Why put up with ordinary sunglasses when you can have excellent vision and sunglasses? Ever had the sun shining in your eyes while you are searching for those clip-on sun lenses and at the same time trying to keep your vehicle on the road! Or perhaps you like to wear your fashionable sunglasses but have difficulty readings route boards. Some innovative folk even use a pair of sunglasses over their prescription glasses at the same time! Safe driving demands good stress free vision.

Or you are on the beach; battling the effects of the sand, the sun, the wind and the water with your contact lenses in ... even the sunglasses don''t help the scratchy, watery eyes.

To the rescue: prescription sunglasses. You can wear them anytime outdoors and not have to search for sunglass clip-ons or deal with contact lenses in difficult situations such as the beach, skiing, or doing a variety of activities.

In the past few years there has been a marked increase in the availability of prescription sun lenses in the optical marketplace. Everything from basic to high prescriptions, bifocal and progressive lenses are available

Our range of frame styles for normal eyeglasses also applies to prescription sunglasses as well. The frames are basically the same for both. The latest fashion of wrap-a-round sunglasses that have a severe curve to the wrap will typically distort prescription lenses so we don’t supply them.

In this page, we''ll take the mystery out of sunglasses and help you understand what to look for when you buy a pair. We''ll analyze the different styles and look at the technology behind the different lens compositions. You will also learn why light, in certain situations, can make sunglasses absolutely essential. You will be amazed at how complex and sophisticated a simple pair of dark glasses can be!
We know that the style of the frame, and size and type of lenses make a difference, but is that £150 of Serengeti sunglasses really any better than a £10 pair from the sidewalk market? – read on!

Because sunglasses are important for your health it’s essential they perform properly and meet all safety guidelines so the SpecMakers collection of lenses are of the highest quality that are available and supplied in the colours below, each lens colour having its own specific properties. i.e. Essential in the reduction of the blue light (potentially dangerous for the eyes), improved definition of outlines to guarantee sharper vision, greater brightness, and increased contrasts and depth of vision: these are the winning features of our tinted lenses.

when you put on those shades, you may be addressing one or more of these concerns:

• Health & Safety
• Performance & comfort
• Fashion

Health and Safety
The section below on UV coatings discusses the problem of UV radiation. While the effects of UV radiation are a general concern, other health considerations are more specific. For example, if you have very sensitive eyes, you may wish to use sunglasses that filter a larger portion of the visible light spectrum such as our No 3. - see filter categories below.
Sunglasses can also be tremendously useful as safety devices. By reducing glare, they allow you to be more visually aware of your surroundings. You may have noticed that most highway patrol officers wear sunglasses. Their sunglasses increase their ability to focus on objects and allow them to spend considerable time outside without having to squint and get tired eyes.

Performance and materials
For those who have a basic or even a more complex prescription, sun lenses can be had in many materials, including high-index,polycarbonate, regular CR-39 plastic and glass. The first two materials have become the ones of choice in most cases, as they are stronger and lighter than the other two options while glass, though it has very good optical properties, is rarely used for prescription eyeglasses or sunglasses because it does not have the same impact resistance, essential for outdoor activities like sailing, hang gliding, cricket, etc SpecMakers clip-on polycarbonate sunlenses are equipped with specific polarized filters that reduce glare, increase contrast, or even increase your depth perception. This makes them ideal for certain sports, or certain professions, like the highway patrol. Also, by filtering out harmful radiation, sunglasses allow you to spend more time engaged in outdoor activities without suffering some of the drawbacks. Serious fishermen and boat types, love polarized sunglasses, because polarized lenses get rid of the glare coming off the water. This makes it much easier to see deeper into the water and spot that elusive school of fish.

Fashion
Fashion and image play a large role in sunglass selection and the advertising onslaught in TV and films that portray the celebrities in ‘cool’ sunshades have continued to increase their popularity as a fashion icon.Styles can range from conservative to outrageous, and come in every conceivable colour. There is a certain mystique when someone wears sunglasses. It is often said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, so it is no wonder that a device that hides them makes the wearer seem more provocative and mysterious.

		Lens Tinting
Full Uniform Colour Tinting ( + £ 5.00 )
Hunter Green 1 Hunter Green 2 Hunter Green 3	Brown 1 Brown 2 Brown 3	Grey 1 Grey 2 Grey 3	Royal Blue 1 Royal Blue 2 Royal Blue 3	Green 1 Green 2 Green 3
Orange 1 Orange 2 Orange 3	Violet Red 1 Voilet Red 2 Voilet Red 3	Med Orchid 1 Med Orchid 2 Med Orchid 3	Yellow 1 Yellow 2 Yellow 3
Gradient Color Tinting -dark tint at the top (+ £ 10.00 )
Hunter Green 1 Hunter Green 2 Hunter Green 3 Orange 1 Orange 2 Orange 3	Brown 1 Brown 2 Brown 3 Violet Red 1 Voilet Red 2 Voilet Red 3	Grey 1 Grey 2 Grey 3 Med Orchid 1 Med Orchid 2 Med Orchid 3	Royal Blue 1 Royal Blue 2 Royal Blue 3 Yellow 1 Yellow 2 Yellow 3	Green 1 Green 2 Green 3

All our eyeglasses using 1.5 index lenses can be tinted for use as Sunglasses.
We have an assortment of popular colours and 3 depths of colour shading.

1. Full Uniform Colour Tinting: Pure colours in  3 ranges - Light, Medium & Dark.
2. Gradient Color Tinting -dark tint at the top: Pure colours  in  3 ranges - Light, Medium & Dark but the shading is  Darker at the top of the lens and fading to clear at  the bottom.
3. Mirror Coating:  Silver mirror coating can be added on to any of our colours .This is  best choice to wear while driving, flying or water sport activities

Lenses come in various shades and a range of colours as shown above in single or plain tints and in gradient tints, where the top of the lens is darker than the bottom. However, the two most important aspects to bear in mind are the “transmittance properties” and “optical properties”

1. Transmittance properties.
   This ensures the lenses give protection against UV radiation, good clarity of vision and colour fidelity and are suitable for driving. Some sports glasses are not suitable for driving because they distort colour -.Lenses that distort colours for long periods of time can cause headaches, eyestrain and fatigue. As well as being uncomfortable, the inability to distinguish colours can be dangerous- for example if you were unable to recognise the colour red at traffic signals! Our numbers 1 to 3 given to our coloured lenses, helps you choose sunglasses by providing a system of filter categories that describe the darkness of the tint. There are 5 filter categories but we only supply tinted lenses in 3 categories. (See table below)Other lenses such as Polarised lenses, PhotoChromatic lenses and Gradient tinted lenses don’t always adhere strictly to these guides.
   
   

   Filter category No	Description	Range of luminous transmittance
   -	-	From	To
   0	Clear / Very Lt. Tint	80%	100%
   1	Light Tint	43%	80%
   2	Medium Tint	18%	43%
   3	Dark Tint	8%	18%
   4	Very Dark Tint	3%	8% Not suitable for Driving and Road Use

   The "luminoustransmittance" value denotes the amount of light that the lens lets pass through. The higher its value, the more light the lens absorbs and the less light it lets pass through. The other main objective of our standard is to make sure that our lenses have good optical quality and give accurate, sharp vision without distortion

   In summary:
   • Filter No1 has little shade and used mainly to make a fashion statement.
   • Filter No 2 is in between very light and dark and used mainly for outdoors.
   • Filter No 3 is dark and used when lots of time is spent in the Sun.
   (Note: some American brands of sunglasses use different numbers for filtering e.g. Rayban’s aviation glasses are G15 which means green with 15% transmittance – that is equivalent to our No 3)

   The rest is down to styling, finishing, detail and personal preference

   1. Normal Colour Tinting

   The colour of the tint determines the parts of the light spectrum that are absorbed by the lenses. Manufacturers use different colours to produce specific results.

   • Gray tints are great all-purpose tints that reduce the overall amount of brightness with the least amount of colour distortion. Gray lenses offer good protection against glare, making them a good choice for driving and general use.
   • Yellow or Orange tints reduce the amount of blue light while allowing a larger percentage of other frequencies through. Since blue light tends to bounce and scatter off a lot of things, it can create a kind of glare known as blue haze. The yellow tint virtually eliminates the blue part of the spectrum and has the effect of making everything bright and sharp, that''s why snow glasses are usually yellow or orange colour. This tint really distorts colour perception, which makes it inappropriate for any activity that relies on accurate colour.
   • Amber and brownish tints are also good general purpose tints. They have the added benefit of reducing glare and have molecules that absorb higher frequency colours, such as blue, in addition to UV rays. There has been research that suggests that near-UV light frequencies such as blue and violet can contribute to the formation of cataracts over time. These tints also distort colours similar to yellow lenses, but increase contrast and clarity.
   • Green tints filter some blue light and reduce glare but because green tints offer the highest contrast, clarity and greatest visual acuity of all the tints, they are the most popular.
   • Purple and rose tints offer the best contrast of objects against a green or blue background. They make a good choice for hunting or water skiing.
   • Dark Rose/red tints are good sports lenses that increase visual efficiency and the degree of image definition in poor visibility, and flat light conditions. They cut back the reaction time in situations improving both sports performance and safety.

   2. Gradient Colour Tinting

   A coloured coating is applied as a gradient that gradually changes shades from top to bottom. This provides additional protection from light coming from above while allowing more light to come in from below or straight ahead. The Gradient lens is THE preferred choice of military and commercial aviators. The top gradient acts to block the sun''s glare at the top of the lens, while providing a clear view of the dashboard and instruments at the bottom. Gradient lenses allow easy reading of charts and instruments inside an aircraft or a car while protecting your eyes from UV rays outside.  Aircraft pilots choose thin light frames to house these lenses because frames with thin, strong arms are comfortable while wearing headsets. Police officers who work outside use these Sunglasses because they are very durable and resist scratching while providing the best possible protection from UV rays - a must for pilots and drivers alike!
   
   Methods used to make tinted lenses.
   
   The manufacturers we use for our coloured lenses employ a process called constant density to tint the lenses. The tint is built right into the lenses when they are created producing a high quality lens with a uniform colour throughout the resin material.
   We use these lenses for most of our sunglass lenses; but tinting can also be accomplished by applying a coat of light-absorbing molecules to the surface of clear polycarbonate. The most common method for tinting polycarbonate lenses is to immerse the lenses in a special liquid containing the tinting material. The tint is slowly absorbed into the plastic. To make a darker tint, the lenses are simply left in the liquid longer.

   
   Mirror Coating
   
   Reflective sunglasses often have a mirrored look. Our reflective lenses have a reflective coating applied in a very thin, sparse layer -- so thin that it''s called a half-silvered surface.

   The key problem with reflective lenses is that the coating is easily scratched. Apparently, sunglass manufacturers have not been able to successfully apply a scratch-resistant layer on top of the reflective coating. Therefore, the scratch-resistant coating is applied first to protect the lenses and the reflective coating is applied over it.

   Polarized lenses

   Polarized clip on lenses
   Magnetic clip on sunglasses are the latest fashion...
   Magnetic sunglasses consist of magnetic eyeglass frames with matching sunglass clip-on lenses. The price of the frame includes a magnetic clip on sunglass lens set at no additional charge. Its unique clip design eliminates bulky magnets for a sleek, seamless integration with the frame allowing this magnetic eyewear to convert normal glasses into prescription sunglasses in a flash. Magnetic clips are great because you can add or remove them with one hand without removing your glasses to do it. Although manufacturers of magnetic clip-on frames believe these frames do not interfere with pacemakers, there is a question about them i.e. if you put these in your top pocket they would be positioned over the heart. Therefore, caution is recommended. People who wear pacemakers may want to consider non-magnetic clip-on sunglass lenses. Remember, Clip-on Lenses come with the eyeglass frame so no need to add them to your shopping bag.

   More about this Patented Technology:

   A polarized filter passes only the light that does not match its orientation.

   Most of the glare that causes you to wear Sunglasses comes from horizontal surfaces, such as water or a highway. When light strikes a surface, the reflected waves are polarized to match the angle of that surface. So, a highly reflective horizontal surface, such as a lake, will produce a lot of horizontally polarized light. Therefore, the polarized lenses are fixed at an angle that only allows vertically polarized light to enter. You can see this for yourself by putting on a pair of polarized sunglasses and looking at a horizontal reflective surface, like the hood of a car. Slowly tilt your head to the right or left. You will notice that the glare off the surface brightens as you adjust the angle of your view.

   Important Note on Polarized Sunglasses

   A lot of sunglasses advertised as polarized actually are not. There''s a simple test you can perform before you buy them to make sure. Find a reflective surface, and hold the glasses so that you are viewing the surface through one of the lenses. Now slowly rotate the glasses to a 90-degree angle, and see if the reflective glare diminishes or increases. If the sunglasses are polarized, you will see a significant diminishing of the glare.There is also concern on the effects of polarized lenses on Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD’s) found in cars or digital screens on automatic teller ATM machines. The problem is that when viewed through polarized lenses from a certain angle, the LCD’s can be invisible and sometimes they often cause big dark spots all over the car windscreen as they react with the way the windscreen is laminated, so carry out your testing in depth before you purchase. However, for most sports and activities, polarized sunglasses can offer great advantages.

   Photochromic lenses or Transitions
   
   Sunglasses or prescription eyeglasses that darken when exposed to the sun are called Photochromic. They were developed by Corning in 1968 and popularized by a company called Transitions, who are now the leading manufacturer of plastic Photochromic lenses.Photochromic lenses rely on UV radiation to produce a chemical reaction within the lens. When you go indoors and out of the UV light they become almost clear, but when outdoors and exposed to large amounts of UV the lens absorb portions of the visible light, causing the lenses to darken. In either direction, the entire process occurs very rapidly. The better the quality the faster they change

   Our colour range of Transition (Photochromic) lenses

   The most popular are Grey then Brown

   If you want transition lenses choose your colour below

   Normal traditional Photochromic Colours by Transition Co. £32.00    Brown          Grey     SpecMakers own expanded range of Japanese PhotoChromic Colours £52.00    Yellow       Dark Green         Pink           Orange         Violet          Blue

   
   
   Important Note on Photochromic glasses

   An important note about Photochromic lenses: because they react to UV light and not to visible light, there are circumstances under which the darkening will not occur. A perfect example of this is in your car. Because the windshield blocks out most UV light, Photochromic lenses will not darken. For this reason, most sunglasses with Photochromic lenses also have a certain amount of tint already applied to them but that means they can never be 100% clear indoors, also note that these lenses typically do not have UV protection, built into the lenses like our standard package. Unless you have an additional UV coating applied to the lens, you may not be getting proper protection from the sun''s harmful rays.

   Beware those special deals like 2 for one

   Many optical shops offer special deals on prescription sunglasses if purchased as a second pair along with eyeglasses. Searching for these special deals can take time and once all the extra features like scratch resistance coatings, anti reflective coating etc are added it makes prescription sun wear a very costly purchase while these coatings are very low cost with Specmakers.com range 

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