How Long Does Custom Sunglasses Sampling Take? A Realistic Timeline From Drawing to Sample
Written by Cedric | Leeyewear
Sample lead time depends on the development route. A color, logo, or lens change on an existing style ships in 7–12 days. A structural revision on a current mold takes 3–4 weeks. New TR90 or PC tooling runs 5–8 weeks, and complex tooling can stretch to ten weeks. Acetate works differently: most new shapes are CNC-cut from sheet, so a production-intent sample usually takes 3–4 weeks without a front-frame mold. This page breaks down each route, the fee logic, and the delays that actually move the date - based on OEM/ODM sunglasses programs at Leeyewear.
"How long to get a sample?" is the first question in our inbox on any custom sunglasses or optical frame project. The useful answer starts one step earlier: which development route is the order on? In eyewear manufacturing, "sampling" covers three different jobs. Mix them up, and every quote after that is wrong.
Which Sample Do You Actually Need?
|
Route |
What you change |
Typical production window |
Tooling |
Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Existing style / private label |
Color, logo, lenses, packaging |
7–12 days |
None, or very small |
Channel tests and first launches |
|
Mold revision / semi-custom |
Nose-pad angle, temple curve, front size on a current base |
3–4 weeks; each extra structural round commonly adds ~1 week |
Revise an existing mold |
Differentiation without a full new tool |
|
New tooling (mainly TR90 / PC) |
A new injected shape |
5–8 weeks; complex tools up to 9–10 weeks |
New steel mold |
Shapes you plan to reorder |
|
New acetate shape |
New cut, finish, and fit from sheet |
3–4 weeks for a production-intent CNC sample |
Small tools for pins, tips, or metal parts |
Premium look with lower mold risk |
State the route in the first inquiry: "modification on your existing style," "revise this mold," or "new injected tool." That single line saves a round of back-and-forth and lets the factory quote an honest sample lead time.
Acetate and TR90 Run on Different Clocks
Timeline pages often blur this point, so it deserves its own section.
Acetate sunglasses fronts are cut from sheet on a CNC machine, then tumbled, polished, assembled, and fitted. The work is programming a shape and finishing a material. There is no multi-cavity steel tool for the front, so the long tooling wait disappears. Temples may still need a pin mold or a small metal part, and color matching on a new sheet can add time.
TR90 and PC frames are injection molded. The long item is the steel tool: design, CNC/EDM machining, T1 trial shots, repair, then a first article worth sealing. Multi-cavity tools with slides take longer than a simple cavity.
So the practical headlines:
- "Sample in about ten days" is realistic for a color, logo, or lens change on an existing mold.
- "Sample in 45–60 days" is a fair headline for a new injected tool, if the drawings lock quickly.
- A new acetate shape usually lands between the two.
One red flag worth knowing: if a supplier promises a brand-new injection sample in one week, ask whether they mean a 3D-printed form study. A print shows shape and fit roughly; production decisions still need a tool sample.
A Realistic Timeline, Stage by Stage
The windows below are calendar ranges after the factory has a clear brief. Buyer confirmation time sits on top.
Existing style
- Artwork and color confirmation: 2–4 days
- Make and check the sample: 5–8 days
- Express courier: 3–5 days
New acetate shape (no front-frame injection mold)
- Drawing / CAD lock: 3–10 days, depending on revision rounds
- CNC program, cut, tumble, polish, assemble: 10–15 days
- Fit, logo, and lens work: 3–5 days
Total: about 3–4 weeks if the sheet color is in stock. Custom extruded or special laminate colors add 1–2 weeks.
New TR90 / PC tool
- Drawing confirmation: 1–2 weeks
- Steel tooling: 4–6 weeks for a straightforward tool; 6–9 weeks with slides, multiple inserts, or a difficult parting line. Hinges and metal parts can run in parallel.
- T1 trial shots and first article: 3–5 days
- Mold repair and a sealable sample: 5–8 days
Add it up: 5–8 weeks is a normal injected-sample window. Around ten weeks is what ambitious geometry plus slow sign-off looks like.
A 2–3 week tool is rush work on a simple cavity, and rush steel work carries its own risk. Standard steel-mold calendars more often sit in the 25–45 day band before anyone talks about finishing the wearable sample. State working days and calendar days in the PO. A vague "three weeks" is where disputes start.
What to Send So the Clock Can Start
A factory cannot quote an honest sample lead time from a mood board alone. Send:
- Front, side, and top views, or a CAD file (STEP preferred)
- Sizes: lens width, bridge, temple length, frame front
- Material route: acetate sheet, TR90, PC, metal, or hybrid
- Hinge type and any custom metal part
- Lens spec: plano, polarized, base curve, color
- Logo method and artwork (AI/EPS)
- Pantone or physical color references
- Target launch date and first-order quantity range
If any of these are still open, the sample date is an estimate.
Sample Fees and Tooling Fees
Sample fees: expect to pay them.
Stock display pairs in current colors are the one exception - many factories waive the fee for a display pair and the buyer pays freight. Treat that as the exception. Custom work - a new colorway, logo, structural change, or a cut-from-drawing acetate sample - costs real factory time and material, and factories charge for it.
As a working range, a simple logo or color change on an existing mold often runs a few dozen dollars per pair. A cut-from-drawing acetate sample with real lenses costs more, because programming, cutting, and hand polishing all sit inside the price. Polarized or special-function lenses push it higher.
The phrasing that keeps both sides clean: the sample fee is refundable or deductible from the first bulk order.
One style can burn through many pairs once you test color, lens, and fit. If every pair is free, the factory ends up financing the development. That arrangement rarely survives the second season.
Tooling fees go two ways:
- Listed separately: one payment, a clean unit price. Better when you expect reorders.
- Amortized: the tool cost is divided across an agreed volume and added to each pair.
Example only: a RMB 30,000 complex tool spread over 5,000 pairs adds RMB 6 per pair.
Simple TR90 tools often land in the RMB 15,000–30,000 range; multi-part or slide tools commonly run RMB 30,000–80,000 or more. Ask for both the separated total and the amortized unit price at the same volume, and compare the two sheets line by line.
Mold ownership, storage, and who pays if the design changes after T1 should be in writing before steel is cut.
What Actually Burns the Calendar
- Drawing revisions. One consolidated review round can save three weeks. Three separate reviews from marketing, legal, and the retailer can add a month. Collect feedback from every stakeholder once, then sign off.
- Courier loops. Each physical round-trip costs most of a week. For the second and third pass, ask for close-up photos and video first. Fly the pair only when you need the fit in hand.
- Peak queue. Sampling rooms and tool shops fill from March to July. If the frame must sit on a shelf for summer, start sampling in February - January for a new tool. Waiting until the season starts is how samples travel on air freight in June.
- Queues outside the factory. Special lenses, custom acetate colors, and packaging for the sample each run on their own schedule.
After the Parcel Arrives, Seal the Sample
Looking at the pair is one step. The finish line is the sealed sample - the golden sample, the reference pair both sides keep and sign. Bulk QC should be judged against that pair. Most delivery arguments trace back to one missing sentence: which version do we inspect against?
Write down the tolerance between sample and bulk. Material lots change, and color and gloss drift inside a range. Agree on the range under a stated light source, so nobody compares a desk-lamp sample with a noon-window shipment.
For a serious program, ask for a pre-production sample (PPS) after the first bulk materials arrive - one step beyond the development pair.
How to Cut the Timeline by a Third
Use a production-proven structure, change one visible detail - a nose pad, a temple line, a logo execution - and lock the color early.
That path often ships a wearable sample in 3–4 weeks, and the first bulk run stays closer to the sample. The first order exists to prove the channel; once reorders come in, the new tool makes sense.
The hidden gain: an existing structure has already survived mass production. Sample-to-bulk consistency runs higher, and repeat orders move faster. Choosing the right base shape is half the battle.
Three Questions Buyers Ask Most
Can a factory deliver samples in seven days?
A color or logo change on an existing mold can ship in about a week. A new injected tool needs weeks of steel work first. A 3D-printed form study can also arrive in a few days; it serves as a shape study, and production decisions still need a tool sample.
Should I pay for samples before we have an order?
Yes - plan on it. Custom samples cost factory time and material. The standard arrangement is a sample fee deductible from the first bulk order, which keeps the relationship intact.
How many revisions are normal?
Two structural adjustments is a healthy range. After three, stop and reopen the brief; the problem usually sits upstream of the sample bench. Each extra structural round commonly costs another week.
The Bottom Line
Sampling time comes down to four variables: route, material, revision rounds, and sign-off speed. Leeyewear has run OEM/ODM eyewear programs for close to twenty years, and the ranges above come from live production schedules.
Have a reference photo or drawings? Send them with the checklist above. We will tell you which route you are on, what the sample lead time looks like, and when a new tool can wait.