Pitch polishing requires an experienced and steady hand

I actually wanted to be a bank clerk, but back then you ideally needed to have done your Abitur qualifications to get the job. So I thought about what else I could do. I come from Roßleben in the Kyffhäuserkreis district, and my careers advisor only highlighted a few options that appealed to me. As my mom did her precision optics engineer training at ZEISS many years ago, I simply applied to Jena without really knowing what to expect.

We start by painting our lenses with red paint to prevent the pre-polished surfaces from getting scratched throughout the process. I then use a measuring device to examine the surface. This indicates any unevenness. After this, I prepare the polishing machine's tray, an aluminum dish that has hot pitch poured onto it. Once set, I use a kind of razor blade to carve a pattern into the pitch lap. Next, I carefully place the lens on to it, secure everything in place and turn on the machine. I use a paintbrush to carefully coat the pitch bowl with polish, which spreads into the carvings to remove the unevenness on the lens surface. I use different movements and speeds here but I sometimes also polish manually.