The Varilux brand was the dream of an exceptional man: Bernard Maitenaz. In the 1950’s, when trying on his father's flat-top bifocals, Bernard Maitenaz decided that the concept required some rethinking. As a 25-year-old engineer, he took on the challenge of creating a lens that would allow people to see from any distance: the progressive lens.

On March 2nd, 1951, Bernard Maitenaz filed a patent at the National Institute of Industrial Property to officially register the date Varilux lenses were invented.

The invention of progressive lenses represents a revolution for presbyopes!

Gone were the days of multiple spectacles, thick lenses and bifocals, which splits the lens in two to correct distance vision and near vision. Fifty years later, Varilux has changed the lives of hundreds of millions of presbyopes and revolutionised the world of ophthalmic optics!