Varifocal or progressive lenses have come a long way since the first commercially available lens was designed by Bernard Maitenaz in 1953 and introduced by the Société des Lunetiers (which later became part of Essilor) in 1959. These early lenses were crudely designed and proved difficult for patients to adapt to due to their symmetrical design (eyes in general work asymmetrically) causing large amounts of unwanted peripheral distortion. As lens design evolved, the choice of products increased. ​There have been many changes and improvements both in the design and manufacturing of progressive lenses, most recently the introduction of digital or "freeform" production.

Progressive Lens Lifestyle Concept

The new lifestyle concept from Rodenstock takes into account your personal lifestyle during the selection of the optimal progressive lenses for you. These lenses offer you the option to integrate your individual needs into your progressive lenses; even 100% customisation for special requirements is possible with an INDIVIDUAL design.

Progressiv   |   Multigressiv   |   Impression

It is important to remember that freeform surfacing is a technology, freeform surfacing cannot improve an optical design. In the end, a lens is only as good as the lens design on which it is based. Therefore freeform technology is only valuable when it is paired with excellent lens design. Our qualified dispensing opticians will be happy to discuss your individual requirements, looking at lifestyle, workplace, leisure and budget requirements before offering what we feel is the best solution to your visual needs. Feel free to call in and discuss your options at anytime; an appointment is not necessary, and we can discuss the lens choices that would best suit your personal requirements.

 Individual Progressive

Rediscover natural vision with this fully individualised progressive lens. It takes into account how your chosen frame fits your face, in addition to your prescription and other individual parameters. So, you have access to much wider and ideally arranged visual zones for all distances, perfectly responding to your needs.

Optimised Progressive

In addition to excellent distance vision, this tailored progressive will provide you with optimised near and intermediate vision, as these zones are calculated according to your individual inter-pupillary distance. You will benefit from optimised vision, providing wide symmetrical visual fields with a natural feel.

Digital Progressive

This generation of progressive lenses perfectly meets the needs of cost conscious wearers. The lenses are made with the latest state of the art freeform technology. It will bring you comfortable and fatigue free near and long distance vision.

Whilst older generations of moulded lenses are still widely available, our recommendation is towards the newer age of digital designs rather than continue to use inferior products simply because they are cheap. Adaptation to progressive lenses varies greatly from person to person. We will guide you through how to get the best out of your lenses during collection and final fitting however, as a new wearer, it may take a couple of weeks for you to fully adapt to your new lenses. If you find that after using them for a few weeks you are having difficulty adapting, our dispensing opticians will be happy to discuss the issues you are having and suggest an alternative such as a different design of progressive lens, bifocals or separate pairs of spectacles, depending on what we think is the correct course of action to resolve the problems.

NON-TOLERANCE WARRANTY - Most progressives are covered by a manufacturers non-tolerance warranty for 30 days whilst ALL Rodenstock branded lenses carry a 90 DAY product assurance. This means that during this period, if you are unable to adapt to progressive lenses,  we will exchange the lenses and offer a refund if there is a difference in cost.