I really do like spectacle lenses, and would actually call myself a bit of a lens geek! I like each new product and the innovation that goes along with it, and I really do enjoy widening my lens knowledge with the features of a new design that comes to market in the optical industry. However, with all the new spectacle lens products that are becoming available on a regular basis, there is one type of product that it has seemed, in recent years, has been pushed further and further down the pecking order. Many new products are brilliant new designs of varifocals, or occupational lenses, many are great new single vision products, and some are ground breaking coatings or tints. Now being the kind of person I describe myself as just now, I did really get excited when I see that there is a new type of product available that really caught my eye. Now, the new type of product I am referring to, is something I feared I would never see again! A new bifocal lens! Yes, bifocals do still exist, even though from my experience their existence is getting kind of forgotten more and more.
Enter the Shamir Duo lens. An advanced freeform bifocal lens that offers surface continuity and eliminates the visible line! Hallelujah!
Now, the thing with bifocals is, one day they really were revolutionary, just like many new types of lenses we read about in this publication on a regular basis. When the first type of bifocal lenses were invented, the feeling around really must have been wow, and they have really made such a difference to many people’s lives all over the world. At that time, many people probably didn’t even envisage they would see the day when you could use the same pair of eyeglasses for both distance and near vision, something we just take for granted in today’s world. Now fast forward a couple of centuries and we have the latest design of the bifocal and it seems like it has been worth waiting for! An advanced freeform bifocal, and what’s more, a real bifocal with no visible line! After many years of people trying to describe varifocals to patients and customers as bifocals without the line, we really do now have a bifocal without the line!, and how great does that feel? Now we can truly offer a solution to someone who loves wearing bifocals but doesn’t like the visible line, which is often associated with the aging process. This is also a real option to presbyopes who struggle with varifocal adaptation, and a great new addition to the lens portfolio for us all. This is something we should all welcome and celebrate!