ZEISS Vision Care

Company Information

Here you will find all the information prepared for your reporting on the history, products and structure of ZEISS Vision Care. The Company Portrayal explains the organization and provides insights into the company's portfolio. The latest innovations show the most recent products we have developed. You can also get a glimpse of the history and learn which pioneers have shaped the eyeglass industry. The milestones provide a visual account of the company's historical development. Are you a journalist and have questions? Then get in touch with us!

Leading the eyeglass industry for more than 110 years

Since 1912 ZEISS has addressed the challenge of providing its customers with an optimal visual experience. Our daily work strongly emphasizes the wishes and needs of our customers because every eye is as individual as a fingerprint and individual demands for better vision require individualized solutions.

The ZEISS Vision Care strategic business unit is allocated to the ZEISS Consumer Markets segment. It develops and produces exceptional technological instruments and offerings for the entire eyeglass value chain. This includes the development, production and distribution of high-quality eyeglass lenses, diagnostic instruments and services. Innovations like ZEISS DriveSafe lenses and the ZEISS SmartLife portfolio, instruments and platforms such as the ZEISS i.Profiler plus, ZEISS VISUFIT 1000, and apps like "My Vision Profile" have received multiple awards for their design, user-friendliness and technological excellence.

Latest Innovations

ZEISS Light 2 Facilitates Entry into Progressive and Digital Lenses

Extension for ZEISS SmartLife portfolio

Press Release

15 Jan 2024

ZEISS Combines Objective and Subjective Refraction in a Space-Saving Unit

ZEISS VISUCORE 500: A quick and precise refraction system that saves space in the optical store

Press Release

17 Jul 2023

ZEISS Myopia Management Now Available in Europe

ZEISS MyoCare lenses as building block in the management of progressive myopia.

Background Article

14 Feb 2023

Awards

Thanks to our innovative lens solutions and optometric instruments that meet the needs of eye care professionals and spectacle wearers, ZEISS regularly receives awards from the professional community, the optical industry, and marketing experts – whether for design and user experience or technologies and sales concepts. Here is a selected overview.

2023

Country

Award

 

Dubai

VisionPlus Awards

ZEISS wins four VisionPlus Awards for ZEISS Progressive SmartLife Individual 3 (most popular lens progressive), ZEISS MyoCare (most popular lens best value), ZEISS Virtual Try-on @Home  (best value enhancer retail) and most outstanding stall design at VisionPlus Expo 2023.

2022

Country

Award

 

Dubai

VisionPlus Awards

ZEISS wins five VisionPlus Awards for ZEISS Progressive SmartLife Individual (most popular lens progressive), ZEISS ClearView (most popular lens best value), ZEISS PhotoFusion X (most popular lens coating / value), most outstanding booth design and most outstanding brand at VisionPlus Expo 2022.

2021

Country

Award

 

Dubai

VisionPlus Awards

ZEISS wins four VisionPlus Awards for ZEISS SmartLife lenses, ZEISS DuraVision AntiVirus Platinum UV coating, ZEISS VISUFIT 1000 platform with virtual try-on, and the best booth design at the 2021 show.

USA

CES Innovation Award

ZEISS UVClean is Named CES Innovation Awards Honoree

USA

Red Dot Awards

ZEISS UVClean earns two Red Dot Awards and is recognized for excellence in industrial design and innovative product.

2020

Country

Award

 

Germany

UX Design Award

ZEISS VISU360 is honored with the UX Design Award 2020 as one of the best in the field of user and customer experience.

Italy

Life Science Excellence Award

"My Vision Profile" app receives 2020 Life Science Excellence Awards.

2019

Country

Award

 

MENA

Vision Plus Award

1) Most popular lens (Best Value) ZEISS Single Vision DriveSafe

2) Most popular lens (Progressive) ZEISS Progressive DriveSafe Individual

China

THE EUROPEAN BUSINESS IN CHINA AWARD

Innovation & Intelligence Award for ZEISS

China

2019 Guangzhou International Brand Festival

Annual Influential Brand Award

USA

Walmart Supplier Award

Walmart Health Supplier Award

Germany

German Design Award

Winner for ZEISS EYEWEAR Architekt Kollektion

Poland

Optical Fair Award

Product of the Year for ZEISS UVProtect

France

Silmo D’Or

Product of the Year for ZEISS UVProtect

Great Britain

AOP Product of the Year

Winner for ZEISS UVProtect

Portugal

Inovação Premiada Por Consumidores

Product of the Year for ZEISS UVProtect

Germany

German Design Award

Special Mention for My Vision Profile

2018

Country

Award

 

France

Heavent Awards B2B

2017 ZEISS Vision Care Customer Event "Future of Optics"

2017

Country

Award

 

Germany

Red Dot Award

My Vision Profile

Germany

Red Dot Award

ZEISS i.Com mobile

China

TOP Mobile Marketing Innovative Brand Award

Digital Marketing 

USA

Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Award

Gold Award for "Creating an Extended Enterprise Learning Program"

2016

Country

Award

 

Great Britain

Optician Award "Lens Product of the Year"

ZEISS DriveSafe

China

TOP Mobile Marketing Innovative Brand Award

Marketing campaigns

2015

Country

Award

 

Germany

iF Design Award

ZEISS i.Com mobile

Germany

Red Dot Award

ZEISS i.Com mobile

Germany

PR Award (together with Salesforce)

ZEISS DriveSafe stunt event and digital campaign

Germany

WorldMediaFestival 2015

eLearning animations

Germany

eLearning Award

"Sales Adventure"

USA

Brandon Hall Group HCM Excellence Award

Silver Award "Creating an Extended Enterprise Learning Program"

2013

Country

Award

 

UAE

Retail ME Awards ZEISS / Rivoli EyeZone

Most Admired Store Design of the Year

Germany

Best Architects Award

Winner for Store Design

2012

Country

Award

 

Germany

iF Communication Award

ZEISS Vision Center

Germany

Staircase of the Year Germany

ZEISS Vision Center

2011

Country

Award

 

Germany

Red Dot Award

ZEISS i.Terminal 2

Germany

Red Dot Award

ZEISS i.Profiler

2010

Country

Award

 

Germany

Red Dot Award

ZEISS Vision Center (twice!)


Pioneers of Ophthalmic Optics

Carl Zeiss (1816-1888)

In 1846 Carl Zeiss opened a workshop for precision mechanics and optical instruments in Jena. He focused his activities more and more on microscope production and later on eyeglass lenses. Soon he was supplying not only the regional market but also shipping his products around the world.

Ernst Abbe (1840-1905)

In 1866 Carl Zeiss recruited physicist Ernst Abbe. He became a partner in the company in 1877. Abbe enabled outstanding technological achievements and played a decisive role in ensuring business success and the continued existence of ZEISS.

Moritz von Rohr (1868-1940)

Moritz von Rohr was Ernst Abbe‘s assistant and head of microscopy R&D at ZEISS before he started to examine the basics of eyeglass lens optics in 1908. In collaboration with later Nobel Prize laureate Allvar Gullstrand he laid the foundations for today's ophthalmology.

Allvar Gullstrand (1862-1930)

The Swedish ophthalmologist is considered one of the founders of modern ophthalmology. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1911, together with Moritz von Rohr, for their work on the dioptric apparatus of the eye.

Oleksandr Teodorovyč Smakula (1900-1983)

Smakula joined ZEISS in 1934. His invention of an anti-reflective coating for optical surfaces was patented in 1935 and first used in military binoculars. In 1959 ZEISS applied it to eyeglass lenses for the first time. Today, AR coating is a basic optical technology.

Estelle Glancy (1883-1975)

Dr. Anna Estelle Glancy is known as the first lady of optics. In the first half of the 20th century she was the only female scientist in the field of eyewear lens design. Her design of progressive lenses in the 1920s paved the way for some of the innovative technologies ZEISS works with today.

Hermann Pistor (1875-1951)

The Mathematician and physicist is considered one of the founders of professional training in ophthalmic optics and was instrumental in developing the technical and university education for opticians. The College of Ophthalmic Optics, 1917 founded by ZEISS in Jena, was headed by Pistor from 1919.

Milestones in the Company History

2017 - 2023

ZEISS VISUCORE 500

2023
With ZEISS VISUCORE 500 a space-saving, high-precision system is presented that combines objective and subjective refraction. Thanks to its sophisticated technology ZEISS VISUCORE 500 is easy to operate and can deliver precise data in less than five minutes.

2023
ZEISS combines more than ten years of extensive experience with progressive and high myopia in Asia with scientifically based findings to offer effective, specific myopia management solutions. Since April 2023 ZEISS Myopia Management is also available in Europe, including ZEISS MyoCare and ZEISS MyoCare S lenses.

From single vision to progressive lenses: ZEISS SmartLife is a complete premium product portfolio.

2023
ZEISS expands its premium portfolio ZEISS SmartLife due to scientific findings on the visual behavior and visual needs of different age groups. It now includes ZEISS SmartLife Young lenses specially designed to meet the needs of children and teenagers and ZEISS SmartLife Individual 3 with the highest level of personalization available in a ZEISS lens.

2022
With ZEISS PhotoFusion X, ZEISS launches the next generation of photochromic lenses. Compared to the previous generation of ZEISS photochromic lenses, the revolutionary design darkens up to 60% faster and fades back to clear up to 80% faster while providing a new level of integrated blue light and UV protection.

ZEISS ClearView Key Visual

ZEISS ClearView single vision lenses represent a milestone in optics and aesthetics of stock lenses. In a lens that is 16% thinner and 49% flatter than conventional standard single vision lenses, they offer outstanding visual acuity.

Blue light surrounds us every day and everywhere. The scientific and social debate about whether blue light is harmful to our eyes is still ongoing.

2021
With ZEISS BlueGuard, a new generation of blue light blocking lenses is introduced to the market addressing the current technology and media use. The blue light blocking properties are incorporated into the lens material itself. As a result, ZEISS BlueGuard Lenses provide excellent lens clarity and block up to 40 percent of potentially harmful and irritating blue light.

2019
Introduction of ZEISS SmartLife – a complete premium portfolio of eyeglass lenses for all consumers no matter their age. The ZEISS SmartLife lens design factors in our modern connected and on-the-move lifestyle, dynamic visual behavior, individual visual needs, and age.

UVProtect, ZEISS

2018
Thanks to UVProtect, ZEISS is the world’s first manufacturer to offer sunglass-level UV protection up to 400 nm for all clear plastic lenses.

ZEISS VISUFIT 1000

ZEISS VISUFIT 1000 is a new platform for determination of 3D centration data in just a few clicks. Its 9 cameras and 45 points mean a 180-degree facial avatar can be generated for the wearer.

ZEISS EnergizeMe

2017
Global launch of the ZEISS EnergizeMe lenses for contact lens wearers.

"My Vision Profile" by ZEISS – the app for consumers offers an initial test for visual requirements and is a great way to get to know the ZEISS Vision Analysis at the optician’s – its design was honored with the Red Dot Award.

Launch of ZEISS VISUSTORE, an easy, simple and fast digital ordering platform.

2010 - 2015

Individual 2 Marketing Collateral Salesfolder

2015
ZEISS progressive lenses are refreshed in four categories – perfectly adapted to the eyes and the digital world, to frames and switches to new frames, to a wearer’s facial anatomy and adjustment to their personal lifestyle.

i.com mobile von ZEISS

ZEISS offers i.Com mobile, a new, tablet-based system for controlling measuring instruments, centrally collecting data and personal consultations – the system was honored with the Red Dot Award.

ZEISS DuraVision

ZEISS has expanded its ZEISS DuraVision coating portfolio to include ZEISS DuraVision Silver and ZEISS DuraVision BlueProtect.

ZEISS DriveSafe

Global launch of the ZEISS DriveSafe lenses; designed to maximize safety and comfort for glasses wearers while driving and offer maximum safety and comfort even when worn all day long.

2013
ZEISS Vision Care operates around the globe with a new brand image focused sharply on the power of the ZEISS brand; the emphasis is on the special and fascinating moments that customers experience with ZEISS products.

ZEISS PhotoFusion

2012
With PhotoFusion®, ZEISS introduces the fastest self-tinting lenses on the market.

With technology for determining the maximum intermediate distance (M.I.D.) developed by the company, a ZEISS lens can be adapted with millimeter accuracy to the visual distance required by each individual user.

DuraVision Platinum is ZEISS’s hardest coating yet.

Experience Vision Center Berlin

2011
The first ZEISS Experience Vision Center opens in Berlin with the aim of offering a brand-new shopping experience in the 21st century. All the relevant aspects of the customer experience are taken into account: shop fitting, marketing material, sales area, instruments for vision analysis, refraction and centration, as well as cutting-edge ZEISS lens solutions – all with an innovative design.

ZEISS MyoVision

2010
Restructuring of the company financing: Carl Zeiss AG takes over 100 percent of the voting rights in Carl Zeiss Vision, which is integrated as ZEISS Vision Care into the Carl Zeiss Group.

MyoVision™ from ZEISS is an eyeglass lens specially developed for Asian children. Thanks to Peripheral Vision Management Technology™, this lens significantly reduces the progression of myopia and, consequently, the risk of severely limited vision later on. About half of all children between the ages of 11 and 13 living in cities and urban areas of Asia suffer from myopia – and the trend is accelerating.

2000 - 2009

2009
ZEISS Experience is presented as a modular retail concept with three key elements: ZEISS analysis, marketing and consulting tools as well as a special shop design.

with i.Scription without i.Scription
with i.Scription
without i.Scription

2007
Through wavefront measurement, i.Scription® allows the wearer's individual eye profile to be factored into the lens calculation. This technology considerably improves the correction of visual defects, particularly for night vision.

2006
Introduction of Gradal Individual® FrameFit®, the first progressive lens that adapts to all frames.

2005
Merger of the ZEISS Vision Care division and the US eyeglass lens manufacturer SOLA International.

2000
ZEISS presents its first individualized progressive lens in the form of Gradal Individual®. In addition to offering a customized Rx, personal parameters of the wearer are now factored into the calculation of the progressive surface.

1987 - 1995

1995
Acquisition of American Optical (founded in 1869) by SOLA International.

1991
World's first mid-index plastic eyeglass lens: Clarlet SL by ZEISS. Today, a refractive index of up to 1.74 allows lenses that are up to 40 percent thinner and therefore lighter than traditional indices.

1987
First plastic lens from ZEISS under the brand name Clarlet Gradal HS.

1959 - 1983

1970
Umbramatic lenses launched; Carl Zeiss caters to the segment of self-tinting lenses for the first time. The first progressive lenses are introduced to the market; Gradal 1.

1983
Successful breakthrough into the progressive lens sector with Gradal HS. Gradal enables the same visual conditions for the two eyes regardless of the direction of view.

1959
First anti-reflective coating, with a patent awarded to Carl Zeiss in 1935.

From 1960
Introduction of plastic lenses, also by Scientific Optical Laboratories of Australia (SOLA), which was merged with the Carl Zeiss Vision Care to form Carl Zeiss Vision in 2005.

1912 - 1945

ZEISS Umbral Gläser

1945
Division of Carl Zeiss in Jena (East Germany) and Carl Zeiss in Oberkochen (West Germany). Re-establishment of ophthalmology in Oberkochen.

1932
Introduction of PERIVIST frames which enable an anatomically optimal, secure position of the lenses in front of the eyes and a customized fitting.

1924
Launch of the sun protection lens UMBRAL; the first optical sunglass lens to feature a uniform tint and defined transmittance.

1914
Production of bifocal lenses begins.

ZEISS Punktal Glas

1. April 1912
ZEISS launches Punktal, the market’s first precision eyeglass lens, as well as the first-ever slit lamp.

ZEISS Development Head Moritz von Rohr and Swedish ophthalmologist Allvar Gullstrand received the Nobel Prize (Medicine) for their work on the eye’s physiology.

Status: December 2023

Get in Touch with Us

Joachim Kuss
Head of Communications: General topics and Sustainability
Mail: joachim .kuss @zeiss .com

Phone: +49 (0) 151 42112288

Julia Baier
International PR: Instruments, Tools and Digitalization
Mail: julia .baier @zeiss .com

Phone: +49 (0) 7361 591 400

Maria Conrad
International PR: Eyeglass Lenses, Coatings and Materials
Mail: maria .conrad @zeiss .com

Phone: +49 (0) 7361 591 1378