Sales of new mirrors are officially closed as of August 15, 2025

First, the "Why"

Nothing can possibly last forever, everything has its end sooner or later. We want to go out the same way we came in, and that is on our own terms. We came in capable, and we want to finish that way.

I have been witness to colleagues, friends of mine whom I knew and respected who stayed past their usefulness, where their product and services declined to the point where in cases it became unacceptable. At that point, the public is forced to police the business, because the proprietor is no longer capable. We have never done it that way. We set our standard a long time ago high enough that we have never required "policing" by our customers.

We are now both well past classic retirement age, and we have understandably slowed down. We only work four days a week now, and everything takes longer. It requires more time to make the same product and hold the same standard. To date, we are still doing it well, and with aplomb. We are satisfied with the standard that we have held, and continue to do so.

It goes without saying the day will inevitably come when we are no longer able to hold the standard. We don't want to cause that to take place because we chose to to sell too many mirrors for too long a time. So the line is drawn, and sales are now officially closed. We kept sales open as long as we reasonably could, and I can say with assurance if we kept sales open much longer we would risk not being able to successfully complete orders.

We made the announcement this way on purpose, that is, without warning. We do not want or need a deluge of orders from folks who have been thinking about it for years, but did not act. That would cause our work to "drag on" past our desire to continue, and probably past our usefulness.

Now the applicable fact is, large aperture visual astronomy is waning and is being replaced by technology. Sales of new mirrors have been waning substantially for the last three years. This year, 2025 so far shows only eight sales of Zambuto mirrors, and most are smaller in size. We are only selling one mirror per month, and the average size is 10" to 12.5". That is not a business anyway, because it will not sustain us.

So we have decided to take the cue from the marketplace, make it official and close sales and retire when the time comes with grace, and yes, with some remaining dignity. We do not want others having to "fix" Zambuto mirrors. I did it several times for others who waited too long to get out. We don't want that to be said of Zambuto Optical Company.

So thank you for 28 really good years. I have not done a count as yet, but I'm estimating we have some 3,500 mirrors in circulation around the world.

Carl Zambuto