All About Sunglasses
All About Sunglasses
Any time of year, sunglasses should be a part of your daily heath-consciousness routine. Sunglasses are not just for summers on the beach anymore or just for looking cool and mysterious. Designer sunglasses are no longer just for wealthy movie stars. Sunglasses are crucial in protecting your eyes from the permanent damaging effects of Ultra Violet radiation.
Sunglasses in some form have been around for a very long time. Roman Emperor Nero made sunglasses by watching gladiator competitions through polished light emerald green gems held up to his eyes. The true invention of sunglasses was somewhere between 1268 and 1289.
Before 1430, smoky quartz, flat-paned sunglasses were worn by Judges in the Courts of China to conceal any expression in their eyes. Prescription sunglasses were developed in Italy in 1430 and were later used by the Chinese Judges. In the mid 18th Century, James Ayscough developed blue and green corrective lenses, beginning the use of sunglasses for correcting optical impairments.
Until 1730 when Edward Scarlett invented hardened sidepieces, there were problems in keeping eyeglasses propped on the nose. Glasses frames had been made from leather, bones and metal and sidepieces began as silk strips of ribbon that looped around the ears. Instead of loops, the Chinese added ceramic weights to the ends of the ribbons. Benjamen Franklin's invention of bifocal lenses followed in 1780.
By the 20th Century, sunglasses were used to protect the eyes from the sun. In 1929 Sam Foster's "Foster Grants" were the first mass-produced sunglasses and they began the trend of sunglasses for fashion.
In the 1930's the Army Air Corps asked Bausch & Lomb to develop sunglasses that would efficiently reduce high-altitude sun glare for pilots and they came up with dark green tinted sunglasses that absorbed light through the yellow spectrum.
Edward H. Land had invented the Polaroid filter and by 1936 he used it in making sunglasses and soon, sunglasses became "cool." Movies stars began wearing sunglasses to hide behind and for fashion. Aviator glasses became popular with the movie stars and the general public in 1937 after Ray Ban developed the anti-glare sunglasses using polarization. The longer lens was created to give more protection to pilots' eyes from light reflecting off their control panels.
By the 1970's Hollywood stars and fashion designers made a huge impact on the sunglasses market. Clothing designers and stars put their names on glasses and sunglasses and everyone had to have them. In 2007, stars are still hiding behind their oversized designer sunglasses, making fashion statements and protecting their eyes from the harmful effects of the Ultra Violet radiation.
Today's trendy designer sunglasses are a status symbol; however, in order to be fashionable in sunglasses, you do not have to give up quality. Quality designer sunglasses can be polarized to reduce the glare of sunlight reflecting off surfaces like the highway, cars, water or snow. Polarized sunglasses work by blocking off horizontal light reflections and only let in vertical light reflections. The polarization of designer sunglasses makes them fashionable in other areas of lifestyle like golfing, boating, biking, swimming, fishing and aircraft flying.
Marketers of designer sunglasses target children who choose the same hot styles and brand-names as their parents and their idols. Sunglasses for children have Disney and cartoon characters in many colors, shapes and styles. Children's designer sunglasses can also be polarized to block the harmful UV radiation.
With modern technology and improvements, the making of sunglasses continues to evolve. We have gone from holding green gems up to our eyes to Oakley's 2004 sunglasses with digital audio players built in.
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Primary Benefits Of Sunglasses
... great damage to your eyes. Unfortunately, many people are unknowingly allowing their eyes to suffer the same fate by simply choosing not to wear sunglasses. Such disorders as cataracts, macular degeneration, and even skin cancer around the eyes can be signs of sun damage and can be prevented in part by the use of sunglasses. Cataracts are an eye condition that involves clouding of the lens behind the Iris and Pupil. Although no one truly knows what causes cataracts, studies have shown links between this condition and increased exposure to ultraviolet light. Though we do not know 100% that this is ...
Same Sunglasses Different Reasons
... have to cry to achieve the red, puffy-eyed look. Let's face it, everyone has stayed out a little too late the night before and awakened the next morning to see Frankenstein starring back at them in the mirror. Sunglasses come in handy for these reasons as well. They may be a telltale sign of a one-too-many night if you wear them in the office, so this would not be recommended. However, the sudden sensitivity to light you may feel when you step into the day for the first time can be cushioned with a good pair of sunglasses. Athletes often find themselves playing their particular sport outside on ...
... 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 ...
Historical Overview Of Sunglasses
... 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 ...
... no apparent reason, it can be rather distracting. While you may think that you are putting out the mystery-man vibe, you're actually just telling people you are not interested in what they have to say. If you plan to make it a habit of giving off this attitude, expect to receive the same in return. Unless you are Corey Hart and need to "keep track of all the visions" in your eyes, sunglasses at night seem a little silly. For the same reason you should not wear sunglasses indoors, wearing them at night should be avoided as well. Again, you may think you look cool, but just about everyone else will ...