How Sunglasses Are Made

Sunglasses are trendy fashion accessories that make you look and feel cool, but have you ever wondered how those cool shades are made?  Sunglasses come in many styles, shapes, colors and brands.  There are polarized, prescription, clip-on, flexible, men's, women's, unisex, children's, designer, and custom-made sunglasses.  There are police, pilot and rescue sunglasses, biker, skier and other sports sunglasses. There are even sunglasses with built-in audio digital players.

How are all these different sunglasses made? 

Sunglasses have various types of lenses.  Glass lenses have better visual quality and are more scratch-resistant than plastic ones.   Photo chromic lenses darken in reaction to light. Glass photo chromic lenses are more efficient in the reduction of Ultra Violet light rays.  Gradient Lenses are darker on top and gradually become lighter toward the bottom.  

Materials used for tinting polarized lenses are generally brown or gray.  Any color tint can be used for high index, Trivex, and polycarbonate.  

Different color lenses give different levels of protection from the UV rays of the sun.  For example, amber and brown do a better job of absorbing the UV light.   Treatment of clear lenses with anti-reflective coatings will protect the eyes from UV radiation.  The best level of protection from UV rays is 100 per cent.  The anti-reflective coating has an additional benefit of helping to protect the lenses from some surface scratches.  

Before tinting, lenses need to properly fit in the selected previously manufactured frame; therefore, the lens needs to be ground to fit the frame's size and shape.  Also, the lens has to be ground according to the prescription in order to solve refractive errors in the customer's vision.   Myopic vision is one example of an eye problem that would require a prescription for sunglasses.  Other sunglasses prescriptions could be for bifocals, progressive bifocals and trifocals which would require a larger size lens to accommodate the lens progression.

The grinder that is used to grind the lenses to the specifications of the prescription is called an edger.  There is a constant source of water running over the lens while it is being ground in order to reduce the heat caused by friction on the glass.  The friction heat can cause glass to crack or break.  Water also makes the grinding easier and smoother on the edge and prevents scratching of the surface from dry glass grit.

When the grinding is completed and the lenses are cleaned, tint is added to the lens by dipping the lens in a tint solution which is absorbed into the lens.  The longer it is dipped, the darker the tint.  The lenses are thoroughly rinsed and dried then are fit into the sunglasses frame and the frame is secured tightly around the lens by tightening the screws on the frame. Sunglasses frames are mass-produced from products like plastic, nylon, carbon fiber and metal.

The process of making  sunglasses has come a long way from when Roman Emperor Nero held polished light emerald glass gems up to his eyes and Chinese attached ceramic weights to the ends of ribbons draped over the ears in order to keep on their cool sunglasses.

Historical Overview of Sunglasses

Sunglasses can be found around every corner you turn today.  You can find them in grocery stores for a few dollars or in specialty stores for a few hundred dollars.  Sunglasses come in so many different shapes, designs and colors that there is a pair out there for everyone.  But the market for sunglasses has not always been this way.  

Sunglasses have been in use for centuries and have evolved over time into what they are today.  They were not always the fashion icon they are today.  Similarly, they were not always used for the same reason they are today either.

Surprisingly, the first form of what we have as sunglasses today were not originally developed to shield eyes from the sun or help poor vision.  In Ancient China, sunglasses were developed out of smoky panes of quartz glass.  Judges wore these prehistoric ray bans as a way of keeping their expressions to themselves.  Little did they know that poker players centuries later would adopt this same principle use of the eyewear.

Ancient Rome can also take part of the credit for today's sunglasses.  The Emporer Nero, while watching gladiator fights enjoyed doing so through polished gems.  It is possible that the Emporer saw the benefits of distorting the sun's beams as a way of seeing more clearly.  It is also possible that he enjoyed these early sunglasses because he thought the gladiators looked better in different colors.  For whatever reason, sunglasses still today are available in any lens color you can imagine.

During the eighteenth century, the design of the sunglasses were altered by an inventor seeking to use color as a vision correctioin.

He was convinced that blue and green tints helped the eye see better when vision was poor.

He had no reason to consider the advantages of shielding the eyes from the sun, as no one knew what a UVA ray was at the time.

It was not common knowledge during this time that the sun could be harmful and cause future vision problems.

Sunglasses were finally introduced in the United States in the early twentieth century, around 1930.  These innovative eye pieces were marketed on the boardwalks of Atlantic City and promised to protect the wearer's eyes from the harmful sun.  It was in this same decade that polarization of the lenses was developed as well.  The inventor of the famed Polaroid camera integrated his Polaroid filter into the makeup of the sunglasses' lenses.  This technology, which is still used today, was the greatest step of its time toward the protection of the eyes from the sun.

Since the 1930's, sunglasses have steadily become a favorite accessory for everyone from the true fashion icon down to the style novice.  Sunglasses have been implemented as a way of showing off one's style, sophistication, and social status.  Individuals have made their own styles famous and timeless.  

The most famous of all the sunglasses style icons is unarguably the late Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, or simply "Jackie O.".  The oversized sunglasses of the same name were a token symbol of the former First Lady and American Icon.  Around the year 2000, Jackie's signature style was made popular again for young women by another style icon, Nicole Richie.

Sunglasses have come a long way over the centuries.  They have evolved in uses, styles, popularity and technology.  With sunglasses what they are today and their importance in popular culture, it is difficult to imagine where and in what form they will turn up next.  Keep your eyes open-and your sunglasses handy-to find out!