Essilor
Essilor International is an international ophthalmic optics company that designs, manufactures and markets lenses to correct or protect eyesight. Its headquarters is in Charenton-le-Pont (near Paris), France.
| Company type | Société Anonyme |
|---|---|
| Industry | Medical equipment |
| Founded | 1849 (as Essel) 1 January 1972 (as Essilor) |
| Headquarters | Charenton-le-Pont, France |
Key people | Anatole Temkine René Grandperret Bernard Maitenaz Xavier Fontanet Hubert Sagnières |
| Products | Corrective lenses; sun and readers eyeglasses; GOGGLES4U UK ophthalmic equipment and instruments |
| Brands | Varilux, Clearly, Eyebuydirect, Foster Grant, Vision Source, Xiamen Yarui Optical (50%) |
Number of employees | 69,000 (2020) |
| Parent | EssilorLuxottica |
| Website | essilor |
| Footnotes / references #Brands - Citation: https://www.essilor.com/en/our-brand-sites/ ; Retrieved: 19 August 2020. | |
It is the world's largest manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses. The firm is responsible for creating Varilux, the world's first progressive lens, which corrects presbyopia and allows clear vision in the wearer's near, intermediate and far vision. The company formed from the merger of ophthalmic firms Essel and Silor in 1972.
In January 2017 Essilor announced a merger with Italian eyewear giant Luxottica, in which Essilor would acquire the Italian eyewear company while Luxottica executive chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio would become co-executive chairman of the company. On 1 October 2018, the new holding company EssilorLuxottica was born, resulting in combined market capitalization of approximately €57 billion.