On a lens already fitted into a frame, with no certificate and no order slip, the engraving is often the only information left. It tells you who made the lens and which product line it came from, provided you know where to look and what to compare it against.
Where the engravings sit on a progressive lens
A progressive lens carries up to three microscopic marks, applied during manufacture at positions each manufacturer standardises. They show up when you tilt the lens under a raking light, ideally against a dark background.
| Engraving | Position | What it carries |
|---|---|---|
| Axial | Lens centre, on the horizontal axis | A logo or symbol specific to the manufacturer. It is the one engraving every lens on file carries, which makes it the visual confirmation. |
| Nasal | Nose side, at mid-height | A short code, in characters or as a logo. This is the primary search key. One mark can read two ways, and both readings are recorded. |
| Temporal | Temple side, mirroring the nasal one | An additional code or logo, present on some manufacturers only. It separates two lenses sharing the same nasal code. |
What an engraving lets you recover
Identifying the brand is only the first step. Once the lens is found, its page gives the specifications an identical replacement order depends on:
- The manufacturer and the lens's commercial brand.
- The exact lens name, product line and variant included.
- The refractive index.
- The material.
- The fitting height.
Reading an engraving, step by step
- Bring the marks out
Tilt the lens under a light source, against a dark background, until the micro-engravings appear.
- Locate the nasal engraving
That's the one carrying the search code. It sits on the nose side, at mid-height, the same distance from the central axial mark.
- Transcribe the code
Copy the characters as they appear. Any engraved symbol you cannot type is replaced by an asterisk: a code reading as two symbols followed by 74 is entered as
**74. The asterisk is matched literally, it is not a wildcard. - Confirm against the axial mark
Results show each lens's axial engraving as an image. Compare it with the lens in your hand before settling on an identification.
How the Clic-Optic search works
The engraving search queries a catalogue of over 3,000 lenses across 21 brands. It starts from the transcribed nasal code, but also takes other routes when the engraving is unreadable or partly worn away:
- By nasal engraving code, the default search.
- By visual axial engraving picker, pointing at the symbol you see rather than describing it.
- By commercial name, even partial, when the lens is already known.
- By brand or material, to narrow down a list that came back too long.
All of it is available with no account and no install, from the shop counter as much as from a phone in the workshop.
Open the engraving searchEngraving pages by lens brand
Each brand has its own engraving page, listing positions per product line alongside the index, material and fitting height of every lens. 21 manufacturers and retail chains are currently covered:
- ADN OPTIS
- BBGR
- Carl Zeiss
- ESSILOR
- GREICHE & SCAFF
- HEPHILENS - PRATS FRANCE
- HOYA
- INDO OPTICAL France
- KOPTICAL
- LEICA EYECARE
- MEGA OPTIC
- MONT-ROYAL
- NIKON
- NOVACEL
- OPHTALMIC
- OPTIC 2000
- OPTISWISS
- optovision
- RODENSTOCK
- SEIKO
- SHAMIR
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an account to use the engraving search?
No. The engraving search and the per-brand pages are open without signing in. An account is only required for the administration modules reserved for subscribing stores.
The engraved code has a symbol I cannot type. What now?
Replace it with an asterisk. Every untypeable symbol counts as one asterisk, at its exact position in the code. % and _ are likewise entered as they appear, they are not treated as wildcards.
No lens matches the code I read. Is that expected?
Check the reading direction and the number of symbols first, a partly worn engraving is easy to transcribe one character off. If the doubt remains, use the visual axial engraving picker: it narrows the list down to a single brand without relying on the nasal code at all.
Are all lens brands covered?
The catalogue covers the 21 brands listed above, manufacturers and retail chains alike. It grows with the updates manufacturers send through. A missing brand can be reported from the contact page.