Prescription Sunglasses
Just like your skin, your eyes need protection from the sun too. People who spend even moderate time in the summer sun without appropriate eye protection are much more likely to develop dangerous vision complications later in life. We have a great range of designer styles that can be tailored to your prescription. What’s more, all of our prescription sunglasses with DriveWear polarised or UV sunglass lenses screen out 99.9% of harmful UV radiation.
1. Photo Polarized
DriveWear ® sunglass lenses are a unique combination of two very special technologies: Polarisation and Transitions®. How do they work? The lens colour automatically adjusts to different light conditions - overcast, daylight and bright light - both inside and outside your car. Polarisation provides superior glare protection and optimum vision – a must for drivers, golfers, anglers and other sport. They’re available for most single vision and progressive prescriptions. Plus, they screen 99% of harmful UV radiation.
2. Polarized
Polarized lenses are tinted lenses that block vertical light from hitting your eye and causing eye strain. Hunters, boaters and fishermen, golfers, and drivers are the most common users of polarized lenses. Any surface can create glare in sunlight, including water, sand, snow, windows, vehicles, and buildings. Polarized lenses ease eye stress and fatigue in the sun, and lenses are available in several color and density options. However, in some situations, glare can be beneficial. For example, polarized lenses could make it difficult for a driver to see ice on the road, or for a skier to see ice on the ski slope, or for a seaplane pilot to see the water when landing. Polarized lenses function similar to window blinds with horizontal slats when open. You view the slats on the edge so they are very thin, and these edges hold the tint color. Polarized lenses block the vertical light that tries to enter your eye from down below or up above, and it only allow the horizontal light to pass through the lens. Polarized lenses are available in the normal range of vision correction for prescription sunglasses.
3. Photochromic
Photochromic lenses are also know by the brand name Transitions. Photochromic lenses automatically darken to a moderate shade when they are exposed to the ultra-violet rays of direct sunlight. When the direct sunlight is removed, the lenses lighten again. Photochromic lenses are typically only available in brown and grey. Photochromic lenses are available in the normal range of vision correction for prescription sunglasses. A photochromic lens has some limitations. First, the lens needs ultra-violet light to darken, and it will darken more slowly or incompletely if the lens is not in direct sunlight. For example, if you are wearing a hat, or if it is cloudy, or if you are inside an automobile, the lenses may darken slowly or not completely. Second, it could take up to eight minutes for lenses to transition from dark back to clear. So if you are in-and-out of the sun, the lenses may not be dark or clear when you want them to be.
4. Tinted
Prescription sunglass lenses are tinted by leaving them in a bath of tint solution. The longer they are left in the solution, the darker the tint becomes. Lenses bathed in tint colors can assume just about any color shade or color density. The lens actually absorbs the tint color into the lens material. Tint density is defined as a percentage, where 0% is completely clear, and 100% permits no light to pass through (solid). A 10% to 20% tint is used for a fashion tint, and a 50% to 80% tint is used for outdoor protection from the sun. For sun protection, you would use a 50% tint for all around use, both during midday and during morning and evening hours when there is less available light. A 50% tint is a better all-around lens. For bright light situations, like midday sun on the water, an 80% tint provides maximum protection from the bright sun.
A gradient tinted lens has a full tint at the top, fading gradually to no tint at all at the bottom of the lens. A double gradient tint is a lens with a full tint at the top and bottom of the lens, and a medium tint in the center of the lens. Double gradient tints are popular with skiers, because the lens blocks glare coming from above (sun) and below (snow), while allowing for a clearer viewing area in the middle.
