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Charmant downsizes European operations with German site closure
Japanese eyewear maker Charmant has informed its clients that it will discontinue the operations of CHARMANT GmbH Europe, its German subsidiary, along with its Benelux representation, effective September 30, 2026. New orders will be accepted only until August 14. The move, however, does not signal a total retreat from Europe. ...
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Smart sport eyewear brand ENGO raises €5.1 m
French smart eyewear maker ENGO has raised €5.1 million to accelerate its international expansion and development of next-generation heads-up display technology. The round was led by an all-French investor group: Ventech, Odyssée Venture and Bpifrance Amorçage Industriel, the public investment arm of the French state. ENGO makes lightweight AR glasses ...
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ArticleDelfin considering asset spinoff, shareholding pact for controlling Essilux stake
Delfin, the Del Vecchio family holding company that controls EssilorLuxottica with a 32.4 percent stake, is considering a spinoff of its assets among other possible solutions to an impasse between the heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo Del Vecchio, according to a report in Il Sole 24 Ore. According to the ...
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ArticleSENZ and the bid to bundle AR’s visual stack
On June 17 Applied Materials announced an OEM system for smart glasses, comprising waveguide optics, a light engine, sensing, vision correction and electronic dimming. Called SENZ, the system is pitched as cutting time-to-market and manufacturing complexity for brands seeking to build AI-powered display glasses. Applied says it is addressing a ...
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Sponsored articleOptiswiss seeks distribution and franchise partners as consolidation reshapes lens manufacturing
As lens production keeps gathering under a few global owners, Basel’s Optiswiss is going the other way: the independent Swiss manufacturer is looking for experienced distributors and franchise laboratories to carry its lenses into new markets, starting at Silmo 2026.
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Even Realities hits 1$bn valuation with new financing round
Even Realities has announced on LinkedIn that it has officially reached unicorn status, after having raised $150 million in a financing round led by Meituan, China’s largest food-delivery platform, and Tencent, the Chinese internet conglomerate behind WeChat and a returning investor. The new round, which pushed the company to a ...
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Lenskart forms manufacturing JV with China’s Mingfeng
Lenskart Solutions’ board approved on July 2 the incorporation of a joint venture with Mingfeng Glassesworld, a Chinese eyewear manufacturer, to produce metal spectacle frames in India. Lenskart will hold 80% of the new entity, Lenskart Metalframes, with Mingfeng Glassesworld holding the remaining 20%. The JV aims to localize production, ...
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Mister Spex outsources logistics, expands Rodenstock partnership
As part of its ongoing turnaround plan, Mister Spex is outsourcing its logistics to Arvato, a supply chain service provider, and closing its own site in Berlin Spandau, the company announced. Arvato will take over inbound and outbound logistics, warehousing, and returns management for the struggling retail group. Approximately 125 ...
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ArticleEssilux owner Delfin approves financial statements as impasse over revamp continues
Shareholders of the Del Vecchio family holding company Delfin, the controlling shareholder of EssilorLuxottica, approved 2025 financial statements in a meeting on June 30, but a deadlock over a planned reorganization to overhaul the ownership structure of the holding company moved no closer to being resolved as a clash between ...
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Fittingbox opens new HQ, celebrates 20th anniversary
Fittingbox celebrated its 20th anniversary with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new headquarters in the so-called Data Valley in Labège, near Toulouse, France. Reflecting both the French tech company’s regional roots and its rapid expansion, the new premises mark its eighth location in Labège since 2006. Founded by Ariel Choukroun ...
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HOYA Vision Care and Nidek extend partnership
HOYA Vision Care and Nidek have announced the renewal of their partnership, which has been in place since 2023, for another year. The two Japanese groups also said that their agreement will now be extended automatically on an annual basis. Beyond the natural fit between optical diagnostic equipment and ophthalmic ...
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Carl Zeiss AG to increase its stake in Carl Zeiss Meditec with €200m investment
Carl Zeiss AG, the holding company of the ZEISS Group, announced yesterday that it will buy additional Carl Zeiss Meditec shares on the stock market for up to €200 million by February 2027, mainly to underline confidence in the subsidiary and its strategy. The group currently holds about 59.1 percent ...
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ArticleRevamp at Essilux owner Delfin hits snag
A plan for Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio to become the largest shareholder in the Del Vecchio family holding company Delfin that controls EssilorLuxottica is up in the air, after banks financing the €10 billion deal sought new guarantees from Delfin itself. Leonardo Maria wrote in an open letter published on ...
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ArticleEssilux and Applied Materials partner on R&D to tackle the AR glasses display conundrum
EssilorLuxottica has announced a joint development agreement with Applied Materials, a global leader in materials engineering, in the wearable technology domain. The objective of the partnership is “to develop lightweight, high-performance optical systems critical to scalable AR experiences.” While EssilorLuxottica’s R&D programs for this product category have so far been ...
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Johnson & Johnson Vision to invest over $1 bn in Florida facility
Johnson & Johnson has announced a major investment exceeding $1 billion in its primary contact lenses industrial site located in Jacksonville, Florida, where the group currently employs 3,500 workers. The substantial investment includes construction of a new, state-of-the-art distribution facility, alongside advanced manufacturing and packaging technologies designed to expand capacity ...
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ArticleEssilux brings some wearables production to Italy with R&D synergies and supply chain risks in mind
EssilorLuxottica will start producing some wearables at its Agordo plant in Veneto, Italy, by early 2027, the group and a coordination of three trade unions (Filctem CGIL, Femca CISL, Uiltec UIL) announced earlier this week. While most of the production of such products, including the AI and AR glasses developed ...
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New investment reportedly values Gentle Monster’s parent company at just under €2bn
ZWC Partners, an Asian private equity investor with $2.5 billion in assets, has announced an investment in IICOMBINED, the parent company of Gentle Monster, the South Korean eyewear brand. The investment amount was not disclosed, but the deal reportedly values IICOMBINED at 3.35 trillion Korean won (€1.9bn), according to several ...
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Mitsui announces new MR production facility for 2029
Citing sustained demand growth for its MR high-index lens materials—particularly in Asia and North America—Mitsui Chemicals has announced plans to build a new production facility at its Omuta Works site in Japan. The plant is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2029. This investment follows closely on ...
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Safilo Group launches new share buyback plan
Safilo Group has announced a new share buyback program covering up to 10 million shares, equivalent to approximately 2.5 percent of the company’s outstanding share capital, for a maximum total consideration of €20 million. The program, which began on June 8, 2026, is scheduled to run until November 30, 2026. ...
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ArticleShareholders in Essilux owner Delfin reach settlement
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio and Rocco Basilico, two of the eight heirs of Luxottica founder Leonardo Dal Vecchio have reached a provisional settlement to end their legal disputes over a change in the ownership structure of Delfin, which controls EssilorLuxottica with a 32.4 percent stake, according to media reports. Essilux ...
