Positive 2004 for Safilens

Since 2001 Safilens, a Safilo Group company specializing in contact lenses, has developed specific products for sports people, or for people whose need to see goes beyond normal requirements.

This is why they chose Austrian champion Hermann Mayer, one of the fastest skiers and most frequent winners in the history of Alpine sports, for developing these lenses. 'He is one of the sportsmen who gives us advice for research', Safilo Chairman Vittorio Tabacchi told Affari & Finanza, 'the point being that Safilens' philosophy is not just to produce contact lenses, but to solve special problems when they are brought to our attention. Of course, it is a niche entirely dedicated to customer service, but it is extremely useful for the huge wealth of experiences we accumulate at the research center'.

Other experimenters and wearers are world motorbike champions like Roberto Locatelli, there are soccer players who use special lenses, and even a well-known Formula 1 driver came to Safilens to solve his eyesight problems ('I really can't reveal his name. But he's a very important driver', Tabacchi said).

The technical bet is to compensate for 'vision stress', especially for long distance, when pupils dilate with changes in light, for example. This is done by Dioptric Power Control (DPC), a special optical design where the different areas of the lens have different powers to increase the field of vision and transform a potential defect into increased capability, even 20/25% more compared to traditional methods, especially for peripheral vision.

Safilens also develops specific lenses for people who spend a lot of time on the office computer, as well as the Oxydo Eye Evidence and Dior Eyes cosmetic lenses. The company closed 2004 with billings of 4.5 million euros, a 33% increase compared to 2003.

(Source: Affari & Finanza)