This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(March 2019) |
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. |
Essilor International is an international ophthalmic optics company that designs, manufactures and markets lenses to correct or protect eyesight. [1] Its headquarters is in Charenton-le-Pont (near Paris), France.
It is the world's largest manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses. [2] 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. [1] [3] The company formed from the merger of ophthalmic firms Essel and Silor in 1972. [4]
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. [1] [5] On 1 October 2018, the new holding company EssilorLuxottica was born, resulting in combined market capitalization of approximately €57 billion. [6]
Essel (Société des Lunetteries) was founded in 1849 (then-called L'Association Fraternelle des Ouvriers Lunetteries) as a small network of eyeglass assembly workshops in Paris. It expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by acquiring factories in nearby Parisian neighborhoods and Eastern France. Essel soon added frame design and trade to its activities. In 1955 Essel launched a frame design, Nylor, that is still used today. The Nylor system introduced thin nylon that surrounds the lens and is fixed to the frame's higher branch. Essel's breakthrough came in 1959 with the invention of Varilux, the first ophthalmic progressive lens.[ citation needed ]
Silor (Société Industrielle de Lunetterie et d'Optique Rationnelle) first started under the name Lissac in 1931 as a retailer of ophthalmic lenses and frames before becoming a lens manufacturer. In 1959, the same year Essel invented the progressive lens, Lissac made a discovery of its own: the Orma 1000 lens, made from a lightweight material. [7]
After many years as rivals, Essel and Silor merged on 1 January 1972 to form Essilor, then the world's third-largest ophthalmic optical firm. [1] Its first year of existence was marked by the creation of Valoptec, a non-trading company composed of stockholder managers who held half the company's capital stock, and the purchase of Benoist-Bethiot, a French lens manufacturer specializing in progressive lenses.[ citation needed ]
In the mid-1970s, Essilor focused on becoming a true optical group specializing in plastic progressive lenses. Many subsidiary activities were first sold off, but in 1974 Essilor fused Benoist-Bethiot with Guilbert-Routit, creating the subsidiary BBGR. In 1975, the company was listed on the stock exchange. The innovations by Essel and Silor led to the Varilux Orma's launch in 1976.[ citation needed ]
In the late 1970s Essilor began its transformation from mainly an exporting company to an international company by acquiring manufacturing plants in the United States, Ireland and the Philippines, [8]
The 1980s began with intensified competition. Essilor purchased four new plants in four years, in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil and Thailand. In France, new instruments facilitated automation of the manufacturing process. Many distributors were acquired or merged with Essilor in Europe (Norway, Portugal) and Asia (Burma, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam).[ citation needed ]
In the United States, all subsidiaries were brought together under the Essilor of America umbrella. This global network allowed Essilor to launch a new Varilux lens, the VMD, in Europe and the United States.[ citation needed ]
Essilor has gradually withdrawn its frames business to focus on corrective lenses. It has launched a coating, Crizal, that provides lenses with resistance to scratches, reflections and stains. Essilor partnered with PPG of the United States to develop Transitions, a technology that allows lenses to become darker or lighter depending on the intensity of ambient light. With the acquisition of Gentex, Essilor also launched the polycarbonate Airwear lens, a lightweight, unbreakable material.[ citation needed ]
In 2007 Essilor launched the Essilor Vision Foundation in the USA. This organization was created to run tests in schools to detect vision problems. Essilor Vision Foundation provides the followup care and glasses to children in need. [9]
In 2008 Essilor acquired the Swiss company Satisloh, a manufacturer of prescription laboratory equipment. [10]
In 2010, Essilor acquired 50% of the kibbutz-based Shamir Optical Industry. Shamir took advantage of Essilor's worldwide distribution network to develop its activity by launching new products. [11]
In 2010 Essilor acquired FGX International, an American company whose brands include Foster Grant. [12] In 2011 Essilor acquired 50% of the Chinese company Wanxin Optical. The growth drivers for the Chinese market are the aging population and the increase of reimbursement for eye care. [13] The 40th anniversary of the merger between Essel and Silor was in July 2012, an occasion to highlight their contributions and improvements on technologies. [14] As of September 2012, Essilor has been involved in the Special Olympics for 10 years, providing almost 100,000 free eyeglasses to the athletes. [15] In May 2013, Safilo and Essilor agreed on a 10-year licensing deal allowing Essilor to use Safilo's Polaroid brand for polarized lenses. [16] In July 2013, Essilor bought 51% of Transitions Optical's stakes from PPG Industries. [17] Essilor will eventually hold 100% of Transitions Optical. The deal was closed in 2014, [18] and aims to develop Essilor's leadership in lenses that adapt to changing light. [19] In March 2014, Essilor announced the acquisition of the Canadian online distributor Coastal.com, which rebranded as Clearly.ca in 2015. Essilor reinforced its presence online, adding Coastal.com to its online subsidiaries, such as MyOnlineOptical, FramesDirect and Eyebuydirect. [20]
In 2014, Essilor won four awards at the First Edition of the Vision-X VP Awards. Its Varilux S Series won Most Popular Lens (Progressive), and the Transitions Signature VII won Most Popular Lens (Best Value). Its Crizal Forte UV and Mr Blue won Most Popular Lens Coating/Value Add and Best Value Enhancer (Lab). [21] In 2015, Essilor International's U.S. subsidiary acquired Vision Source, a service network of independent optometrists, from Brazos Equity Partners LLC for an undisclosed amount. [22] By 19 March 2016 the company had a share value of 23,564 million euros, distributed in 216,477,934 shares.
In March 2016 the company bought the UK online contacts retailer VisionDirect UK, adding to many online eyewear brands Essilor already owns. [23] On 16 August 2016, Essilor International also completed the acquisition of MyOptique Group Ltd (parent company of Eyewearbrands, German-based Lensbest and 4care, Nordic and UK-operating VisionDirect [previously Lensbase and LensOn, and UK-based glasses e-retailer pioneers Glasses Direct and the Sunglasses Shop) for an estimated £120 million. Founded by entrepreneur Jamie Murray Wells in Wiltshire in 2004, MyOptique has an estimated active customer base of one million and an annual turnover of £57 million. As such, Essilor aimed to broaden its Central European online footprint and further diversify. [24] [25] [26]
In January 2017, Essilor agreed to merge with Luxottica., [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] subject to regulatory permission and competition conditions. [33] [34] [35]
Throughout, Luxottica faced allegations of unfair operating practices, including the abuse of market dominance to artificially inflate prices and also restrict competition via monopolisation. [36] [37] In March 2018, the merger of Essilor and Luxottica received formal clearance from the United States Federal Trade Commission and European Trade Commission without qualifying or prerequisite conditions. [38] A new holding company, EssilorLuxottica, was formally created on 1 October 2018, resulting in combined market capitalization of approximately €57 billion.
In 2020, about 88.8% of Essilor's turnover [39] came from the sale of ophthalmic lenses and optical instruments, 8.9% driven by sunglasses and readers and 2.3% from other activities, such as equipment sales.
Essilor operates a worldwide network of production plants, prescription laboratories, and distribution centers that supply corrective lenses, glasses, and sunglasses to opticians, optical chains, and consumers (via e-retailers it owns and/or operates directly).
Essilor manages a collection of patents and objects related to its history and collaborates with several optics-related institutions. It offered the Essilor–Pierre Marly collection (one of the world's largest optical instrument and eyewear collections, consisting of about 2,500 items collected by Marly, a celebrity optician who operated in the second half of the 20th century) to the Musée de la lunette. The collection includes medieval spectacles, bourgeois lorgnettes, walking sticks with optical systems, French actress Sarah Bernhardt's lorgnettes, the daughter of Louis XV's [ Victoire de France] glasses, and the iconic white plastic Courrèges Slit (a futuristic pair of sunglasses modelled upon a 2000-year old Arctic Inuit design, utilising carved slivers of whalebone, slit horizontally, to provide anti-glare eye protection). [40] [41] In 2008, Essilor signed a partnership with Le CNAM/PATSTEC to join the Mission nationale de sauvegarde du patrimoine scientifique et technique contemporain (National Mission for the Safeguarding of Contemporary Scientific and Technological Heritage). [42] [43]
Essilor invests over €200m each year in research and innovation, three times more than the rest of the industry combined. [1] In Singapore, the Centre for Innovation and Technology and the International Vision Academy are housed in a facility called Kallang Bahru. [44] In 2011, Pierre and Marie Curie University accredited Essilor wearer tests. In 2018, Essilor was ranked for the 8th consecutive year on Forbes's list of the world's most innovative companies. It is the third French company in the ranking. [45]
Essilor has about 450 researchers working at its five R&D facilities: one in Ireland dedicated to photochromic lenses and four Innovation and Technologies Centers in Europe (Créteil, France), the United States (Dallas) and Asia (China and Singapore). The facilities develop new products and work to identify and forge the best possible research partnerships.
In 2010, Essilor created Shopper Labs, renamed Essilor Companion™ Lab in 2020, experimental stores for opticians to support their practices.
In 2018, the Silmo [46] international optics tradeshow honored Essilor's Vision-R™800 in the Material/Equipment category and BBGR's BLUV® XPERT, in the Vision category.
In 2018 Forbes named Essilor one of the world's 100 “Most Innovative Companies", [47] ranked 52nd; a marked increase from 2017 (68th). Every year since 2010, Essilor has figured among the top 100 publicly traded companies investors identify as having the highest innovation potential.
Essilor's research department particularly concentrates on the combined progress of two complementary disciplines: optics and physiology, with particular recourse to virtual reality, a simulation tool that makes it possible to perceive and interact in 3D in a multi-sensory way. [48]
Researchers today use a virtual visualization system, equipped with algorithms and modeling Essilor developed to explore new optical solutions that can be tested directly on wearers. This simulator makes it possible to vary the properties of the lenses tested, study optical effects and immediately gauge wearer satisfaction. To do so, a magnetic sensor records a subject's head movements and images that show the eyes' exact viewpoint 120 times per second. After testing, the results are used to fine-tune the lenses' performance. In 2008, the Varilux Ipseo New Edition was designed using Essilor's Virtual Reality system.
Essilor has a number of partnerships with universities and other scientific and technical communities.
The firm participated in the Vision Institute (Institut de la Vision de Paris), a research center on ocular pathology inaugurated in 2008. [49] In 2015 the firm, the Vision Institute and the Sorbonne University in Paris created Silversight, a joint public-private research program on healthy visual ageing. [50]
In 2001, the firm began a collaboration with the University of Montréal on perception and ageing. [51] In 2003 this became the NSERC-Essilor industrial Chair.
In 2012 the firm was one of six industry partners along with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to create a research chair in coatings engineering at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal. [52]
In 2013, the firm established a joint research center in China with Wenzhou Medical University to investigate the progression of myopia, with a focus on the evolution of children's myopia. [53]
In 2015 Essilor and the CNRS LAAS signed a research partnership. A multidisciplinary team of researchers and engineers will research lenses and glasses with active and connected functions. [54]
Varilux is a brand of progressive lenses for people with presbyopia-correcting their vision at near and far distances and in between. Engineer Bernard Maitenaz invented the lens and in 1959 it was the first progressive lens available on the market.
Crizal Prevencia, launched in 2013, is a lens that lets in beneficial light and filters out blue-violet and UV rays.
In 2014, Essilor won a Fibre Innovation Award for Crizal Prevencia at an event at the Paris Pierre and Marie Curie University celebrating advances in technology that benefit society. [55]
In 2015 Essilor launched Eyezen lenses, designed for people's increasingly connected lives. Its research had determined that the reading distance of 40 cm that had been used as a standard for lens development had decreased to an average 33 cm when using digital tools. [56]
Transitions Optical, Inc., specializing in photochromic lenses, started as a joint venture between PPG Industries and Essilor International S.A. in 1990. In 2009, it launched the first commercially viable photochromic shield for motorcycle helmets. In 2010, it introduced Transitions XTRActive lenses, with technology that allows the lenses to activate behind the windshield.
In April 2014, Essilor acquired the entire stake of PPG in Transitions.
In 2018, Essilor announced that Transitions Optical had partnered with Johnson & Johnson Vision to make the light-adaptive photochromic technology available in a contact lens for the first time. Later that year, Time magazine named Acuvue Oasys with Transitions Light Intelligent technology the best invention of 2018. [57]
Vision Direct, formerly Vision Direct Group Ltd , is an online optical retailer that sells contact lenses, solutions and eye care products. Founded in 2004 as Optical Partners plc (unlisted), a small High Street retail business headed by Michael Kraftman, [58] the company is based in the United Kingdom but also operates in the United States, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium. In 2014 it rebranded itself from GetLenses. [59]
In 2015 Vision Direct ran a £2 m TV advertising campaign. [60] Vision Direct's 2015 Christmas campaign featured a short sighted pug named Gizmo, who had been having trouble with his glasses. [61] [62]
In 2016 Vision Direct was acquired by Essilor, putting it under the same ownership as Coastal / Clearly. [63]
The Essilor Vision Foundation was founded in 2007 in the United States to help eliminate poor vision among children. [64] [ non-primary source needed ]
In 2012, Essilor created the Vision Impact Institute, which manages a database of research and scientific studies on visual health and raises awareness of the benefits of corrected vision to guide public health policy decisions. One of the first research papers shared by the Institute showed that the global economy loses $227 billion every year from lost productivity caused by poor vision. In 2016, the firm contributed to the EYElliance report "Bridging the visual divide", at the World Economic Forum, calling for more financial support for access to eyeglasses. [65] [ non-primary source needed ]
In 2013, the firm launched the Eye Mitra program in India to increase access to vision care for underserved populations. [66]
Essilor and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) signed a three-year partnership that will promote good vision as a key pillar of road safety through awareness campaigns and underline the importance of regular sight tests to ensure safe driving. [67]
In April 2018 the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust announced the creation of the Vision Catalyst Fund to bring eye care to people in the Commonwealth. Essilor is a partner in the fund. [68] [ non-primary source needed ]
Year | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Revenue | 2,138 | 2,116 | 2,203 | 2,424 | 2,690 | 2,908.1 | 3,074.4 | 3,268.0 | 3,891.6 | 4,190 | 4,989 | 5,065 | 5,670 | 6,716 | 7,115 | 7,402 |
Net income | 182 | 200 | 244 | 287 | 328 | 366.7 | 382.4 | 394.0 | 462.0 | 506 | 584 | 594 | 642 | 757 | 813 | 833 |
Equity funds | 1,212 | 1,206 | 1,341 | 1,681 | 1,881 | 2,156 | 2,351 | 2,713 | 3,001 | 3,458 | 3,921 | 4,041 | 5,260 | 6,092 | 6,504 | 6,688 |
Number of employees: | 23,269 | 23,607 | 24,793 | 26,534 | 29,288 | 31,534 | 34,320 | 34,759 | 42,704 | 48,700 | 52,600 | 55,000 | 58,000 | 55,000 | 63,676 | 67,000 |
Oakley, Inc. is an American company headquartered in Foothill Ranch, California, which is an autonomous subsidiary of EssilorLuxottica. The company designs, develops and manufactures sports performance equipment and lifestyle pieces including sunglasses, safety glasses, eyeglasses, sports visors, ski/snowboard goggles, watches, apparel, backpacks, shoes, optical frames, and other accessories. Most items are designed in house at their head office, but some countries hold exclusive designs relevant to their market. Oakley currently holds more than 600 patents for eyewear, materials, and performance gear.
Luxottica Group S.p.A. is an Italian eyewear conglomerate based in Milan. As a vertically integrated company, Luxottica designs, manufactures, distributes, and retails its eyewear brands all through its own subsidiaries. The company, presently organized as a subsidiary of EssilorLuxottica which formed when the Italian conglomerate merged with the French optical firm Essilor, is the world's largest company in its industry, both prior to and after its merger with Essilor.
LensCrafters is an international retailer of prescription eyewear and prescription sunglasses. Its stores usually host independent optometrists on-site or in an adjacent store. The company has its corporate headquarters in Mason, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati in the US.
OPSM is a retailer of eye glasses in Australia and New Zealand, with locations in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia. It is owned by EssilorLuxottica, a French-Italian eyewear conglomerate.
An optician is an individual who fits eyeglasses or contact lenses by filling a refractive prescription from an optometrist or ophthalmologist. They are able to translate and adapt ophthalmic prescriptions, dispense products, and work with accessories. There are several specialties within the field.
Leonardo Del Vecchio was an Italian billionaire businessman, the founder and chairman of Luxottica, the world's largest producer and retailer of glasses and frames, with 77,734 employees and over 8,000 stores. At the time of his death, his net worth was estimated at US$24.1 billion, the second richest person in Italy, and 54th in the world.
Rodenstock GMBH is a German manufacturer of ophthalmic lenses and spectacle frames. The company, which was founded by Thuringian Josef Rodenstock in 1877, is headquartered in Munich.
Pearle Vision is an American chain of eye care stores. It is one of the largest franchised optical retailers in North America. The company was acquired by Luxottica, an Italian eyewear company, in 2004. As of December 31, 2018, Pearle Vision operated 110 corporate stores and had 419 franchises throughout North America.
Pupillary distance (PD), more correctly known as interpupillary distance (IPD) is the distance in millimeters between the centers of each pupil.
A photochromic lens is an optical lens that darkens on exposure to light of sufficiently high frequency, most commonly ultraviolet (UV) radiation. In the absence of activating light, the lenses return to their clear state. Photochromic lenses may be made of polycarbonate, or another plastic. Glass lenses use visible light to darken. They are principally used in glasses that are dark in bright sunlight, but clear, or more rarely, lightly tinted in low ambient light conditions. They darken significantly within about a minute of exposure to bright light and take somewhat longer to clear. A range of clear and dark transmittances is available.
Eyewear is a term used to refer to all devices worn over both of a person's eyes, or occasionally a single eye, for one or more of a variety of purposes. Though historically used for vision improvement and correction, eyewear has also evolved into eye protection, for fashion and aesthetic purposes, and starting in the late 20th century, computers and virtual reality.
Varilux is a brand name belonging to Essilor International, a producer of corrective lenses. The first version of the lens was invented by Bernard Maitenaz and released in 1959, and was the first modern progressive lens to correct presbyopia. The progressive lens is characterized by correcting near, intermediate and far vision.
Transitions Optical is a U.S.-based company known for manufacturing photochromic lenses. The company was founded in 1990.
Hubert Sagnières, born on 10 May 1955 in Vienne, France, is a company executive of French and Canadian nationality. He was chairman and CEO of Essilor International from 2012 to 2018 and became executive vice-chairman of EssilorLuxottica while keeping his role of chairman of Essilor International when Essilor merged with Luxottica in 2018.
Eyebuydirect, Inc. is an online retailer of prescription glasses, based in Austin, Texas. The company also sells prescription and non-prescription sunglasses, sport sunglasses, and computer glasses designed to reduce glare. Eyebuydirect was founded in 2005 by Roy Hessel, who was succeeded by Sunny Jiang, chief executive officer since 2017. The company has operations in the United States and China, and sells its products worldwide.
FramesDirect.com is an international online eyewear retailer. The company sells eyewear products such as eyeglasses, prescription sunglasses, sunglasses, and contact lenses through its website. FramesDirect.com sells designer and brand name eyewear products with over 60,000 models displayed on its website. Founded in 1996, FramesDirect.com was one of the earliest online optical retail stores.
Clearly is an online retailer of contact lenses, eyeglasses and sunglasses. The company was acquired by EssilorLuxottica Canada, and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are one of the largest online contact lens retailers in North America, and the largest seller of prescription eyeglasses online in the world.
Costa Del Mar or simply Costa is an American manufacturer of polarized sunglasses based in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of EssilorLuxottica. Their sunglasses are popular in the sport sunglasses market, and are considered good for outdoor sports practicing, such as Summer activities, recreational fishing and boating. Costa's Baffin Sunglasses won Best of Show: Eyewear at ICAST 2018.
EssilorLuxottica SA is an Italian-French vertically integrated multinational corporation based in Paris and founded on 1 October 2018 from the merger of the Italian Luxottica with the French Essilor. The eyewear-focused group group designs, produces and markets ophthalmic lenses, optical equipment, prescription glasses and sunglasses.
Shamir Optical IndustryLtd. is an international company headquartered in Kibbutz Shamir, Israel that develops and manufactures optical lenses for eyeglasses. In 2005, the company issued dual listings, on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, becoming the first company from the kibbutz industry to be listed on NASDAQ.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)