Mirrored

Sunglasses these days come in every imaginable shapes and sizes, ranging from every known tint, hue and design that easily made it more of a fashion accessory than merely a sun protection eyewear. Mirrored sunglasses for one are among the more popular styles among men than for women, and this fact brings us to the conclusion that there is indeed a huge market for designer sunglasses today than ever before. This explains why top fashion houses today have jump right into the fad, offering premium quality stylish sunglasses to suit every whim and fancy for both the male and female market.

Mirrored lenses in sunglasses features reflective optical coats known as flash or mirror coating on the outer part of the lens, which makes them appear like mirrors. Such type of lenses provides the wearer a brown or gray view or vision. The main reason why it is so popular is the fact that the special mirrored coating significantly reduces and filters the amount of sunlight to pass through the lens to about 20-60%. This makes it a sensible choice for people who share a close affinity to sand and water and even in conditions with higher altitudes. From the psychological point of view, mirrored sunglasses make a good cover if you want to deftly avoid any eye contact, because in essence mirrored sunglasses acts much like a one-way mirrored. The color of the coating is entirely independent from the tint of lenses and is largely dependent on the thickness and also the structure of the layer.

These types of eyewear are very popular among police officers in the US, which explains why highway patrol mirrored sunglasses, are often referred to or nicknamed as “ cop shades”. Among the most popular designs are the dual lenses that are set in a metal frame such as the mirrored aviator sunglasses that was first introduced by Ray Ban along with the wraparound shades that features single and semi-circular lenses that acts more like protective goggles.

One of the simplest versions of the mirrored sunglasses presents only a single layer of thin film of metal, which is normally produced through ion beam deposition or the sputter and vapor deposition. However, such type of coating layer is more prone to scratches after prolonged use and known to degrade especially when exposed to corrosive environment such as the salt water and sea air.

However, the more contemporary reflective coating that is recently introduced feature several layers of coating of some specific thickness. These are often manufactured using dielectric materials and other forms of metal. Most if the metals layers are made from titanium or chromium, and some use the alloy of Inconel and Nichrome that usually has a relative thickness of 0.5 to 9 nanometers. As for the dielectric layers, it is usually comprised of chromium oxide and titanium oxide, with its thickness that makes it a determining factor for the reflective properties of the lenses.

Highway patrolmen do not only use mirrored sunglasses, but also among men who favor the highly futuristic look that makes it a wonderful eyewear accessory. In fact, if you would care to review the Matrix movies, all the characters wore mirrored sunglasses. This helped particularly stirred the consumer’s interest and boost the sales of mirrored sunglasses and made it a favorite among the male species.

The Internet opens up a plethora of choices when it comes to the selection of sunglasses. Online shops would easily provide you the wide array of designer brands along with the specifications and the average price listings for you conveniences. Among the popular brands are Oakley, Ray Ban and Oliver Peoples just to name a few. So check out what are the best mirrored sunglasses for you and just the rest of the fashionable bespectacled crowd.