The ESSILOR - Pierre Marly Collection

Prestigious because of their owners, precious because of the quality of their decoration, attractive because of their delicacy and elegance, innovative in their shapes and materials, and curious in their use and functions, the 2,500 articles in the ESSILOR – Pierre Marly collection trace the global history of eyewear, on a journey that starts in the 13th century and takes us across Europe, Asia and North America.

 

The ESSILOR – Pierre Marly collection contains around 2,500 rare and precious articles, including eyewear and optical instruments as well as scientific works. It is one of the largest eyewear and optical instrument collections in the world.

Pierre Marly, a famous optician, designed glasses for the greatest stars of the second half of the 20th century. A passionate fan of eyewear, he created one of the finest collections in the world: from mediaeval spectacles to bourgeois lorgnettes, from Asian eyewear to walking sticks with optical systems, his collection contains a thousand and one treasures. For example, the lorgnette of Sarah Bernhardt, the glasses of Victoire de France (Louis XV's daughter), and the famous slit frames made by fashion house Courrèges.

Owned by the  ESSILOR company, this collection has been conserved in the Eyewear Museum since 2002. Out of the 2,500 pieces in the collection, almost 300 are exhibited to the public. They will take you on a journey through centuries and continents.