Sunglasses for consumers with an eye for design and safety

Rodenstock's Porsche Design is on board

Master optician Paul Rottler is enthusiastic about TROGAMID – and pleased that a growing number of manufacturers use the material for their production of glasses. "We keep a few models such as Porsche Design P‘8592 by Rodenstock in our assortment that have temples made of TROGAMID. The flexibility is nothing short of impressive," he says. Many of Rottler's customers have their eye on design and are pleased with the combination of high resistance and very low weight, and give preference to stylishly designed sunglasses made of the material.

10 tips for purchasing sunglasses

1. UV filter
UV light is damaging to the eyes. However, as a word of caution, the best protection does not come from the lenses with the darkest tint (tinting strength), but from sunglass lenses made from high-quality material with an integrated UV filter.

2. Tinting strength
Depending on their level of tinting, sunglasses are suitable for different activities, and are organized into so-called lens categories from 0 to 4. While category 2 is a suitable summertime choice for Germany, category 3 is best for Southern Europe and category 4 is recommended for skiing, but not for use in road traffic.

3. Size of lenses
Lenses should be large enough to protect the eyes from sunlight coming in from the side or above as well as from below through reflection.

4. Color of lenses
Brown and gray lenses modify colors the least. For all other lens tints, the eyes require a certain response time to neutralize the color.

5. Quality of protective sunglass lenses High-quality lenses do not show any streaks, blisters or inclusions. Inferior lenses can cause headaches and dizziness.

6. CE marking
Sunglasses sold in Europe must bear CE marking. While this mark makes reference to quality and UV protection, it is not sufficient to identify high-quality lenses. Professional optician associations also point out that the mark is easy to counterfeit.

7. Sunglasses for driving a car
If you drive a lot, select sunglasses with narrow rims and temples to avoid restricting your field of vision. Vision impairments should be corrected by sunglasses as well. The lens category must be below 4.

8. Pick sunglasses according to activity You will need different lenses for winter sports than for the beach, sailing or surfing. For example, snow reflects over 90 percent of sunlight.

9. Polarizing effect
In simple terms, polarization prevents the visible glare of sunlight on smooth surfaces. As an example, fishermen using highly polarized sunglasses can see fish below the water surface, but not the reflection of the sky and trees.

10. Professional fitting
The frame must be individually adjusted to the shape of the head to make sure no damaging UV radiation can reach the eye, for example laterally past the sunglasses. The adjustment needs to keep the width of the temple, eye spacing, and the position of the ears in mind.