Re: BEST SUNGLASSES FOR BOATING
I won't deny Maui Jim makes a good pair of sunglasses which we also sell but when they break (and someday they will) you will be without your prized sunwear for at least two weeks as you need to send them to Maui Jims stateside headquarters in Peoria Illinois for repair. In addition to your shipping costs you will also get a bill for the repairs made if you are outside the parameters of their standard one year warranty. Although I also sell Maui Jim sunwear and am a certified optician, I can technically void the Maui Jim warranty by making a legitimate adjustment or repair using stock optical supplies such as replacement nosepads or eyewire screws. Coming from an ophthalmology practice our patients have expectations of eyecare professionals to meet their specific optical demands. These frustrations are very difficult to convey to a customer who paid sometimes as much as $299 for a pair of sunglasses and has the same expectations of us to fix the problem as they would with their ophthalmic prescription eyewear. I have shared these frustrations with my Maui Jim rep but they evidently don't see a need to change their current MO. <br /><br />On the other hand.... As an authorized Costa Del Mar dealer someone can bring in a broken pair of sunwear they purchased from us 3 years ago. We replace their frame with a new frame from our inventory and they walk out of our shop with a functional pair of sunwear. No skin off our back since we are able to then send their broken frame back to Costa Del Mar to receive the appropriate credit while exceeding the expectations of our patients.<br /><br />Sundog...........<br />Clip (over RX ) sunwear has become very popular but is not an alternative to quality prescription sunwear. <br />Heres why: <br />All optical mediums (glass, plastic, polycarbonate, acrylic, etc.) have what is known as an index of refraction. This means how fast light penetrates through a specific medium compared to light passing through air; the higher the index, the more energy passing through the lens material. On average light passes through lenses half the speed it passes through air (CR 39 Plastic = 1:49, Glass = 1:52, Polycarbonate = 1:56 etc) High index lenses do not necessarily produce positive results but are popular with higher prescription lenses since they result in less lens thickness for more cosmetically appealing eyewear. The higher the index, the denser the lens material which also causes resistance for light to penetrate the lens material causing a host of other problems. With this in mind, 95% of the time the sun clip material (usually an acryllic laminate polarization as discussed in my previous post) will be a different index than the ophthalmic quality prescription lens of plastic, polycarbonate, or glass material. Therefore light is passing through two different lenses at different speeds. The higher the prescription, the more evident this distortion becomes. Folks wearing lower prescriptions can tolerate this distortion but will appreciate the superior optics recognized from a dedicated pair of quality prescription sunwear.<br /><br />Kevin