Varilux

Varilux is a French-origin ophthalmic lens brand associated with the development and commercialization of modern progressive lenses. The brand was created by Essel, the French optical company that later merged with Silor to form Essilor, and is now part of EssilorLuxottica. Its core product is the progressive lens, which provides different optical powers across one lens: distance vision in the upper portion, intermediate vision through the middle, and near vision toward the lower portion. This design is intended to correct presbyopia without the visible division or abrupt optical transition associated with traditional bifocal and trifocal lenses. The brand’s origins are closely linked to Bernard Maitenaz, an engineer who joined Société des Lunetiers, later known as Essel, in 1948. After experiencing the abrupt change between the viewing zones of his father’s bifocal lenses, Maitenaz pursued the idea of a gradual optical progression. He documented the concept in France in 1951, and Essel filed a patent relating to the invention in 1953. Following years of optical calculations, experimentation, and manufacturing development, Essel produced machinery capable of making the lenses at scale. Testing in early 1959 produced generally positive responses, supporting the commercial launch. The first Varilux lens was introduced in Paris in May 1959. Its name followed Essel’s established naming pattern for premium lenses, positioned between the company’s Diachrolux bifocal and Trilux trifocal products. The launch marked an important commercial step for progressive lenses, although adaptation and wearer comfort remained continuing technical challenges. Essel expanded distribution outside France during the 1960s through partnerships and local distribution arrangements. The brand’s sales reportedly grew from 6,000 lenses in its launch year to 2 million lenses in 1969, demonstrating the emerging demand for progressive correction. A major corporate turning point came in 1972, when Essel and Silor merged to create Essilor. Under the new company, Varilux 2 introduced a revised optical design and lighter lens material. Essilor continued to develop the brand through increasingly personalized designs, new surfacing processes, digital calculations, and clinical evaluation methods. Varilux Multi-Design, introduced in 1988, adapted the design to different age groups. Varilux Comfort, launched in 1993, combined characteristics of harder and softer progressive designs and emphasized easier adaptation and comfortable vision across different postures. During the 2000s and 2010s, the portfolio expanded through products including Varilux Panamic, Ellipse, Physio, Ipseo, the s Series, the e Series, and the X Series. These products addressed issues such as peripheral vision, frame size, contrast, personalization, head and eye movement, and the visual effects sometimes experienced when adapting to progressive lenses. The Varilux X Series, introduced in 2017, focused particularly on usable vision at multiple near distances within arm’s reach. Varilux operates as a premium, technology-led lens brand sold through optical professionals and Essilor-related distribution networks. Its identity rests on progressive-lens expertise, individualized optical design, research-based product development, and support for presbyopic wearers. The brand is not a separately listed company; it is a product brand within the EssilorLuxottica group.

The history of Varilux begins with the broader, pre-existing effort to create a lens whose optical power changes gradually rather than through separate, sharply divided zones. Earlier progressive-lens concepts had been patented or commercialized in limited forms before Varilux. Consequently, Varilux is best described as the first modern progressive lens to achieve major commercial adoption, rather than as the first proposal for any progressive lens. Bernard Maitenaz joined Société des Lunetiers, later Essel, in 1948 after training in engineering and optics. His dissatisfaction with the abrupt transition in bifocal lenses led him to imagine a continuous progression from distance correction at the top of the lens, through intermediate vision in the center, to near correction at the bottom. He deposited technical material describing the concept with France’s industrial property authority on March 2, 1951. Essel submitted a related patent in 1953. The invention required more than an optical principle. Maitenaz and his colleagues had to develop calculations, production techniques, and machinery capable of manufacturing a commercially usable surface. By 1958, Essel had developed equipment suitable for mass production. A test involving 46 people in January 1959 produced mostly positive evaluations, although a portion of participants reported poor results. Essel launched the product under the Varilux name in May 1959 at the Hôtel Lutetia in Paris. International distribution followed during the 1960s, with Varilux reaching markets including the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Japan through partnerships and distribution arrangements. The product’s growth was substantial, but adaptation time and visual aberrations remained important concerns. Essel therefore continued to refine the design and investigate ways to improve wearer comfort. Essel and Silor merged on January 1, 1972, forming Essilor. The new company introduced Varilux 2 in Europe, combining a revised progressive design with a lighter lens material. In 1988, Varilux Multi-Design represented a move toward age-related personalization, with different designs intended for different presbyopic age groups. Varilux Comfort followed in 1993. Essilor presented it as a hybrid approach combining characteristics of harder and softer progressive designs, with the goal of providing broader comfort and faster adaptation. It became a major commercial success. Essilor’s later research incorporated more advanced digital surfacing, wavefront-related calculations, wearer measurements, and clinical testing. The Varilux development process was described through a ‘dioptric loop’ involving collection of physiological information, optical design, prototype production, measurement, and clinical assessment. Varilux Panamic, Ellipse, Physio, and Ipseo extended the range of design objectives during the 2000s. Ipseo New Edition used virtual simulation and wearer behavior measurements to support individualized lens design. The brand also developed communication and demonstration tools. In 2008, the Varilux Experience used a three-dimensional virtual presentation to illustrate the differences among single-vision, bifocal, conventional progressive, and Varilux correction. The presentation was associated with the brand’s fiftieth-anniversary period and was shown at the SILMO optical trade fair in Paris. Further generations included the s Series in 2012, the e Series in 2014, and the X Series in 2017. Their stated objectives included balancing visual zones, reducing adaptation-related ‘swim’ effects, widening or improving functional fields, and supporting clear vision at several close working distances. Varilux remains an EssilorLuxottica product brand and continues to be sold as a specialist progressive-lens line through optical channels.

• 2017

  Varilux X Series introduced

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  The X Series targeted clear vision at multiple near distances and reduced head movement for close-range tasks.

• 2008

  Varilux Experience presented

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  Essilor introduced a virtual-reality demonstration designed to explain progressive-lens technologies to optical professionals and customers.

• 1993

  Varilux Comfort launched

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  Varilux Comfort emphasized easier adaptation and comfortable vision through a hybrid progressive design.

• 1988

  Varilux Multi-Design introduced

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  The Multi-Design concept introduced age-oriented personalization of progressive-lens designs.

• 1972

  Varilux 2 introduced under Essilor

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  Following the Essel–Silor merger, Essilor launched Varilux 2 in Europe with a revised design and lighter material.

• 1969

  International commercial growth established

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  By the end of the decade, Varilux distribution had expanded internationally and reported lens sales had risen substantially from the launch year.

• 1959

  Varilux launches

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  The first Varilux lens was officially launched in Paris in May.

• 1958

  Mass-production equipment developed

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  Essel developed machinery that made production of the progressive lens at commercial scale possible.

• 1953

  Essel files a patent

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  Essel submitted an initial patent relating to Maitenaz’s progressive-lens invention.

• 1951

  Progressive-lens concept documented

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  Maitenaz deposited technical drawings and mechanical information describing the modern progressive-lens concept with France’s industrial property authority.

• 1948

  Bernard Maitenaz joins Société des Lunetiers

  [1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  Maitenaz joined the French optical company that later became Essel and played the central engineering role in the development of Varilux.

Premium, research-led progressive lens brand focused on comfortable and personalized correction for presbyopia.

• Progressive lens · 1959

  Varilux

  The original Varilux lens, launched in 1959, provided a gradual change in optical power across one lens. It was designed to address presbyopia by placing distance, intermediate, and near correction in different vertical regions without the visible dividing line of a bifocal lens.

• Progressive lens · 1972

  Varilux 2

  Introduced after Essel and Silor formed Essilor, Varilux 2 used a revised progressive design and lighter lens material. It represented an early post-merger effort to improve the usability and comfort of the original Varilux concept.

• Personalized progressive lens · 1988

  Varilux Multi-Design

  Also associated with the Varilux Infinity name, Multi-Design applied different progressive designs for different age classes of presbyopic wearers. Its purpose was to preserve the usable near-vision field while accounting for variation in addition power and wearer needs.

• Progressive lens · 1993

  Varilux Comfort

  Varilux Comfort combined features associated with harder and softer progressive designs. Essilor positioned it around easier adaptation, visual comfort, and useful vision in multiple postures. It became one of the brand’s most commercially successful generations.

• Progressive lens · 2002

  Varilux Panamic

  Panamic used Essilor’s Global Design Management approach to coordinate central, peripheral, and binocular vision parameters. It represented a more integrated approach to managing the wearer’s visual field across the lens.

• Progressive lens · 2004

  Varilux Ellipse

  Ellipse was designed for presbyopic wearers using smaller frames. Its optical design sought to provide progressive correction within a more compact lens shape than earlier products typically required.

• Progressive lens · 2006

  Varilux Physio

  Physio focused on contrast and wider visual fields and used Twin RX Technology, Essilor’s Wavefront Management System, and digital surfacing. A more personalized Physio F-360 version used additional wearer measurements.

• Personalized progressive lens · 2008

  Varilux Ipseo New Edition

  Ipseo New Edition used virtual simulation and the Vision Print System to personalize the lens around visual behavior, including eye and head movement. The product was described as using ten customization criteria.

• Progressive lens · 2012

  Varilux s Series

  The s Series divided the lens design into very small segments to support a balanced visual experience across different viewing zones.

• Progressive lens · 2014

  Varilux e Series

  The e Series used design technologies intended to reduce swimming effects, an adaptation issue in which peripheral image movement can be perceived while the wearer moves the head or eyes.

• Advanced progressive lens · 2017

  Varilux X Series

  The X Series was designed to optimize vision at several distances within arm’s reach. Its stated objective is to allow simultaneous access to multiple near distances, improve clarity during close tasks, and reduce the head movements needed to locate a usable focus position.

• 2008Varilux Experience

  International optical trade and professional markets

  A virtual simulation and educational presentation used three-dimensional imagery to demonstrate the differences among single-vision, bifocal, standard progressive, and Varilux correction for people with presbyopia. Its world premiere took place during the SILMO optical trade fair in Paris.

  Outcome. Used as a communication and demonstration tool for optical professionals and consumers.

  Source

• 2017

  Introduce the Varilux X SeriesProduct launch

  Background

  Near and arm’s-length activities can require rapid changes among several working distances, often leading wearers to move their heads to find the clearest point.

  Action taken

  Essilor launched the Varilux X Series with a design intended to provide simultaneous clarity at multiple near distances and reduce unnecessary head movement.

  Aftermath

  The X Series became a flagship advanced product in the Varilux portfolio.

  Source

• 1993

  Introduce Varilux ComfortOther

  Background

  Adaptation time and comfort were persistent challenges for progressive-lens wearers, creating demand for designs that balanced visual breadth with easier use.

  Action taken

  Essilor launched Varilux Comfort, combining characteristics of harder and softer progressive designs and incorporating newer surfacing techniques.

  Aftermath

  The product became a major commercial success and was described in the reference material as the world’s best-selling progressive lens.

  Source

• 1972

  Combine Essel and SilorM&A

  Background

  Essel had developed Varilux while Silor had developed optical-material innovations, but both companies had limited international scale as separate businesses.

  Action taken

  The companies merged on January 1, 1972, creating Essilor and providing a larger corporate platform for Varilux development and distribution.

  Aftermath

  Essilor launched Varilux 2 in Europe and continued expanding the brand’s product generations and international presence.

  Source

• 1959

  Launch a branded modern progressive lensProduct launch

  Background

  Essel had developed a manufacturable progressive-lens design intended to correct distance, intermediate, and near vision for people with presbyopia.

  Action taken

  The company named the product Varilux and launched it in Paris in May 1959, positioning it among Essel’s premium ophthalmic lens offerings.

  Aftermath

  The launch established Varilux as a major commercial progressive-lens brand and supported international distribution during the following decade.

  Source

• 2017

  Varilux X Series launched[1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch · Product generation

  The X Series was introduced with a focus on simultaneous clarity across multiple near distances and reduced need for head movement during arm’s-length activities.

• 1972

  Essel and Silor merge to form Essilor[1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  The merger combined the companies behind Varilux and Orma optical materials and created Essilor, the corporate platform under which later Varilux generations were developed.

• 1959

  Varilux progressive lens introduced in France[1]Variluxen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch · Other

  Essel officially launched the first Varilux progressive lens in Paris, establishing the brand as a commercial offering for correcting near, intermediate, and distance vision in one lens.

1. 1Variluxen.wikipedia.org