If finally putting on your sunglasses isn’t a sign that summer is coming, we don’t know what is! But whether you’re wearing designer sunglasses as a fashion statement, looking to improve your vision with prescription sunglasses lenses, or blocking blinding sun glare as you drive, they all have a primary purpose: protecting your eyes.
Along with the numerous styles of sunglasses frames available comes a myriad of sunglasses lenses, from tinted and mirrored coatings to polaroid and transitional lenses. To break down the different sunglasses lens types, our guide below is here to help you find the best fit.
The Different Types of Sunglasses Lenses
Sunglasses lenses offer a range of features, each with a unique purpose to enhance your visual experience. Which lens suits you comes down to your lifestyle, visual requirements and style preferences. Whether that’s supporting your vision with a prescription lens, providing a sharper focus with a coloured tint, or preventing blind spots from sunlight impacting your vision.
The secret is understanding why you require sunglasses and what you wear them for. When considering which sunglasses lenses are right for you, ask yourself these questions:
- How often will you be wearing your sunglasses?
- Do you want to block blinding, reflective glare?
- Where will you be wearing your sunglasses?
- What activities will you be doing whilst wearing sunglasses?
- Do you want a bespoke tint, gradient or lens feature?
- What’s your budget?
Gradient Sunglasses Lenses
For the more fashion-conscious sunglasses wearer, gradient tints might tick all your boxes, with a stylish and unique finish to your sunglasses frames. Traditional tints consist of one block colour, but gradient sunglasses lenses have two tones, with a darker tint at the top of the lens fading to a lighter tint at the bottom.
This ombre effect makes them the perfect sunglasses lens for inside and out because whilst your eyes are shielded from sunlight from above, you have a clear view of objects closer to your hand, such as books, phones, or car dashboards. What we love about gradient sunglasses is that you can choose a range of colours to match your frames and look, making them extremely practical and versatile.
Are gradient lenses what you’ve been looking for? Read our gradient tint guide to learn more about the shades, densities, and lens finishes you can choose from.
Mirrored Sunglasses Lenses
These perform precisely as their name suggests, providing a mirrored surface to your sunglasses lens – simple! Mirrored lenses offer a lot more than a glamorous finish to your frames; the thin, reflective film applied to the lens also reflects light and glare away from your eyes. Not only protecting them from harmful UV rays but hiding your eyes from any passersby.
For these reasons, mirrored sunglasses are popular for those participating in outdoor activities such as skiing, waterskiing and running, as they minimise light disturbance and offer a better viewing experience. Mirrored lenses also look incredibly cool, complementing any style of glasses frames and glasses wearer.
Reflect on how easy it is to reglaze your glasses with mirrored sunglasses with our mirrored sunglasses guide.
Polarised Sunglasses Lenses
Tinted sunglasses add adequate UV protection from the sun, but they do not stop any reflective light from reaching your eyes and disturbing your line of sight. Whether you’re driving, walking or even sitting in a lake-side cafe, the light that bounces off smooth surfaces such as water, roads or snow can be damaging and uncomfortable for your eyes. Potentially leading to squinting, headaches, and tiredness.
Polarised lenses put a stop to all of that. The specialised coating on polarised sunglasses lenses completely blocks that reflective light, ensuring it bounces off the lens of your sunglasses and away from your eyes. No matter your lifestyle, sport or hobbies, they are a valuable addition to any pair of sunnies, and a polarised lens can be fitted into any shape, size, tint, gradient, prescription and brand of sunglasses.
Sound too good to be true? Discover more with our complete guide to polarised lenses.
Photochromic Sunglasses Lenses
Let’s be honest; we all hate the faff of continuously removing and putting on our sunglasses to help adjust our eyes to different environments. Particularly when you’re on holiday or sightseeing and moving from one place to another. This can be even more frustrating for prescription wearers, who have to switch to a completely different pair of specs to see!
Photochromic sunglasses lenses, also known as transitional lenses, offer a smooth visual transition from one area to another with clever lenses that respond and adapt to the amount of light available. For darker settings, transitional lenses become transparent, allowing more light in for you to focus clearly. As the light strengthens, the lens darkens to protect your eyes and provide a more comfortable view.
Transitional lenses are also highly versatile and can be applied to any tint, gradient or lens finish. At Lensology, we offer three types of transitional lenses: Transitions® Signature® GEN 8™, Transitions® XTRActive® New Generation, and Transitions® XTRActive® Polarised, to fit different budgets and offer additional benefits such as polarised lenses and blue light protection.
Learn more about our Transitions® range and discover all the advantages of photochromic sunglasses lenses.
The Importance of UV Protection
No matter what type of sunglasses lens you choose, it’s incredibly important to make sure they provide adequate protection from those harmful UV and UB rays – even on cloudy days! Some sunglasses on the market don’t offer decent shade from the sun or even artificial light, whereas our range of tints, high gradients and mirrored effects provide 100% UV protection, no matter which colour you choose.
Sunglasses lenses with UV protection bring multiple benefits, including:
- Better overall eye health
- Protection from UV rays
- Some also include blue light protection
- Minimising squinting (and wrinkles!)
- Reducing headaches and tension
- Providing a more comfortable view
Sunglasses Frame Shape Doesn’t Matter
Perhaps you already have your favourite pair of sunnies, but they need an upgrade. Or, you’ve found a style of frames you love, but the lens doesn’t quite match your look. No problem! At Lensology, we can reglaze and fit customised sunglasses lenses into any shape, size and style of sunglasses frames.
Better yet, we can upgrade your lenses to premium viewing by including features such as anti-smudge, anti-scratch, and blue-light protection, as well as adding prescriptions for single-vision, bifocal or varifocal sunglasses.
If you’re worried about parting with your designer frames, rest assured that we’re experts at working with some of the biggest brands on the market. In fact, by reglazing your designer sunglasses lenses with us, you’ll save time and money by having to head back to the high street. Some of the sunglasses brands we work with include:
- Ray-Ban Sunglasses
- Oakley Sunglasses
- Prada Sunglasses
- Persol Sunglasses
- Quay Sunglasses
- Tiffany Sunglasses
Save Money on Prescription Sunglasses
The great news is that for people who require prescription lenses, we can add all the features listed in this article to your optical requirements. From transitional single-vision lenses and gradient bifocals to tinted varifocal sunglasses lenses. You won’t miss out on any of the incredible sunglasses lenses available. It’s not about spending lots of money but choosing the right lens features to create valuable sunglasses.
Our process is simple: send us your favourite frames, prescription and lens preferences, and we do the rest! By reglazing your sunglasses lenses in-house, we save you time and money, and you’ll receive your top-of-the-range sunglasses within a few days. Just in time for the sunshine!
