Thanks to technological advances and a growing demand for premium-quality products (from opticians and patients alike), spectacles and contact lenses are now more sophisticated than ever before. Lens production has become a fine art, with global companies competing to introduce the latest technologies and improve the appearance and durability of their products.
One key advance in recent times has been the ability to considerably slim down lenses. The industry has progressed a long way from the "milk-bottle bottoms" of the postwar era, and today it's possible to obtain lenses made from a variety of materials which minimize thickness and maximize style.
It's worth bearing in mind that some lenses will still work better with different types of frames, and stronger prescription strengths may make certain combinations inadvisable, such as thick lenses in rimless frames. If one eye is much weaker than the other, thicker frames will help to obscure any difference in the thickness of each lens, and the current fashion for bold spectacle design offers plenty of scope for doing precisely this.
Another relatively modern phenomenon in spectacle production is the ability to apply coatings to each lens, such as anti-reflective materials that reduce eye-obscuring reflections or headlamp dazzle during night-time driving.
Polarizing lenses perform a similar job, reducing reflections and helping to conquer glare from wet roads or sun-baked sand, either of which can cause eyestrain or blind spots. Advanced coatings can even repel water and dirt - with obvious benefits to anyone who regularly works outdoors.
In a similar vein, scratch resistant coatings offer considerable advantages for people whose jobs or hobbies involve dusty environments or regular lens abrasions, for example photography where viewfinders can be constantly scraping over the spectacles. Allied to modern materials like polycarbonate plastics (which are ten times stronger than standard plastic), spectacles are now more durable than ever before, and consequently glass lenses have become increasingly rare.
One key advance in recent times has been the ability to considerably slim down lenses. The industry has progressed a long way from the "milk-bottle bottoms" of the postwar era, and today it's possible to obtain lenses made from a variety of materials which minimize thickness and maximize style.
It's worth bearing in mind that some lenses will still work better with different types of frames, and stronger prescription strengths may make certain combinations inadvisable, such as thick lenses in rimless frames. If one eye is much weaker than the other, thicker frames will help to obscure any difference in the thickness of each lens, and the current fashion for bold spectacle design offers plenty of scope for doing precisely this.
Another relatively modern phenomenon in spectacle production is the ability to apply coatings to each lens, such as anti-reflective materials that reduce eye-obscuring reflections or headlamp dazzle during night-time driving.
Polarizing lenses perform a similar job, reducing reflections and helping to conquer glare from wet roads or sun-baked sand, either of which can cause eyestrain or blind spots. Advanced coatings can even repel water and dirt - with obvious benefits to anyone who regularly works outdoors.
In a similar vein, scratch resistant coatings offer considerable advantages for people whose jobs or hobbies involve dusty environments or regular lens abrasions, for example photography where viewfinders can be constantly scraping over the spectacles. Allied to modern materials like polycarbonate plastics (which are ten times stronger than standard plastic), spectacles are now more durable than ever before, and consequently glass lenses have become increasingly rare.
