Sunglasses are trendy fashion accessories that make you look and feel cool, but have you ever wondered how those cool shades are made? Sunglasses come in many styles, shapes, colours and brands. There are polarised, prescription, clip-on, flexible, men's, women's, unisex, children's, designer and custom-made sunglasses. There are police, pilot, biker, skier and other sports sunglasses. There are even sunglasses with built-in audio digital players. How are all these different sunglasses made?

Sunglasses have various types of lenses. Photo chromic lenses darken in reaction to light. Glass photo chromic lenses are more efficient in the reduction of Ultra Violet light rays. Gradient lenses are darker on top and gradually become lighter towards the bottom.

Materials used for tinting polarised lenses are generally brown or grey. Any colour tint can be used for high index, Trivex, and polycarbonate.

Different colour lenses give different levels of protection from the UV rays of the sun. For example, amber and brown do a better job of absorbing the UV light. Treatment of clear lenses with anti-reflective coatings will protect the eyes from UV radiation. The best level of protection from UV rays is 100 per cent. The anti-reflective coating has an additional benefit of helping to protect the lenses from some surface scratches Cont...