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Our highly trained opticians will help you select the most appropriate lens style and material to meet your visual needs. They will inform you of the various coatings available to improve the quality of your vision and the appearance of your eyeglasses. We carry all the major brands including Varilux, Zeiss, Rodenstock, American Optical, Shamir, and Hoya and we will take the time to determine which of these may be the best for you.
LENS STYLES
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Single Vision – the most simple of lenses. These correct for one particular need, whether it be distance, near, or intermediate. |
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Bifocals – The first of the multifocal lenses invented by Benjamin Franklin. These can correct for 2 of the 3 desirable distances. Various styles were popular until the 1970’s, when Progressive lenses were introduced into the United States. While less popular now, many people still prefer them. |
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Trifocals – A bifocal with a narrow third window, allowing focusing at one specific intermediate distance, as well as for near and distance. With the improvement in Progressive lens designs, the use of Trifocals has declined. |
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Progressive Lenses – This innovative design allows a focus at all distances; near, far, and everywhere in between. There are many different progressive lens designs. We will assess your visual needs in order to select the appropriate design for you. |
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Occupational Progressives – These lenses can offer a large near and intermediate area of focus, allowing an ability to see up close, as well as retaining a large area of intermediate focus. We find these lenses work quite well for musicians, and computer users. |
LENS MATERIALS
Lenses are available in many different materials – Glass, Plastic (CR39), Mid and High index plastic, High density glass, Polycarbonate, and Trivex.
To ensure proper vision and maximum comfort and safety with your glasses, it is of utmost importance to select the proper material for your particular prescription and selection of frame.
We personally inspected a pair of eyeglasses purchased from a now out of business West Side boutique, in which the lenses were standard plastic lenses, although the client had paid for a much more expensive “ultra thin” high index lens. In this case the more expensive lens was not necessary as the prescription was mild, requiring only a standard lens. |
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LENS COATINGS
There are many lens coating “add ons” to further improve not only the appearance of the lens, but also visual performance. These coatings include:
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Scratch Resistant Coatings – Plastic, polycarbonate, and most of the new materials are naturally soft and would scratch easily without this “tough” external coating. |
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Anti-Reflection Coating – These coatings allow more light to pass through the lens, instead of reflecting back off the front and back surface. This allows an almost invisible appearance to the lens, enhancing the wearer’s appearance as well as virtually eliminating annoying reflections in the line of sight. Anti-Reflection Coating is especially important to reduce distracting reflections while driving at night. |
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Ultraviolet Blocking Coatings – Some materials naturally block the potentially damaging ultraviolet wave lengths of light. Lenses that do not block these rays can be coated to make sure UV rays do not reach the eye. |
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Polarized Lenses – Not really a coating, but layered filters within the lens that totally eliminate glare. Elimination of glare creates superior sunglasses, especially when used around reflective surfaces, such as water, snow and ice. Polarized lenses also naturally filter out UV rays. |
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Photochromatic Lenses – These lenses are available in most lens materials and darken when exposed to certain wavelengths of light. In bright sunlight they quickly darken to create a sunglass and quickly return to their near clear state when they are worn indoors. They offer 100% UV protection at all times, and are available with different degrees of shading. These lenses can be used as a “comfort fashion” tint, or can eliminate the need for separate sunglasses. |
Two concerns regarding coatings
(1) Is the coating you requested really on the lens?
(2) What is the quality of the coating?
Like lens materials, coatings come in different qualities. Cheaper coatings do not perform as well as those of higher quality, and have a tendency to lose their effectiveness as time goes on. A large New York City optical chain was reprimanded and fined for neglecting to perform a federally mandated safety process on its glass lenses. This relatively simple process creates an impact shield to resist splintering of glass, should the lens get hit by a hard object. An ex-employee from the chain stated that lab personnel were actually directed not to apply requested coatings in order to reduce lab expenses. |
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