With the 2016 Rio Olympics about to begin we felt some advice for vintage glasses and sunglasses wearers who participate in sport would be fitting!!
Glasses can be dangerous when playing sport and it is important to ensure that you have the right spectacles for the sport, not only to ensure adequate protection but to enhance your performance.
From a safety aspect plastic lenses are far safer than glass. Polycarbonate and Trivex lens are also available, they are very strong and impact resistant, they are also lighter and thinner than standard plastic lenses (CR39). The size of the lenses should be carefully considered, as adequate coverage around the eye and its orbit are crucial to give good protection.
Frames without adjustable nose pads (mostly found on metal frames) are suitable for many sports. When choosing a fixed pad bridge it is important to ensure the frame sits correctly on the bridge of your nose, providing a comfortable and secure fit. The greater the bridge width measurement (mm) the wider the bridge of the frame. Often this measurement is recorded on the inside of the frame.
Spectacle lenses can be used to enhance your performance if a prescription is required or not. Lens tints can help eliminate glare, sunlight, offer UV protection.
Polarised lenses not only offer full UV protection, they also helps to eliminate glare. They are very good for sports involving water such as fishing, rowing, sailing and motor sports.
Mirror coatings can make sports eyewear look more fashionable and are good for winter sports. They can help reduce the light penetrating the lenses and reduce the glare from the snow whilst allowing you differentiate between snow and ice.
Cébé are a great example of sports sunglasses. They have numerous lens finishes including mirrored lenses, and split tint's for glare. They also have many frame features for those in sport, such as wrap around styles, flexible sides to fit under helmets and cords that give more security for the frames.
Different coloured lens tints can help in different lighting conditions and contrast can be altered in different ways depending on the colour chosen. Shooting sports are a great example of this, as depending on the setting or targets used, different colour tints should be considered. It is also important to consider the depth of the tint to ensure it is not too light or dark.
| Shooting Target | Colour |
| Skeet, Clay Pigeon, Trap Shooting | Bronze |
| Black on White Target Shooting | Yellow |
| Orange Targets | Orange |
|
Black & Green Targets & Hunting |
Red & Pink |
In different weather and lighting conditions different colour tints can help to achieve the optimum vision attainable.
In the 90s Ray-Ban actually produced limited edition vintage sunglasses based on the both the Olympics and Winter Olympics. Shop Vintage Ray-Ban sunglasses here.
All lenses mentioned are available and more information can be seen along with pricing on our Lens Page.
For more information regarding specific sports related tints, please get in touch via our Contact Page