Sercombe & Matheson Opticians is an independent, boutique optometry practice with two central Wellington locations, including this Thorndon branch at Shop 2, 100 Molesworth Street. Formerly based on the Terrace, the practice now sits within walking distance of Parliament and the railway station — handy for public servants, commuters and Thorndon locals alike — with a sister practice at 108 Featherston Street.
Clinical care is at the heart of things: comprehensive eye exams, contact lens fitting and aftercare, retinal photography, OCT scanning, visual field exams, dilated retinal exams, civil aviation exams for pilots and low vision assessments. Short consultations cover the practical moments — red eyes, infections, foreign bodies, lost contact lenses and driver's licence vision certificates. All the optometrists are members of the New Zealand Association of Optometrists, and the practice is a Southern Cross Easy-claim provider that can bill Southern Cross directly where appropriate.
Eyewear is a genuine strength, with around 1000 frames across the two practices and an emphasis on European design — Face a Face, ic! Berlin, Lara D', Blackfin and William Morris — alongside sunglasses, contact lenses, ready-made readers and more than 2000 optical products in total. An on-site workshop with an experienced technician means new spectacles can be made and old ones repaired or refitted on the premises, promptly. Prescription swimming goggles and dive masks round out a range that serves swimmers and divers as well as everyday glasses wearers.
Sercombe & Matheson Opticians is an independent, boutique optometry practice with two central Wellington locations, and this branch occupies Suite 2 on the ground floor at 100 Molesworth Street in Thorndon. Formerly based on the Terrace, the practice is now within easy walking distance of Parliament and the railway station — a natural stop for public servants, commuters and Thorndon locals — while its sibling practice trades at 108 Featherston Street.
The offer is straightforward and quietly confident: thorough eye exams and quality eyewear from a friendly, capable team. As the practice itself puts it, whether you have a red eye or want a red frame, they can help you out.
The comprehensive eye test covers a lot of ground: vision assessment, determination of your spectacle prescription, internal and external eye disease assessment, depth perception, colour vision, eye muscle co-ordination, pupil function and eye pressure. At the end of the exam, the optometrist explains your options for improving vision, flags any signs of eye disease and recommends when your eyes should next be examined.
Technology backs that up. Retinal photography builds a digital record of the inside of your eye, while Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) uses light waves to scan the retina and optic nerve in remarkable detail. Visual field exams assess peripheral vision — useful for diagnosing glaucoma and other eye disease — and dilated retinal exams allow a closer inspection when needed. There are dedicated civil aviation exams for pilots, and low vision assessments with magnifiers, telescopes or digital equipment are Natalie's specialist area. All the optometrists are members of the New Zealand Association of Optometrists, and the practice is a Southern Cross Easy-claim provider, able to bill Southern Cross directly where appropriate.
Short consultations handle life's optical annoyances: removing foreign bodies, treating red eyes or infections, syringing tear ducts, sorting out a vision certificate for your driver's licence, even hunting down lost contact lenses.
Few local practices can match what happens out the back. Having an experienced technician and its own workshop on site means Sercombe & Matheson can make your new spectacles, or repair or refit your old ones, on the premises and promptly — putting lenses in frames faster than most local optometrists. Customers notice: "Roger and the team provide high-level knowledge and customer service," writes one reviewer, Jane M., who describes finding the practice as "life-changing" after being supplied with poorly aligned glasses elsewhere.
Between the two practices you'll find around 1000 spectacle frames, part of a range of more than 2000 lenses, frames, sunglasses and other optical products. The stock leans European: Face a Face from France, ic! Berlin from Germany, Lara D' and Blackfin from Italy, and William Morris from the UK.
Wellington gets plenty of sunshine hours and its UV levels run high, so sunglasses get serious shelf space and plenty of good advice goes with them. Contact lenses — never as comfortable or sophisticated as they are now — come in disposable and custom-made forms for both part-time and full-time wear, with solutions, glasses care products and eyedrops priced very reasonably. Ready-made readers are stocked in a spread of colours, styles and powers.
Swimmers and divers are catered for too, with ready-made and customised prescription swimming goggles for adults and children, and prescription dive masks that give glasses wearers a far clearer view of the fish — and the hazards — below.
New customers who make contact through the website pick up a tidy welcome: $10 off their exam fee, a 10% discount on glasses and a $10 donation to the charity of their choice. Referring family, friends or colleagues earns a $25 credit, and anyone buying two complete pairs of glasses within a three-month period gets 10% off the second pair (terms and conditions apply).
Winter is a good time to book an exam — everyone is focused indoors anyway, and dilating drops are less likely to meet sunshine. Do check around public holidays such as Matariki, when the practice closes for the day. Opening hours aren't published on the website, so it's worth phoning (04) 472 4261 or emailing [email protected] to confirm times before you set off.