Since 2014, the Group’s Special Lenses Laboratory in France has equipped over 300,000 wearers from around the world who have complex vision requirements.

Guided by its Mission, EssilorLuxottica has been drawing on its 170-year history of crafting lenses to find visual health solutions for every individual, no matter how complex their needs may be. In 2014, the Group created a dedicated business unit called the Special Lenses Laboratory (SL Lab) in Ligny-en-Barrois (France) to design, develop and manufacture a complete range of special lenses, apart from our wide range of standardized lenses.

These customized special lenses aim to provide a solution for people with exceptional or unique visual needs, such as extreme myopia, overdeveloped hypermetropia and major strabismus. Around seven million worldwide are estimated to have visual impairment that cannot be corrected by ordinary lenses.

Today the SL Lab has over 90 experts who use their unique know-how to design innovative solutions that combine lens-making craftsmanship and innovative nano-technology to meet the needs of consumers in more than 35 countries. EssilorLuxottica is the only player today who is able to offer this unique product range and help eye care professionals better support the needs of individuals who have complex vision requirements.

High precision craftsmanship
Most of the lenses at the SL Lab are made by hand and require many hours of work by an expert who combines the latest optical know-how with specific manufacturing techniques to create a truly personalized solution. There are 65 steps in the manufacturing process of each lens, which requires ultra-precision machining.

The special lens service is grouped into two offers:
• Essilor Exceptio range: an extensive pre-defined range from spheres -40D to + 30D and
• Essilor Exceptio on demand range: the creation of unique and custom-made solutions for extreme ametropia (from spheres -108D to + 70D) or challenging occupational vision environments.

On average, around 80,000 lenses are produced per year to equip approximately 40,000 people and correct non-standard ametropia. Along with a strong growth in net sales (+14.5 per cent) in 2022, 50 per cent of SL Lab’s production were exported globally, including to markets such as Canada, Israel, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. The laboratory has equipped over 300,000 wearers from around the world since its launch in 2014. The Group has already achieved a number of industry firsts over the years for manufacturing Special Lenses with the power of -108.00 dioptres and a 6.00 cylinder.

Examples of SL Lab’s achievements:

Find out how SL Lab helped to improve the life of Benjamin Wickle in France, who has been diagnosed with high myopia since birth.

SL Lab made customized -108D 6 cyclinder lenses for a photographer from Slovakia, Jan Miskovic, who suffers from a number of complex eye conditions, including very strong myopia, amblyopia in both eyes, keratoconus and strabismus.