Varifocal glasses have been commercially available to the public since 1959 and are often recommended to patients who require glasses for both distance and reading. Although these lenses have been around for some time the actual technology used in the design of the lens has only recently changed dramatically to offer wearers a much better experience in terms of adaption and viewing fields. The company to first pioneer this technology was Essilor, a French lens manufacturer who have almost become a house hold brand over the past few years thanks to some clever advertising. Essilor produce one of the most well known ranges of varifocal lenses which go under the name of ‘Varilux’. The French lens giants offer two of the most popular varifocal lens products in Europe, the Varilux Comfort and the Varilux Physio, both these lenses have very high adaption rates which make them very popular with first time wearers. Most dispensing Opticians love selling Varilux lenses due to the high adaption rate and because of their high margin of error when taking measurements from the patient. In fact, even if the Dispenser is about 2mm out on the fitting height of these lenses this should not affect the performance of the lens.
Frame Choice
If you have recently been advised by your Optician that your prescription requirements and lifestyle would suit Varifocal glasses then the ‘Varilux’ range of lenses are something you should consider especially of you are watching the pennies. Don’t be put off by other people telling you that you need a large, hideous frame to be able to accommodate these lenses as that has all changed since Essilor updated the design of their varifocal range. In fact recently Essilor have re-designed their complete range, in terms of the physics of the lenses, enabling them to be fitted into much smaller frames then ever before but still keeping the performance of the lenses to a maximum. You can know have designer varifocal glasses, without the worry of adaption, in a fairly shallow frame if that is what you require. If you are already a wearer of varifocal lenses then the best place to buy these lenses is on the Internet as you can save up to around half price on these lenses if you ‘Google’ around. Over the next few Weeks we will be reviewing some of the best varifocal glasses lenses available on the market so watch this space.
Jim Romand is a specialist prescription lens consultant and dispensing optician who has worked in the industry for over 25 years. After qualifying as an SMC Tech at the london college of optometry in 1985, He has since worked as a Lab consultant for many high street opticians chains within the UK.
He currently works as a specialist prescription lens technician for an online lens retailer specialising in Varifocal glasses online https://www.marvelglasses.com/