Varifocal glasses are a relatively recent innovation in spectacles - even more so for buying varifocal glasses online. The first market introduction for this type of glasses were through Varilux lenses which first appeared on the British market in about 1959 or 1960. But what were they? Well they were an improvement on bifocal glasses and were a sort of bifocal lens but with no dividing line. The power became more plus or less minus from the middle of the distance lens downwards until, at the bottom of the lens you had the reading or close work prescription. There was a bonus; in that in between the distance and reading powers, one had an intermediate prescription for such visual tasks as reading music.The local clairvoyant may have pointed out that in the future, this intermediate prescription would be most useful for looking at the monitor screen attached to a device known as a computer, which could be used for all sorts of computations and information storage, although it seemed unlikely that this unproven apparatus would ever replace the slide rule, log tables and the good old Day Book.

It opened up however, a whole new experience to the middle aged and upper middle aged , in that they could now , unaided, do such tasks as reading the book titles on library shelves and in the classroom peer over the pupils’ shoulders and observe (without fear of physical assault allegations), the appalling howlers being perpetrated by their charges.

The first Varilux lenses however did have their limitations. In order to produce this varifocal lens there had to be incorporated, an area of indeterminate surface power at the sides of the lens, which produced most interesting psychodelic effects if the wearer moved his head from side to side without a corresponding movement of the eyes. One wearer observed that the Varilux lens worked perfectly provided that everything was arranged in a north to south fashion; excursions east to west were not recommended.

Vastly superior was the Varilux 2 lens. Compared to the products of today’s technology, it may seem rather primitive, but at the time, it was thought to be the final answer to the problem of presbyopia. A plastic version of the lens was available, strangely named the “V2 technique Orma”. Why the word “technique” was inserted remains a mystery.

Several other lens designs appeared on the market but none were able seriously to challenge the superiority of the Varilux lens. They generally concentrated on one aspect of the visual requirement rather than the whole thing.

The Varilux lens went from strength to strength until the Varilux Comfort lens finally appeared on the market and became and remains the number one choice for most presbyopes. Other designs have been produced to take account of the demands of fashion, for example, today’s preference for the smaller narrower frame and the need for tougher lens materials for rimless models.

Essilor today produces a vast range of Varilux lenses in various materials and designs an remains the World Leader in varifocal lenses. Every vacuum cleaner may be a Hoover but not every varifocal is a Varilux.

Tags: rimless glasses, Varifocal Glasses, varilux lens

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 3:22 pm and is filed under Lenses. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.