Glasses - edge polishing

Horizon81

If there's any clued up spectacle wearers out there, please can you give me your opinions on having your lens edges polished.

I've worn glasses for years and am short sighted so the lenses are always thicker at the sides compared to the middle. The lenses were always 'frosted' at the edges until my last couple of pairs, when they came with a polished edge which looked great and helped conceal the edge thickness. However, with my latest pair where the edges were polished, I experienced terrible reflections, particularly at the bottom of the lens where I saw the colours of the rainbow reflecting almost constantly. These are full framed metal glasses, same as I've always had (not rimless) but this is the first time I've had the problem with reflection and seeing the colours of the rainbow.

Is this normal? Have any other spectacles wearers noticed this? I know going back to a 'frosted' standard finish would fix the problem, but I've never had problems with polished edges in the past so it seems a shame. Are opticians now polishing up the lenses more than ever before? From googling, it seems some specialists in the USA offer a 'satin' finish where the edges are polished but not so much that they cause glare. Seems a great idea but I don't think opticians over here have ever heard of it!

Elle7

Have you spoken to your optician?

I had this problem at school...we blamed the schools lighting as I'd never had the problem before. I took my glasses back and explained and they 'frosted' the edges a tiny bit. I couldn't tell, they still looked very polished, but not enough that the colours reflected.

GlasweJen

I had a patient with this problem on a pair of rimless glasses and dulling down just the top edge of the lenses worked for him. You could always try just getting the one edge re-finished if you still want the polished finish effect. You'd need to find a lab technician who will do it by hand (I would but there are many who leave a lot to the machines).

Horizon81

I did take them back to the opticians and they tried to dull them down but didn't do a very good job as they seemed to file away too much of the lens surface plus I could still see the rainbows. In the end I was refunded but that still leaves me wanting some glasses without any of this hassle.

Glaswejen - I'm guessing you work in the trade. In your experience, which is a good optical chain to go to?

Humphrey10

I've never noticed reflections at all. I always go for the anti-glare coating though, I imagine that reduces problems. Also I'm not very short slighted, so only wear glasses for the cinema (and I used to wear them for driving), so maybe I'm wearing the glasses in conditions where I wouldn't get many reflections anyway?

helenut

Did the optician this time round mention using a "thinner and lighter" lens than you are used to? The denser material used can cause colour abberations, especially a polycarbonate lens if compared with a standard material. Polycarbonate does have a slightly more polished look to it as well.
How high is your prescription?

EDIT: Just wanted to add that if it does turn out that you have a polycarb, maybe try going for a 1.6 density or equivalent - depends on the lens company. It will still be thinner, won't be as light though I'm afraid but it has a higher v-value (the lower the v-value the more chromatic abberation you experience and polycarb has the lowest of all v-values)

Horizon81

helenut wrote: »

Did the optician this time round mention using a "thinner and lighter" lens than you are used to? The denser material used can cause colour abberations, especially a polycarbonate lens if compared with a standard material. Polycarbonate does have a slightly more polished look to it as well.
How high is your prescription?

EDIT: Just wanted to add that if it does turn out that you have a polycarb, maybe try going for a 1.6 density or equivalent - depends on the lens company. It will still be thinner, won't be as light though I'm afraid but it has a higher v-value (the lower the v-value the more chromatic abberation you experience and polycarb has the lowest of all v-values)

Thanks for the details (though you lost me a bit on the v-value and polycarb thing!). I always get a 1.74 lens. My prescription is about minus 6 and has been for years. As I say, I've had glasses made to the same specification in the past with no problems. Both old and new glasses were made in Specsavers (albeit different branches) who only use Pentax lenses so I thought they'd be all right. Is there different ways of finishing off the lens? In other words, different grades of polish? I do like the frosting removed, but not so much that it causes these awful reflections. With this latest pair they looked extremely highly polished, so much so that when you held them in your hands and looked down, you could see rainbows in the edges.

It would be lovely to walk into an opticians and talk to an expert not just a salesperson who looks at me blankly when I start talking about edge finishing!

helenut

Horizon81 wrote: »

It would be lovely to walk into an opticians and talk to an expert not just a salesperson who looks at me blankly when I start talking about edge finishing!

Ah I see, with a 1.74 one would always be a little at risk of chromatic aberrations which occur in high contrasts (black print on white paper etc). I can't see why the polishing increases the chances though, but you are right there are different edge polishings and it depends on the cutting of the lens, if the Specsavers has it's own lab it should be able to do it for you (although I know nothing of Specsavers so maybe they can't!) We just order our lenses in with or without polishing depending if it is a rimless or a half-rim or whatever.

Do the glasses sit any differently then you the ones you usually wear? If the frame is bigger then it is more likely to occur (plus the edges would be thicker). Or if your eyes are not central in the frame (horizontally and vertically) this would also be worse than usual.

Otherwise I do not know sorry!

Horizon81

Thanks again. The frames are near identical so I'm convinced its the highly polished edges which caused the problem. You say that you order your lenses in with or without polishing, so do you specify a certain type of polished finish?

And, whilst we're on the topic... do opticians not cut the lenses to shape in the on-site laboratories? Specsavers mentioned 'ordering them in', so does that mean they're cut and finished off site and all their lab guys do is stick them in the frame?

adamantine

polished edges helps to make the lenses look thinner as you cant see the edge but it does allow more light to enter the lens and increase reflections.

your lenses would need to have been ordered in and then cut to fit the frame and fitted but it may have been that the store sent the frame off to be glazed. i would go back, tell them the problems you are finding and the the lenses finished again minus the polishing and see how you go.

its not an uncommon thing to experience. i almost always advised my patients not to have polished edges on their supra or rimless frames for this very reason.

helenut

Horizon81 wrote: »

Thanks again. The frames are near identical so I'm convinced its the highly polished edges which caused the problem. You say that you order your lenses in with or without polishing, so do you specify a certain type of polished finish?

And, whilst we're on the topic... do opticians not cut the lenses to shape in the on-site laboratories? Specsavers mentioned 'ordering them in', so does that mean they're cut and finished off site and all their lab guys do is stick them in the frame?

We just say polished or unpolished and do not specify any types. I'm sure there are different grades of polish aroond but we do not do them so I don't think specsavers will. I spoke to a colleague and he said that the polishing can make the rainbow effect worse. An Anti-reflective coating can lessen the effects but the best option is a 1.6 lens still.


If Specsavers has an on-site lab then they order in the blanks and cut them on site. If they don't have a lab then they order in all lenses pre-cut and just fit them in the frame. Depends on how big the Specsavers is.