As I prepared to write about sports sunglasses, I discovered that sunglasses first hit the scene in ancient China. Don’t they lay claim to most of the world’s greatest inventions, like spaghetti? It seems that smoked tinted glasses were worn by judges to mask their expressions in court. Haven’t we all rolled our eyes a time or two behind our sunglasses?
It wasn’t until the 1930s that sunglasses became popular in the United States. At about this time, the Army Air Corp, with help from Bausch & Lomb, produced glasses tinted to absorb the sun’s light and made to protect pilots from high altitude glare. With the onset of World War II, Ray Ban designed anti-glare aviator sunglasses using polarized lenses; Polaroid had a hand in this technology. Ray Ban made the quintessential downward turning frame we associate with aviator sunglasses today. The shield protected the pilot’s eyes since their visual field was generally focused down to see the instrument panel. Pilots benefitted, and Ray Ban was off and running as the leading sunglass manufacturer of the time. They are still a design leader today. (The above information is loosely paraphrased from the Great Idea Finder.)
When we think of sunglasses, Ray Ban used to be the first name we thought of. Their name is synonymous with sunglasses. I guess if a company has successfully made leading edge sunglasses for the military and fashionable sunglasses for the masses, they deserve to be the leader in the industry. Today, Ray Ban continues to be a fashion forward sunglass designer and makes styles for women and men. Men, you can always impress with the classic “hot shot” looks of the modern day aviators. This new version features glass lenses, metal frames, and shatter resistant UV protected lenses; Tom Cruise watch out!
In addition to aviator sunglasses, there are many sunglass specialties today. Men can find sport sunglasses (including those especially designed for extreme sports), military sunglasses, sunglasses for running, and anti-glare fishing sunglasses, diving sunglasses and for other watersports.
Alternative choices for men’s designer sunglasses are Black Flys and Christian Dior sunglasses. Relative newcomers to the market, these two companies also offers a cool look in aviator and other styles of glasses. The Black Flys men’s sunglasses have glare reducing, image enhancing lenses, that will flatter any wearer. A frame designed to keep its shape even in extreme conditions and produced with the highest quality nylon available. Lenses feature optical quality polycarbonate lenses, which exceed ANSI standards for impact resistance and of course provide total UVA/UVB protection. Christian Dior has a reputation in leading design in many areas of fashion, and stylish eyewear certainly has not been overlooked.
These are only a couple of the many men’s designer sunglasses available at www.TheSunglassManOnline.com. Whatever you want in either designer or replica sunglasses, you will find it here
