Celebrating progressives' 60th anniversary, Essilor's $25,000 diamond giveaway

Taking pride of place, in the centre of Essilor’s impressive stand at O=Mega19, was a tall, glass-covered show stand, more reminiscent of a museum than an optical fair.

The stand contained a selection of stunning Germani diamond jewellery, part of an A$25,000 diamond jewellery giveaway, designed to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of the development of the progressive lens by young French engineer Bernard Maitenaz for Essilor in 1959.

“It’s a big moment for our business, to be celebrating a milestone of 60 years since the invention of the lens that is now so fundamental to most practices,” said Essilor’s Guy Parbury.

The jubilee also gives Essilor an opportunity to celebrate its most advanced progressive lens series, Varilux, which reached new peaks with the launch of the Varilux X last year. “It’s been an amazing success. The beauty of X is you don’t have to find that sweet spot.”

To mark the occasion, Essilor is rolling out updated versions of some its Varilux range, including: Varilux Physio 3.0, designed for sharp vision in any light conditions by employing Essilor’s wavefront advanced vision enhancement (WAVE) technology; and Varilux Comfort 3.0, designed for rapid changes of vision activity using Essilor’s LiveOptics wearer testing technology.

Every Varilux product sold between 1 July and 30 September, gives the practice owner a chance of netting themselves some diamonds.

Eyezen Start

Also unveiled at O=Mega19, was the latest lens in Essilor’s single vision Eyezen lens range, Eyezen Start. The whole lens surface is optimised according to object distance and gaze direction, bringing the right power throughout the lens. Wearers benefit from reduced visual fatigue, better acuity and visual comfort and better contrast. The lens also comes standard with Essilor’s latest blue-blocking technology, said Parbury. “So it’s really jumping the single vision lens into being a modern solution.”