one through bore may be located close to the proximal end of gripper body 3 in the vicinity of supply block 4 in order to avoid the entry of any liquid through this bore into the hollow interior of gripper body 3 when the gripper 1 is to grip a contact lens l from a start location for example from a test cell and u201c under water u201d the gripper is lowered until bearing surface 21 of the gripper head 2 is arranged in close proximity to the contact lens l to be sucked underpressure is then applied through inlet port 41 vacuum tube 14 and finally through suction openings 221 and perhaps depending on the rest position and diameter of the ejector pins 23 even through the guide openings 223 in the bearing surface 21 due to the underpressure applied some water may also be sucked from the test cell into the interior 31 of gripper 1 also the contact lens l is sucked against the bearing surface 21 a small leakage stream of air may be allowed to enter the interior 31 of gripper body 3 this leakage air stream flows towards the distal end of vacuum tube 14 where the suction is applied and assists the transportation of water that has been sucked into the interior of the gripper 1 away through the vacuum tube 14 from there the water may be transported to a liquid separator so that it does not damage the vacuum source the leakage stream is controlled such that it does not essentially affect the suction force acting upon.