colour never touches your eye and won't flake, fade, or shift.
Next time you reach for a pair, know this: you're wearing a product engineered inside one of the most advanced, tightly regulated lens industries in the world.
