Blog PostPhotochromic lens - Worth the price or not?

A week ago, I went to buy myself glasses. I made my frame choice which happened to be GUCCI and I wanted a transition glasses (Darkens in the sun) to stop carrying my sun glasses. Yesterday I got a call from the shop that my glasses are ready and I picked them up last night!

Honestly, I couldn't wait until this morning to test them in the sun! I walked to my car and yet, the glasses didn't get dark! I started driving until I got headache from the sun and yet it didn't get dark! I switched to my Sun Glasses which I happen to carry in my car all the time.

I went to have breakfast in Coffee Bean before going to class, and then in the coffee shop it got dark! It made me wonder how it works, thus I did a quick search while I'm in class, and what I found is quite interesting!

Advantages and disadvantages

There are both advantages and disadvantages to photochromic lenses. The main advantage is that they will darken into a sunglass tint when exposed to U.V. thus removing the need to carry a separate pair of sunglasses for protection against harmful U.V. rays from the sun. The main disadvantage of photochromic lenses is they do not adjust immediately. It could take up to two minutes for the lenses to adeaquately change from light to dark or vice versa. Another disadvantage for some users is that they will not darken when worn inside vehicles (windscreen/green glass absorbs virtually 100% of UV light). Since they do not darken inside vehicles, they may not be adequate as driving glasses. Another disadvantage is that they become extremely dark when they get cold. This is a big disadvantage for skiers, who need their glasses to lighten when light is dim and flat.

Wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photochromic_lens

In our country, most of the new cars get UV protection films, that's why it didn't get dark in my car! Also, they are extremely expensive.

And Keep in mind that it takes up to two minutes to get dark, this means that you'll get the headache before they get dark!

For me, now I see that those glasses aren't worth their price. Good technology but it isn't working for me!

On a side note, this is how the new glasses look on me: