Find technical terms used throughout this site here...

Acrylic Frame -  Acrylic is a clear plastic. It lends itself to being tinted and treated with many exotic colors and patterns.  It is often used in sunglass frames in Tortoise or other colors.

Acrylic Lenses - In an earlier time, "glass" was the only thing available to be used for prescription glass lenses. When Acrylic plastics came along, prescription glasses could be made from this lighter weight, clear, scratch resistant and strong plastic. Many reading glasses and our "High Definition Lenses" are made from this lens material due to its durability.

Amber / Yellow Tinted Lenses - We use a color tint in between an orange or amber color and a yellow color. We find this tint to be great to wear at night as well as in the daytime. This tint also lends itself to target shooting as they sharpen contrast. Worn at night they eliminate the glare around headlights of approaching cars.

Coffee Frame Color - This is a brown finish similar to a coffee color seen on metal framed sunglasses on this site.

18K Gold Color - 24 K gold color is a dark yellow gold color. 18k gold color is a lighter gold color. There is no real gold actually in the frame.  "18K gold color" is duplicating the color of real 18K gold jewelry.

Gun Metal Color - This is shiny, dark silver similar to the color of metal used in making guns. It is a shiny dark silver color of a frame.

Hard Coated Lens - The coating on the outside side of a lens which dries very hard and scratch resistant and protects a light mirror coating.

High definition Lenses - We call lenses with our "Rose/Brown Tint" "High Definition" lenses because this tint combination reduces glare, sharpens contrast and is comfortable to wear in the sun..

Jet Black - This is a shiny black color of a sunglass frame.

Light Brown Lens - This is just as described a light brown tint to a lens. This is a different tint than our "High Definition Lenses" which has rose color added to the brown tint.

Light Flash Mirrored Lens - A flash mirror is a 1/2 mirror coating. They are mirrored but very lightly so the wearer's eyes can still be seen.  A full mirror is a complete mirror coating so the wearer can see out but when looked at they appear only as a mirror like Rod Stieger wore in the movie "Heat of the Night" @1968.

Magnifier - The part of the lens that makes objects look bigger. Magnifiers come in powers from +100 to +400 on this site.

Matt Black - A semi flat black color used on sunglass frames. The opposite is Jet or shiny black.

Nickel / Silver Alloy - Our metal frames are made out of a Nickel / Silver / Brass alloy. The more nickel silver added to the brass, the stronger and longer lasting the frames and metal parts become.

Night Driving Lens - See Amber / Yellow Tinted Lenses description.

Optical Quality Spring Hinges - Sunglass parts come in different qualities  as do sunglasses themselves.  An optical quality spring hinge is a part used on the temple which makes the temples flex. The parts used are of better or "optical quality" therefore they last longer.

Polarized Lenses -  Polarization of sunglass lenses is a patented process created by laminating polarized material together then surrounding this with plastic or glass lamination.
Polarized lenses reduce reflected sunlight or "glare"... like sunlight reflecting off the back window of a car in front of you. Looking through a Polarized lens you can see the driver and his actions where without polarization you see only the sun's glare reflecting off the rear window.  
Fishermen prefer Polarized lenses as they help eliminate much of the "silvery sheen" on top of the water which is also "glare". The result is a better view of the fish below in clear water conditions.  In short, Polarized lenses do a good job of reducing "glare" reflected off of objects in the sun.

Silver Frame Color - Our silver color metal frames usually have a matt or semi flat finish. This means they are not shiny silver like a polished silver coin.

TAC Polarized Lens - T.A.C. stands for Tri Acetate Cellulose.  This is a shatterproof, light weight and scratch resistant plastic used in all of our polarized lenses. This material is laminated onto polarized material to produce superior lenses to earlier plastics used in making polarized lenses.

Tortoise Frame Color - This is a mottled brown/black color resembling a Tortoise shell. The plastic used to create this look is called acrylic.

TR90 - This is a new compound used in sunglass frames that makes them incredibly sturdy yet light weight and flexible. This is the same material the big boys use in glasses costing much more. In short it is the highest quality plastic material we can use to make our frames and we call it TR90.
 
Polycarbon Lens - This material is also known as "polycarbonate". Polycarbon is used in lenses that need to be shatterproof as in safety glasses. It is light weight, and virtually indestructible. A hard coat is applied to the outside sides of our polycarbon lenses to give them superior scratch resistance. We use polycarbon lenses in all of our "Sports and Active Wear" frames.

Polycarbonate Lens - See above

Rose / Brown Tint - This is the combination of tint colors used in our "High Definition" lenses. We find this combination of lens tint colors to sharpen contrast, brighten colors, block 100% plus of harmful Ultraviolet rays and are comfortable to wear for long periods in the sun. There must be something good about this and similar brown tints as most of the major manufacturers offer some version of this tint. Our tint has a bit of Rose color added which we feel improves the performance of the lens even more. They are all 100% UV protection.

Shatterproof Polycarbon Lens - See Polycarbon Lenses

Silicone nose pads - This is a soft rubber like material known for its durability and pliability.

Silicone Temple Tips - Again, a soft rubber like material used for its durability and pliability.

Smoke Gray Lens - This color tint is similar to the colors you would see in a thunder cloud which is a medium to dark gray. A smoke/gray tint darkens the suns light but keeps colors neutral. By blocking the light coming through the lens there is less light resulting in less affect of  brightness of the sun to the eye. All of our lenses are 100% UV protection.

Smoke Green Lens - A green tint is added to the gray tint to make this lens tint color. Like Smoke Gray, a Smoke Green tint darkens the suns light but keeps colors neutral. By blocking the light coming through the lens there is less light resulting in less affect of the brightness of the sun to the eye. All of our lenses are 100% UV protection.

Smoke Lens - See smoke/gray lens

Soft Touch Coated Frame - The frame has been coated with a black, soft plastic that makes the frame feel soft. This is always a matt or semi flat finish to the frame. Our Goggles have a "soft touch finish" to the frame.

Ultra Violet light - Using the colors of rainbow we can describe visible light and so describe Ultra Violet Light.  A rainbow starts out on one end of its band of colors in violet. The colors then progress into blues, greens, yellows, browns, oranges and end in a band of bright red. These colors in a rainbow are all the bands of "visible light".  Violet is the first visible color of light seen on one side of the band of colors that make up this rainbow.

Beyond the color Violet there is light but it is "invisible" to the eye and it is called "Ultra Violet Light" probably because it has no color.  "Ultra" is a Latin word meaning "beyond" or "on the other side of". Ultra Violet therefore means "beyond violet".  The wavelengths of Ultra Violet Light ,"invisible light", are harmful to the eye. Most UV light is blocked by the earth's atmosphere but some small amount gets through. Therefore we want sunglasses to block this invisible "Ultra Violet" light.

All of our lenses are tested and have 100% UV protection. We have testing equipment in house to test any of our lenses.

Violet Mist Color Lens Tint - This is a purple tint used mostly in ladies sunglass lenses.