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Prescription Watersports Sunglasses
Say goodbye to red-eye and usher in a new era of style and comfort on the water with our premium quality prescription eyewear designed for watersports.
Utilising state-of-the-art materials and laboratory techniques, we can accommodate highly powered prescriptions in our 8-base wrap frames which are uniquely designed to optimise your comfort and performance on the water.
Our Watershades RX frames are flexible, lightweight and indestructible. With an array of prescription lens options which offer a practical and functional solution to almost any environment you can throw at them, together with our proprietary tried and tested leash system, the days of accepting a less than perfect solution for prescription watersports eyewear are at an end.
Stay one step ahead of hazards with crisp distortion-free corrected vision with any one of our 3 watershades models shown below.
An eyewear solution you can rely on
WE'VE GOT YOUR BACK WITH
AN RX SOLUTION THAT YOU CAN ALWAYS TRUST
There is nothing more frustrating than an inability to see clearly when you’re out on the water. Even for those with 2020 vision, the ocean throws many hazards at you in the form of high levels of UV, sea-spray and fast-moving objects. If your vision requires correction, there is an additional layer of complication on top.
Compounding these challenges, there are a swathe of environmental conditions we face on the water which require a versatile and solution-driven response if we want to stay focused on what we’re doing and navigate safely.
We’re able to offer our prescription customers a high level of customisation that focuses on the needs of the individual in their unique environment and which goes beyond what is available for off-the-shelf products.
An example of this is our state of-the-art anti-fog coating – ‘ORION-X’. When lenses fog up on plano sunglasses, the wearer has the option of removing them while waiting for the fogging to clear. However, this is not an option for someone wearing prescription sunglasses. With our prescription service, we can apply premium quality coatings individually on a custom basis. This applies to mirror coatings also, so the range of frame colours and lens options greatly exceeds what is available with our off-the-shelf products.
Whatever your needs are, we’re confident that our prescription watershades will exceed your expectations and that they’ll become an essential component of your watersports equipment.
NXT lens material
All of our NXT prescription lenses are constructed of the highest grade Trivex® material. Trivex® is a unique, scientifically advanced polymer developed originally for military aircraft. It has since become widely adopted as a lens material as it provides a perfect balance of properties which are ideal for watersports and other impact sports. It is one of the lightest lens materials on the planet – and one of the strongest too.
The main benefits of NXT are that it is ultra-lightweight and thin, delivers crisp & clear vision with optimal peripheral clarity and has a high impact resistance and tensile strength. NXT lenses have a high ‘Abbe’ value of 45, so they also offer significantly sharper peripheral vision with less chromatic aberration than polycarbonate lenses.
SINGLE VISION
For nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, our single vision lenses are a clear winner with enhanced peripheral vision performance.
For the majority of watersports in bright conditions, choose our Polar-RX (polarised) NXT lenses to beat down the glare, hold a steady course, and keep focus on objects moving in the periphery. Our RX single vision lenses can accommodate combined SPH + CYL readings of up to +6/-8
VARIFOCAL
Need correction for both near and distance? Look no further. Our varifocal lenses will keep you focused all of the time. Our QuickStep photochromic varifocals are ideal if you need to consult instruments and navigation equipment in highly variable lighting conditions, and if you need the ultimate in versatility, go for our Photo-polarised lenses which combine state-of-the-art adaptive polarisation alongside transitioning lenses.
ANTI-FOG
Our ORION-X optional coating utilises hydrophylic nanotechnology which through a physical process delivers a permanent anti-fog coating to the inside lens surface. Lens fogging is brought about by a phase change from water to water vapour and predominantly occurs in humid environments, especially when combined with cold water.
This unique lens coating works in conjunction with a (supplied) nano-fibre cloth which contains reactive agents which re-charge the lens coating with each application.
ANTI-REFLECTION
All of our prescription watershades come with an anti- reflection coating on the inner lens surface as standard.
While the 8-base wrap frame will do a great job at preventing most direct and reflected light from getting behind the lens, if there are any gaps where light can seep in, the A-R coating will stop resulting unwanted reflections from distracting you.
NXT BASE LENS
All of our prescription lenses are constructed of high grade NXT (Trivex) material. Available in a range of colours, NXT is lightweight, optically crisp and boasts incredible impact protection – everything you need in a sports RX lens.
There are four base lens options to choose from: 1) Standard (fixed tint) 2) Polarised 3) Photochromic 4) photochromic + polarised.
POLARISATION
We recommend our polarised lenses for most watersports as a polarising filter reduces glare by blocking out blinding light reflected by the water’s surface. Glare can be particularly strong in the early or latter parts of the day when the sun arcs lower towards the horizon and without this layer, it can be difficult to see clearly at these times of the day.
Our ‘polarised layer is ‘injected’ meaning that it will not peel or degrade over time. These lenses can also be combined with Photochromic in our highly advanced cross-functional photo-polarised lenses that both darken and progressively polarise in bright light.
MIRROR COATING
We offer three mirror coating options for our fixed tint and polarised RX lenses – blue, red or silver. Both red and blue are ‘flash’ mirrors, meaning that the red blends from red through orange and the blue blends from blue through violet. The Silver mirror is uniform (i.e. it is a constant silver hue).
Mirror coatings are not available with our photochromic or polarised + photochromic lenses.
PHOTOCHROMIC
Our photochromic lenses are a versatile and seamless solution for changing light conditions, as the photo-adaption provides optimum vision and comfort in step with the environment around you.
A complete transition in full sunlight takes 60 seconds. Available in 5 lens tones including brown, grey, green, violet and our popular ‘night & day amber’ for dusk till dawn action.
Photochromic can be combined with polarisation delivering a ground-breaking adaptive photo-polarised solution that not only darkens but also progressively polarises in bright outdoor light.
NANO COATING
Premium quality hydrophobic and oleophobic coatings on the outer lens surface are an essential final layer for maintaining clear and crisp vision on the water. Having a high angled nano-hydrophobic coating will ensure that your vision remains uninhibited by water spotting, allowing you to concentrate on your performance without distraction or refraction.
Our nano-hydrophobic and oleophobic coating repels dust, dirt and water droplets like no other.
HARDCOAT
Almost all lenses are liable to scratch, but NXT lenses are better than most at resisting. In additional to the latent hardness of NXT, we add a final hardcoat to the lenses to provide further scratch resistance to the outer surface. This final lacquer layer not only enhances scratch resistance, it also protects the layers underneath it and assures a constant visual quality over time.
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Click the button below for an immediate quotation for RX Watershades. The quotation is available in USD only.
RX lens technology
fixed tint
Our fixed tint NXT lenses are available for both single vision and varifocal lenses. As with all our lenses, they are guaranteed to block 100% of UVA and UVB.
There are two base colours – brown and smoke (grey). As the brown lens has a lower transmission rate, technically this means that less visible light will enter the eyes compared to the smoke lens. However, note that brown lenses tend to perform better in lower light conditions and smoke performs better in higher contrast / bright conditions. Should you add a blue / silver / red mirror coating, the VLT rate will be reduced by a further 2-3%.
polarised
Designed for killing glare and reflections, and thereby significantly reducing eye fatigue our NXT POLAR-RX lenses are 99% efficient in cutting out horizontally polarised light and keeping your eyes fully protected on the water.
As with our fixed tint series, there’s 100% UV protection. There are two base colours – brown and smoke. With POLAR-RX, the grey lenses have a slightly lower VLT rate than the brown lenses. Adding a mirror coating will bring the transmission rate down to 10-12% which is ideal for bright conditions / strong sunlight.
Photochromic
Our Photochromic lenses respond to changes in UV and visible light – as sunlight increases in intensity, the UV and visible light increases and the lenses darken. They are designed to maintain an optimum light level in all situations, as the photo-reactive lens molecules maintain a constant feedback loop with the environment around you. This keeps your vision in the sweet spot all the time, which means you can maintain focus and continue to perform at your best.
Our QuickStep photochromic lenses all have a base level tint that increases with the intensity of sunlight, but all have different transmission ranges – see the VLT parameters shown below. If you’re after something that lasts from dawn til dusk, then you’ll get the most from our Quickstep Day & Night lenses.
There are 5 QuickStep photochromic lenses to choose from. Mirror coatings are not available with photochromic lenses.
Polarised + photochromic
Quickstep photochromic can be combined with polarisation delivering a ground-breaking adaptive photo-polarised solution that not only darkens but also progressively polarises in bright outdoor light. You heard that right!
Our QuickStep-Polar-RX lenses offer ground-breaking versatility through an ingenious lens technology that gives you the best of both worlds.
Here’s how it works. The molecules in conventional photochromic lenses will darken when exposed to visible light in a randomised pattern. This brings about a uniform darkening throughout the lens surface.
However, in our Quickstep-Polar-RX lenses, these molecules not only darken but they also progressively align as a polarising filter. As more visible light hits the lens, the alignment becomes progressively greater, enhancing the polarising effect and cutting out increasing levels of horizontal light (glare).
This lens technology is a stroke of genius that offers so much versatility, why wouldn’t you take advantage of it?
Available in brown or grey base colour with the VLTs shown below. Note that mirror coatings are not available with these lenses. Maximum polarization achieved is 85%.
Mirror coatings
Finish off your ideal lenses with a mirror coating. Note that mirror coatings are not just about making a statement. They also perform a functional role. They decrease light transmission by between 1-3% thereby reducing the stated VLT rates of your chosen lens. They also help reduce glare and optimise the usable light that passes through the lens. This increases contrast and visual clarity at the same time. A blue mirror coating for example will reflect blue light – helpful if you find your environment awash with hues of blue.
The mirror coatings shown below are available with our polarised and fixed tint lenses only. As photochromic lenses are activated by visible light, their performance is hindered by mirror coatings, so these are not available for either our photochromic or polarised + photochromic lenses.
