Founded in 1917 by Giuseppe Ratti, originally offering specialising in glasses with the highest quality of lenses for car racers and pilots of airplanes. Persol was and has always been known for there high quality lenses. The invention of Meflecto in 1938, contributed in the growing success of the Ratti business. Meflecto is a particular flex system wich is made with cylinders of metal inserted in the arms of the glasses and thus making then automatically adaptable to ones facial frame. The first model, the "Protector", was primarily used for the Italian Military Aviation and followed by other countries, among which the United States of America. The most famous Persol models created are 649 and 714 (foldable) and they have been seen on many a famous faces, for example Steve McQueen and Marcello Mastroianni.