# Optical Forums > Progressive Lens Discussion Forum >  What progressives are your favorites?

## Happylady

I am thinking it would be helpful and interesting to hear what other opticians like to use and why. Also do you perfer some for farsighted patients and some for nearsighted patients?

I use many different progressives but my favorites are the Varilux Physico, the SolaOne, and the Varilux Ellipse. I use the Physico when excellent distance is the most important and the SolaOne when excellent near is important. I use the Ellipse for smaller frames.

I tend to use the same lenses for both nearsighted and farsighted patients.

If the patient is already wearing a progressive and is completely happy with it I often keep them in the same lens.

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## For-Life

I use the Ovation as our main basic lens with AR.  It does a really nice job.  I do have a crush on the Ellipse, as customers have really liked it.  I love it when I sell a pair of Ipseo's.  Then you cannot ever forget about the iron horse, Super No Line.

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## rbaker

Happylady,

*I use the Physico when excellent distance is the most important and the SolaOne when excellent near is important.*

What lens do you use when the patient requires excellent distance AND near vision?

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## Happylady

> Happylady,
> 
> *I use the Physico when excellent distance is the most important and the SolaOne when excellent near is important.*
> 
> What lens do you use when the patient requires excellent distance AND near vision?


Actually I think both lenses do well in all areas. That is why they are my favorites.

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## joshy

I am fond of the Essilor Natural Comfort, as well as the Ovation.  I have very good success with both.  I will use the Sola Instinctive from time to time, it seems to work very well.  For higher end lenses, I have the most success with the Seiko Proceed II.

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## shellrob

I like the Piccolo and the hoya gp wide. I also fit panamic. It just depends.

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## dary

I like Essilor- all of my patients "see" with them. Have no complaints.

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## Samuel Jong

> I am thinking it would be helpful and interesting to hear what other opticians like to use and why. Also do you perfer some for farsighted patients and some for nearsighted patients?


It's a nice question, and I also would like to hear from the experts here.

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## optigrrl

We use Panamic,Liberty and Comfort, Hoya ECP, CD and GP Wide, Shamir Genisis and Piccolo, Sola One and occaisionally Zeiss GT and Seiko Proceed 1.67 Transitions.  


It really depends on the RX, the person's lifestyle, the type of frame and the material (transitions in high index, hehe).

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## Karenrp1956

I notice Kodack is not mention, any reason why?

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## shellrob

I'm not sure why. I think there's just so many to choose from, it gets overlooked.

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## Judy Canty

> I'm not sure why. I think there's just so many to choose from, it gets overlooked.


Bingo!:idea:

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## francisOD

We use the Gradal Top most often...in plus rx we have found some patient had harder adaptations.  They (hyperopes)seemed to do better in a Nikon I or W.  Any one else using GT find hyperopes more problematic?

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## Judy Canty

I guess the next logical question is why are these your favorites?  Is it advertising, design, personal experience, customer feedback, price, material availability?

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## For-Life

With the Ovation I have had good reviews, it is moderately priced, and flexible.

With the Ellipse, it is not just that it can go into small frames, but I have had some really good reviews on it.

Super No Line, it is the price

Ipseo, it is the great reviews, the great idea, and gives us a differentiation point.

They are all Essilor lenses, because I deal with an Essilor lab.  If I had to get rid of all four I am certain that I would have no problem going to Zeiss, Signet Armorlite, Hoya, or whoever.

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## Karenrp1956

I am a satellite office, use what the main office uses most of the time.  I can choose my own when doing vsp. 

Essilor is a great, I just have a small problem with rep. Hate lining their pockets.

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## francisOD

Obviously if you are sticking to a product, it works on a lot of points.  If I had returns, if the cost was prohibitive, I would not use it.  Are there other products out there that would give my patient better satisfaction at the same price?  maybe, some patient are not as apt to detect residual distortion but I am not going to start off my patient on lesser performing products than what I consider a minimum starting quality.  In my case I prefer the Gradal Top, with my volume I get a good price, very few returns, patients are happy, me and my staff are used to fitting it, it is different than what all the box stores fit in Canada, life is good:)

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## Ory

We also fit the Gradal Top a lot.  It's the lens that was being used by the office when I joined and I've had little reason to move away from it.  Can't say I've noticed a significant difference in non-adaptations between hyperopes and myopes.

In very high myopes I've found the Individual to be excellent.  It seems great for those who could handle a low add progressive but have trouble adapting to a higher add.  Price makes it a tough sell but it is well worth it for those who have hit a wall otherwise.

And while it may be argued about if it's a progressive, I like the access lens for those office workers.

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## optigrrl

Only comment on the Zeiss GT and hyperopes was a complaint on the long channel - the patient felt they had to "go too far down the lens" to get to the reading. (Yes, we did double check the seg height)


Shamir Genesis - well balanced lens. 
Hoya GP Wide - larger intermediate and larger reading area, also confirmed this looking at a contour plot comparison against all the lenses mentioned in my previous post.
Hoya products in general because of the Super High Vision and the 1.70 and Trivex materials.
Varilux Liberty has been a great computer lens for us...
Essilor has the poly 1.0 center grinding - inexpensive option for a thinner/lighter lens
I also love the cleanability of the Alize w/ clear guard...
And for the short-corridor options I have used AO Compact, Summit CD, Piccolo and Elipse. The CD and the Piccolo have been the best so far. Going to try the Zeiss Brevity in a couple of weeks at 16 hi - will let you know.

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## Ory

Thanks for reminding me optigrrl...the Zeiss Brevity is a farly good lens for the smaller frames.  Haven't compared it to the ellipse yet....has anyone else?

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## Jubilee

I have had far better success with the Ellipse as a short corridor choice than the Brevity. The patients I put in the brevity all complained of a smaller distance view and swim. The Ellipse I have had only complaint from a patient on, and that was more of a problem with her wanting an office type lens and not a regular dress pair. 

Now as far as my favorites:

Gradal Top: Great Lens, Great price, from an awesome Lab..like to fit at least 20 high

Physio:Less swim, a bit more balanced..switching all my previous Varilux Comfort/Panamics over to this style..Also Davis Patients!

SolaOne: After hearing some raving reviews I have been trying this lately as an 18 high lens. can get from my favorite lab, and so far good feedback!

Ellipse:My favorite Short Corridor lens. Excellent for low adds to get that quick bit of help for computer as well.

Definity: For the patient who demands the best for reading

Image: For the price, a great lens. Also love the trivex option.

I have been considering trying more of the Shamir product. I can get it from my favorite non Varilux Lab, and they have trivex options.

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## Samuel Jong

> In my case I prefer the Gradal Top, with my volume I get a good price, very few returns, patients are happy, me and my staff are used to fitting it, it is different than what all the box stores fit in Canada, life is good:)


Have you ever tried to fit your pt with Gradal Individual or Gradal Individual FrameFit and what's the comment? As long as I fit my pt with both lenses, they are all happy. Thanks.

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## francisOD

I have used the gradal individual once on a patient with -4.00 cyl or around there ou...px was very happy...was a little hard to convince him to try because of price but Zeiss had good warranty, told patient if non adapt full refund, helped close the deal and px thought it was worth the money, first progressive he was comfortable with from the start.  Only one case but positive one!

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## mike.elmes

Kodak (precise for example) is made by signet armorlite...they only made them in an in mold scratch resistant coating :finger: that wasn't compatible with an AR. :angry: Most companies had an uncoated lens available if they were sold with AR. I'm not sure if they ever fixed the problem.


> I notice Kodack is not mention, any reason why?

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## Samuel Jong

> I have used the gradal individual once on a patient with -4.00 cyl or around there ou...px was very happy...was a little hard to convince him to try because of price but Zeiss had good warranty, told patient if non adapt full refund, helped close the deal and px thought it was worth the money, first progressive he was comfortable with from the start. Only one case but positive one!


Thanks for the prompt feedback.

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## Happylady

> Kodak (precise for example) is made by signet armorlite...they only made them in an in mold scratch resistant coating :finger: that wasn't compatible with an AR. :angry: Most companies had an uncoated lens available if they were sold with AR. I'm not sure if they ever fixed the problem.


I have never had a problem with Kodak lenses and AR. I have used Crizal, Alizee, and different Zeiss coatings with no problems.

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## Jubilee

They have fixed the problem with the coating, and last time the rep was in.. they were promoting their AR.

They have some great loyalty money out there, won some awards...I just have never tried them. Though a local chain uses their products almost exclusively.

Cassandra

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## mike.elmes

The problem was signet armorlite only made them with an in mold src....none of the coating companies could seem to figure out how to deglaze the front src, and SA didn't want to take responsibility.The rest of the world was producing uncoated versions for AR jobs. The kodak market was primarily the US where the percentage of AR was low.

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## Samuel Jong

> *I use the Physico when excellent distance is the most important and the SolaOne when excellent near is important.*


In other words SOLAOne is almost the same with SolaMAx for near, is it correct?

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## Robert Martellaro

> I tend to use the same lenses for both nearsighted and farsighted patients.


Hyperopes have slightly decreased fields with PALs due to magnification, and would probably benefit from PAL designs with wider distance, intermediate, and near zones. Plus powered PALs that use flatter base curves (fully aspheric) are lighter in weight with improved appearance especially in rimless frames. The lenses will also mount better in full metal titanium frames. With all things being equal, the above can be the tie breaker when deciding on the lens design.

Here are some lenses that I frequently dispense (Adds > +1.75)...

For those with low frequency near tasks or have auxiliary glasses for near...

Zeiss Gradal Top, Shamir Genesis, Sola Percepta. 

Average near tasks...

Any medium length corridor design with the Genesis being one of the best general purpose designs. Panamic for its flatter curves. 

Above average near tasks...

Piccolo, Concise (will be available in Trivex sometime this year) XS (flatter curves) Ellipse, Summit CD (Trivex) Ao Easy/Sola One (Finalite).

Below +1.75 add powers...

Mostly medium to long corridor soft designs.

Atorics for folks with CYL over two diopters.

Regards,

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## Happylady

Robert, I do like to use aspheric designs for + prescriptions. I am familar with most of the designs you use and use several of them. 

I rarely use the Concise or the Summit CD. They might be great at near, but they are poor at distance. I would rather use the Sola One, which I think is more balanced.

I use the Percepta some because of its great distance, they make a nice sunglass.

One of the reasons I have never used the Shamir products is that I really like the Crizal, High Vision, and Teflon ARs which I can't use on them. I use the Carat Advantage sometimes, but the lab I can get Shamir from can only do the Carat on them.

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## francisOD

My personal experience has been that the Carat Advantage is better than the Teflon.  Do you find the opposite?  Just curious.  You have a Shamir lab that does the Carat advantage or XT?

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## Robert Martellaro

Happylady,

Balanced is a probably the best word to use when describing these (Sola One) general purpose lenses.

I'm presently wearing Piccolo, prior to that the Concise, and the Sola Max before that. When I first trialed the Concise, the first thing I noticed was that I didn't have to raise my chin as much when looking at the monitor or reading the paper. It was a huge difference, enough so that I was reasonably functional through the day if I forgot to bring my computer glasses to work. I also noticed that the lens felt busier, swimmy if you will, with more distance peripheral blur and some flare at night from headlights. All except the distance peripheral blur went away after about ten days, and the only time I notice the peripheral blur presently is if I lay down on the floor and look at the TV. These are problems that are inherent in all short corridor lenses, and being an avid reader I'm willing to make that compromise. My Rx is -4.50ish with a 2.25 add. 

Regards

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## lab fly

I have had huge sucess with the Brevity by Zeiss.  I converted an Essilor office over to Zeiss.  I asked why they used only comfort and she said that the rep told her it was the best.  They used it for the last 20 years.  She was wearing the ellipse and was alright with it.  I gave her a set of Brevity and this is the only pair she wears practiclly.  So my first choice is the Zeiss Brevity,  the Gradal Top and the Sola One

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## Karenrp1956

Can you crizal the Brevity






> I have had huge sucess with the Brevity by Zeiss. I converted an Essilor office over to Zeiss. I asked why they used only comfort and she said that the rep told her it was the best. They used it for the last 20 years. She was wearing the ellipse and was alright with it. I gave her a set of Brevity and this is the only pair she wears practiclly. So my first choice is the Zeiss Brevity, the Gradal Top and the Sola One

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## Happylady

> Can you crizal the Brevity


You can put Carat Advantage on it.

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## Happylady

> Happylady,
> 
> Balanced is a probably the best word to use when describing these (Sola One) general purpose lenses.
> 
> I'm presently wearing Piccolo, prior to that the Concise, and the Sola Max before that. When I first trialed the Concise, the first thing I noticed was that I didn't have to raise my chin as much when looking at the monitor or reading the paper. It was a huge difference, enough so that I was reasonably functional through the day if I forgot to bring my computer glasses to work. I also noticed that the lens felt busier, swimmy if you will, with more distance peripheral blur and some flare at night from headlights. All except the distance peripheral blur went away after about ten days, and the only time I notice the peripheral blur presently is if I lay down on the floor and look at the TV. These are problems that are inherent in all short corridor lenses, and being an avid reader I'm willing to make that compromise. My Rx is -4.50ish with a 2.25 add. 
> 
> Regards


I have never worn the Piccolo but I did sell my first one today. :D 

I have worn both the Sola Max and Concise and neither are my favorites. The near was fine, but the lenses are swimmy. I actually have a pair of Concise now and I have gotten used it it but if I put on my Physicos or Sola Ones they are better.

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## lab fly

Quote:
Originally Posted by *Karenrp1956*
_Can you crizal the Brevity_


I'm sure it is possible technically however what we want and what the manufacturers will do are two different things.  However, I do put the Teflon AR on alot of Brevitys and get an incredible product just like the Crizal Ar both are great products and very similar in my opinion

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## n711

I have worked with mainly the Hoya GP wide for 5+ years and ...We basically switch everyone out of their current lens and into the GP Wide-as long as frame size would alow. And all of our new fits...we had a 98% sucess rate !!!! Honestly

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## mboland

Well here it goes.  

Premium EZ fit - Not sure who it's made by, but it works very well and I have had no complaints from 20 patients I've fitted.  That can change.  Very good pricing from lab is why I've been trying it.

Shamir Genesis, Piccolo and Office-  All very good in a variety of materials.  I'm a big fan of the Office for computer users and have been very successful with that as well.

Younger Image - as someone stated earlier a great lens and good to use when you are selling clear and polarized.

Various Varilux designs.  I've used them all and I used to use them exclusively, but a shift in office staff and I'm able to try different lenses now.  

I guess what works for your patients consistently and keeps them happy and your office profitable can be what dictates what your "favorite" is.

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## Chris Ryser

> *I use the Physico when excellent distance is the most important and the SolaOne when excellent near is important.*


As an optician you should agree that the most perfect distance vision is as important as a perfect near vision.

It seems that you are of the opinion that on those pals you do not have a perfect lens that gives you both. Are you selling everybody 2 pairs of them........so that they can see good for distance and the other good for close up?
:D

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## Happylady

> As an optician you should agree that the most perfect distance vision is as important as a perfect near vision.
> 
> It seems that you are of the opinion that on those pals you do not have a perfect lens that gives you both. Are you selling everybody 2 pairs of them........so that they can see good for distance and the other good for close up?
> :D


Oh Chris, lets just agree to disagree! ;) 

I think both of these lenses are great, but the Physio has a slight edge in the distance and the Sola One has a slight edge in the near. A farsighted person who spends a lot of time reading might do better with the Sola One. A moderately nearsighed person who can remove their glasses when reading if needed might perfer the Physio.

I wish I could sell everyone two pairs of glasses, but that is another tale.

Your "solution" of using flattops has plenty of problems involved in it. Flattops have their own problems and issues.

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## 66Lenses

> As an optician you should agree that the most perfect distance vision is as important as a perfect near vision.


I do tend to agree with this. They are both extremely important though I tend to ask the patient which actually matters most to them.

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## Samuel Jong

Essilor just launched Physio in my country, and I would to hear the comment from who has tried Physio. Thanks.

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## For-Life

> Essilor just launched Physio in my country, and I would to hear the comment from who has tried Physio. Thanks.


Chris, you may not want to read this part:

I just put my grandmother into the 360.  She has worn a FT-35 for years.  The main reason why I switched her is because she now uses the computer a lot and is missing the intermediate.  I figured with us paying for it it was a good test to see how good of a lens it is (since we could just put her back into the FT or a trifocal if we want to).  She is adapting fine.  Of course she notices a smaller reading area, but she has no need for a huge one (extremely few do).  We also put a former trifocal wearer into one (she really wanted to try it out, we did not force her), and she adapted no problem.

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## Samuel Jong

> Chris, you may not want to read this part:
> 
> I just put my grandmother into the 360. She has worn a FT-35 for years. The main reason why I switched her is because she now uses the computer a lot and is missing the intermediate. I figured with us paying for it it was a good test to see how good of a lens it is (since we could just put her back into the FT or a trifocal if we want to). She is adapting fine. Of course she notices a smaller reading area, but she has no need for a huge one (extremely few do). We also put a former trifocal wearer into one (she really wanted to try it out, we did not force her), and she adapted no problem.


Why did you put Physio 360 instead of Physio? Is it because Physio 360 a "free-form" technology?

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## Samuel Jong

The keyword in Essilor's marketing material is "WAVE Technology", is it a real new feature? It sounds like a fancy way to describe their ray-tracing technology.

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## For-Life

> Why did you put Physio 360 instead of Physio? Is it because Physio 360 a "free-form" technology?


Well might as well do the best for the family.

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## Chris Ryser

> *Oh Chris, lets just agree to disagree! ;)* 
> 
> *Your "solution" of using flattops has plenty of problems involved in it. Flattops have their own problems and issues.*


Flat tops have a place in this world...........issue or no issue...........progressives have also their place. 

It just hase to be the right place. 

All you promoters of selling only progressives for all seasons, as cooking, reading, playing golf, for architects that look at large plans, Poeple over 60 that can not read more than one coloumn in a news paper because the reading segment is too small. 

The opticians who sells a consumer a small frame that has no reading segment left at the bottom.................are all one track minded because the public is an easy fish to catch.

The consumer is also an easy target because he or she is fashion minded and buy these lenses because they dont reveal the person's age by visible means as would be for a regular bifocal.

Last but not least.................the manufacturers also convert consumers by mass and hype advertising to purchase these overpriced lenses.

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## lilchiken

My Favorites are anything Varilux. I just got my first pair of progressives and I LOVE my Varilux Physio 360's. Its like wearing S.V. lenses! Amazing.The Ellipse's are great for that trendy person with their small b frames.Not a patient yet has exchanged them. There is no discernable distortions in the perepheral in the 360's and I adapted right away.My rx is:
OD -4.75-0.75x180
OS -2.75-0.50x004
add+1.00

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## RescueAPet

I love my Varilux Ellipse, as well! Never had any problems at all. Put them on and walked out of the store immediately. Very pleasantly surprised. When I was recently fitted with another short corridor lens (as a spare) made by Varilux's parent company, Essilor, I found that I _did_ need to get used to them (but it was only minutes!) Perhaps its the shape of the frame, but I think I might have a wee bit more reading area with my Varilux Ellipse. They are metal frames vs. plastic for the Essilor. Both fairly narrow in size. 

If I were to choose _one_ lens from the two, I would go with the Varilux Ellipse.





> My Favorites are anything Varilux. I just got my first pair of progressives and I LOVE my Varilux Physio 360's. Its like wearing S.V. lenses! Amazing.The Ellipse's are great for that trendy person with their small b frames.Not a patient yet has exchanged them. There is no discernable distortions in the perepheral in the 360's and I adapted right away.My rx is:
> OD -4.75-0.75x180
> OS -2.75-0.50x004
> add+1.00

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## lilchiken

I've had patients try the Essilor progressives and just could not adapt to them but Varilux wearers success rates are in the high 90's.They're just a wonderful lens! Essilor lenses are based on the Varilux design. I'm going to try the Ellipse in my next pair of small frames. I actually told a coworker who cannot (in the past) adapt to a no-line that she should give the Physio 360 a try- she is a die-hard FT-35 wearer.

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## RescueAPet

I highly recommend it. Going from a Comfort to the Ellipse was a very natural transition for me. And, as noted in a previous thread, I'm also fortunate to be able to "mix and match" different brands of progressive lenses without any problem. But, give me the Ellipse if I'm only allowed one! :) 





> Varilux wearers success rates are in the high 90's.They're just a wonderful lens! I'm gonna try the Ellipse in my next pair of small frames.I

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