![]() ![]() The lens was launched officially in May 1959 at the Hotel Lutetia in Paris, France.įollowing the launch of Varilux, Essel set forth a plan for Varilux to be present outside France. Without much brainstorming, Maintenaz's progressive lens was given a name following suit with the other premium products: Varilux. In the end, Maintenaz's invention would be fixed between Essel's bifocal lens, the Diachrolux, and its trifocal lens, the Trilux. The Varilux brand Ĭloser to the product launch, numerous pricing strategies had been elaborated. Maitenaz and his team began producing progressive lenses using a variety of different improvised techniques and by 1958, Essel had developed machinery capable of mass manufacturing them.Īfter testing the results on 46 people in January 1959, 5 gave excellent responses, 29 good responses, 2 average responses and 10 poor responses. The first progressive lens Īfter patents and calculations, this type of progressive lens appeared to be possible, but had yet to be manufactured. On November 25, 1953, Essel submitted a first patent on his invention. On March 2, 1951, Bernard Maitenaz deposited an envelope at the National Institute of Industrial Property in France which included four drawings and mechanical data that would make it possible to manufacture the modern-day progressive lens. The abrupt transition of power seemed unnatural to him, and he believed it to be more rational to use a lens that would correct far vision on the upper portion of the lens, intermediate vision in its middle part and near vision in its lower part. The idea of the progressive lens came to him as he tried on his father's bifocal lenses. This was based on an arrangement of aspherical surfaces.įollowing in his father's and in his grandfather's footsteps, Bernard Maitenaz joined Société des Lunetiers (which became Essel, and is now Essilor) in 1948 as a research engineer after receiving diplomas from École Nationale Supérieure des Arts et Métiers and Institut d’Optique. Newbold appears to have designed a similar lens to Aves around 1913), there is evidence to suggest that Duke Elder in 1922 developed the world's first commercially available progressive lens (Ultrifo) sold by "Gowlland of Montreal". While there were several intermediate steps (H. However, due to this patent, Essilor cannot technically be considered the creator of the first progressive lens. It consisted of a conical back surface and a cylindrical front with opposing axes in order to create a power progression. However this was unlike modern progressive lenses. Aves' patent included the progressive lens design and the manufacturing process. The first patent for a progressive lens was British Patent 15,735, granted to Own Aves with a 1907 priority date.
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