Ultimate Spectacle Factory guide: Glasses in Anno 1800

In this section we will be looking at the Spectacle Factory. It is used for the Glasses production chain in Anno 1800.

---

Description

This is the Spectacle Factory, it is used for the production of Glasses in Anno 1800. Refer to the Glasses production chain for how to build this. This factory can only be built in the Old World. It sits at the end of the Glasses production chain. The Spectacle Factory needs two key materials to operate. First, it requires Glass from the Glassmakers. Then, it also needs Brass from the Brass Smeltery. When both materials are supplied, the factory can begin producing Spectacles efficiently. The Spectacle Factory produces 0.67 tons of Glasses every minute.

---

What is produced

---

Improvements

In this section we will look at what we can do to the Spectacle Factory to improve its productivity and efficiency. The first thing that we will look at is the placement of the Spectacle Factory. Placement is a key improvement that you can make as the efficiency of the Spectacle Factory will greatly depend on how close it is the factories that it requires for supplies. The next thing with the placement is obviously that the finished product into your inventory.

The next thing that we will look at is the Trade Union. The Trade Union is a building that can supply your Spectacle Factory with items that can improve it. The final thing that we will look at is adding Electricity to the factory.

Placement

In this section, we’ll look at the placement of the Spectacle Factory. To begin, it’s important to place both a Glassmakers and a Brass Smeltery nearby. This ensures the factory receives Glass and Brass quickly, keeping production efficient.

In addition, you’ll need to place a Warehouse close to the Spectacle Factory. This allows the finished Glasses to enter your inventory without delay.

With these buildings in place, let’s now take a look at how this layout works in practice.

Here we can see all the buildings that are required to create Glasses in Anno 1800, in the same layout. Please remember that this is not a Glasses production chain.

Trade Union

In this section, we’ll look at the items you can add to the Trade Union to increase the Spectacle Factory’s productivity and efficiency. To begin with, these items can be found in many different places across your Anno 1800 world. For example, you can trade for them with NPCs, unlock them through the Research Institute, or earn them from the World’s Fair.

In addition, these items often appear as rewards from resident quests, and you may also obtain them during Expeditions. Alongside these, there are several other ways to collect useful items as you progress through the game.

Item name	Effect	Rarity/Notes
Spectacle maker	-10% Maintenance cost.	Common, Expedition bonus – +10 Crafting
Magnifying glasses	+25% Productivity.	Uncommon, Expedition bonus – +10 Crafting
Optician	-20% Workforce needed	Uncommon, Expedition bonus – +20 Crafting
Lens designer	+30% Productivity, +3 Attractiveness	Rare, Expedition bonus – +30 Crafting, +10 Medicine
Magnifying glass	+35% Productivity	Rare, Expedition bonus – +15 Crafting
Optometrist Otto	+40% Productivity, Extra Goods – Occasionally produces extra  Glass	Epic, Expedition bonus – +40 Crafting, +20 Medicine
The Watchmaker’s Loupe	+40% Productivity, -10% Maintenance Cost	Epic, Expedition bonus – +20 Crafting
Gerhard Fuchs, of the Patent Eyeglass	+50% Productivity, Extra Goods – Occasionally produces extra  Pocket Watches Replaced Input – Instead of  Brass, the building processes  Wood.	Legendary, Expedition bonus – +50 Crafting, +30 Medicine

These are some of the best items that can be added to the Trade Union to boost the Spectacle Factory.

Electricity

Adding Electricity to the Spectacle Factory gives a major boost to producing Glasses in Anno 1800. To start with, electricity instantly doubles the factory’s output, allowing you to produce far more Glasses without building extra factories.

However, when the output doubles, the factory will also consume twice as many input materials. This means you must increase the supply of both Glass from the Glassmakers and Brass from the Brass Smeltery to keep the Spectacle Factory running at 100% productivity.

With this in mind, electricity is a powerful upgrade, but only when your input chain can fully support it.

---

Layouts

In this section, we’ll look at the layouts you can use for the Spectacle Factory to improve both efficiency and productivity. To begin with, one of your main goals is to create a layout that can be easily copied and reused. This makes it simple to move the design around your islands whenever your population needs more Glasses.

With that goal in mind, let’s now take a look at some layout options you can use.

Option 1

In this layout, we’ll create a very basic setup that includes just a Warehouse and the Spectacle Factory. To begin with, this is the simplest layout because none of the input buildings, such as the Glassmakers or Brass Smeltery, are placed down.

Instead, this layout relies on both Brass and Glass being delivered from the Warehouse straight into the Spectacle Factory. As a result, the finished Glasses will also return directly to the Warehouse and move immediately into your inventory.

With this simple approach, you get a clean, easy to replicate layout that works well in the early stages of production.

With this design it has a small footprint and can be placed anywhere on your island and does not require a large amount of space.

Opton 2

In the second layout of this section, we’ll be adding a Glassmakers to the design. By doing this, the Glass will come directly from the Glassmakers instead of being supplied through the Warehouse. As a result, the Warehouse will use fewer loading and unloading slots, which helps keep your production line running more efficiently.

With that improvement in place, let’s take a look at this layout now.

As we can see here this layout reduces to load on the Warehouse as the Glass goes directly from the Glassmakers to the Spectacle Factory.

Option 3

In this layout we will be proving all of the buildings to create Glasses in Anno 1800. Lets take a look at this layout now. As we can see from this layout, the Brass from the Brass Smeltery and the Glass from the Glassmakers flow directly into the Spectacle Factories. From there, the finished Glasses move straight into the Warehouse and then immediately into your inventory.

This layout will produce enough Glasses for 225 Engineer residences, which equals 9,000 Engineers. In addition, it can supply 112.5 Investor residences, or up to 5,625 Investors. Finally, the layout also supports 277.8 Elder residences, reaching up to 5,555 Elders.

---