Sunglasses go beyond simple fashion accessories; they are a necessity, which protect the eyes as well as serve the aesthetic purpose of enhancing your look. However, have you ever considered how sunglasses were made and how their features were innovated? Sunglasses are a great invention that started a long time ago and have surprised us with their modern technologies. We’ll give you some exciting and interesting information that will help you understand the essence of sunglasses and their origins and will make you love the accessory even more. Get ready to dive into the universe of sunglasses!
Let's unravel some fun facts about Sunglasses that will be sure to brighten your day!
The Origins of Sunglasses
Sunglasses have a long history , they were invented 2000 years ago: they were invented in the fourteenth century by the Inuit tribes living in the suburbs of the Arctic Circle. To shield their eyes from sun and to prevent blindness—resulting from UV rays bouncing off ice and snow—Inuit's sunglasses were originally made from walrus bones and driftwood with narrow apertures called “ilgaak” or “iggaak.” The Chinese advanced the idea making sunglasses from smoky quartz.
Besides being useful, sunglasses were used by judges to conceal facial expressions during a trial. The initial sunglasses, which can be characterised as modern, were created by an Englishman, James Ayscough in 1752, his glasses had blue and green shades, which were useful for light-sensitive people rather than fashionable. Overtime, these innovations became the fashionable and protective eyewear that is commonly seen today.
Shady business: The truth about Sunglasses
Sunglasses are considered fashionable accessories today, but you may be shocked to hear that only a quarter of them can protect your eyes adequately. While fashioning our look with designer sunglasses, many do not serve their purpose of protecting our eyes from hazardous UV rays that can cause permanent eye ailments such as cataracts, photokeratitis, even macular degeneration.Â
That being said, even the coolest-looking sunglasses aren’t doing enough to protect your eyes if you aren’t using a UV protected lens. To ensure our eyes are protected, make sure your sunglasses have 100% UV protection and secondly use polarised lenses to protect you from a glare. But you do not need to worry, our SUHU sunglasses are specially designed to protect your eyes. They are 100% UV resistant and guarantee you the right eye protection without compromising the style and comfort for any occasion.Â
1936: The Invention of Polarised Lenses
Today polarised lenses are a feature of many sunglasses, polarised lenses were created in 1936 and were discovered by Edwin H. Land,Â
an American scientist who established the Polaroid Corporation. This filter was developed by Land and was applied to lenses as a polarising filter and enabled reducing reflection from smooth surfaces such as water, snow or roads. Prior to this invention, only minimal blocking of glare was offered to sunglasses wearers, which compels many to endure outdoor tasks in bright environments.Â
Land’s innovation made remarkable changes in the field of eyewear as comfort was increased as well as safety, and vision was modified in different conditions. The Idea behind polarised lenses is simple: They work by letting only vertical light through while blocking horizontal light waves. This is important because horizontal waves are what cause glare when they reflect off flat surfaces. As a result, polarised lenses significantly reduce glare, eye strain and enhance the clarity of what you see. Polarised lenses are still useful nowadays for people who spend lots of time outside, behind the wheel, those who enjoy fishing, skiing or hiking; they provide clearer vision and increase the safety level due to reductions of glare and enhancement of contrast.
The Solution to Colour Blindness
Those trendy coloured lenses you see in some sunglasses were actually originally created for a more crucial reason which was a way to help people with colour-blindness. During the middle of the twentieth century optometrists and scientists started to use coloured lenses to help people with colour vision deficiency to distinguish between some colours. Hue impairment affects roughly 8-10% of male and 0.5% of female populations worldwide and causes distorted perception of certain colours such as red and green.
These lenses use coloured filters thereby improving the degree of contrast of two colours that are usually difficult to distinguish by the lens wearer and thus be in a position to distinguish a larger number of hues. Coloured lenses are not a total cure for colour blindness, but rather an opportunity for people with colour blindness to see the world more clearly.
Sunglasses in Space
International Space Station (ISS) Astronauts require sunglasses to shield their eyes from the bright light in space. While on Earth the sunlight is kept under the atmosphere and only filtered UV light reaches the people, in space a person is exposed to strong and unfiltered light, and often their eyes can get tired and even suffer consequences from the exposure. During the first moon landing, Apollo 11, the entire crew were provided with space suits and space sunglasses! Not only did Neil Armstrong become the first man to walk the moon but he brought the first sunglasses to space as well. Since then, space technology has improved and instead of astronauts being provided with sunglasses, they have adapted the protective lenses onto the space suit visors, it’s just like wearing sunglasses!
Sunglasses and SymmetryÂ
Sunglasses are not only for protecting the eyes from the sun, they also play a role in beauty and enhancing a person's facial features. The perfect pair of Sunglasses can be chosen based on your face shape and when you have these sunnies they can sharpen your facial features and, thus, bring the face into harmony. For example, if you have a square jawline, round sunglasses will balance it out and vice versa, angular and geometric sunglasses will add structure to soft round faces. Correct frames can also accentuate your good looks bringing out your eye colour or cheekbones among other features. Thus, sunglasses do have a practical use but they also help to improve your confidence and appearance.
With this, it's clear that these iconic accessories are far more than just a simple tool that protects our eyes. From their ancient origins to their revolution into an accessory that everyone has, sunglasses have made a significant impact on both style and history. So next time you pick your sunglasses up, remember that you’re not just protecting your eyes–you’re rocking a piece of history and a universal fashion statement that has spanned through centuries. With this, SUHU has taken all these facts and the history of sunglasses into consideration and have adapted the most stylish and high-quality sunglasses with protective lenses. Style and protect yourself with SUHU’s sunglasses.   Â
