Lens materials
All about lens materials
Thinner, lighter or stronger: what your lenses are made of changes how your glasses look and feel.
Lens materials
The material changes how your glasses look and feel
Lenses are made from different materials, and each has its own properties and benefits. When we recommend lenses, we look at four of them. Your visual needs and your lifestyle decide which matters most to you, and that points to the right material.
Thickness
How thick the lens looks in your frame. A higher-index material bends light more, so the lens can be thinner and flatter for the same prescription. The index is the number in a lens name, such as 1.6 or 1.67. For you, that means glasses that look good in the frame.
Weight
Some materials are lighter than others. For you, that means glasses that sit lightly on your nose.
Strength
Some materials are highly impact resistant. That matters for rimless frames, sport and children.
Clarity
The thinnest materials split light into faint colour at the edges of the lens, so vision away from the centre is slightly less crisp. For you, that means thinner is not always clearer.
These four pull against each other. That is why there is a right material for each prescription and frame, and not one material for everyone.
Where it starts. Every frame package includes a standard 1.5 plastic lens, and every Torga lens has a scratch-resistant hard coat on both surfaces at no extra cost. The materials below are the upgrades.
Strong and light
Lenses that stand up to knocks
For rimless frames, sport, safety eyewear and active children, strength comes first. These two materials are both highly impact resistant.
1.53 Strong & Lite
Made from Trivex: very strong and very light, with excellent clarity. It suits rimless and semi-rimless frames, sport, safety eyewear and children. Of the two, it is the lighter and the optically clearer.
For you, that means lenses that are light to wear and strong enough for a frame with little or no rim.
1.59 polycarbonate
Highly impact resistant, and thin. It suits sport, safety eyewear and children. Of the two, it is a little thinner.
For you, that means lenses that stand up to knocks without being thick.
Highly impact resistant does not mean unbreakable. No lens is.
For lenses made for the game, see Outdoors and sport. For prescription safety eyewear for work, see Safety eyewear.
Thin and light
Thinner, lighter lenses, even for a strong prescription
The higher the index, the thinner and flatter a lens can be for the same prescription. These three are our thin and light lenses, from moderate to the strongest prescriptions.
1.6 Thin & Lite
For moderate prescriptions. Thinner and lighter, with very good clarity, and strong enough for rimless frames.
For you, that means glasses that look good and sit comfortably.
1.67 Super Thin & Lite
For strong prescriptions. Extra thin and light.
For you, that means a strong prescription in glasses that look good and sit comfortably.
1.74 Ultra Thin
For the strongest prescriptions. The thinnest and flattest lens in our plastic range.
For you, that means even a very strong prescription can sit slim in the frame.
The 1.6 and 1.67 lenses are made from Mitsui's MR-8 and MR-10 resins.
Good to know
Thinner is not always clearer
For a low or moderate prescription there is almost no difference in edge thickness between the higher indexes, and the thinnest materials are slightly less crisp towards the edges. A 1.67 lens, for example, is not much thinner than a 1.6 for a moderate short-sighted prescription. That is why the thinnest lens that is right for your prescription is the one to choose.
Choosing
Matching the material to your prescription and your frame
As a general guide, this is the material that usually suits each strength of prescription. Your frame matters too, so treat it as a starting point and not a rule.
| Your prescription | The usual lens |
|---|---|
| A low prescription | Standard 1.5 plastic |
| A moderate prescription | 1.6 Thin & Lite |
| A strong prescription | 1.67 Super Thin & Lite |
| The strongest prescriptions | 1.74 Ultra Thin |
Your prescription
Where the lens is thickest
Lenses for short-sightedness (minus) are thickest at the edge. Lenses for long-sightedness (plus) are thickest in the middle.
Your frame
Smaller frames give thinner edges
Smaller frames, and frames whose centres sit close to the centres of your eyes, give thinner edges. Square shapes look thickest. With a strong prescription, the frame is chosen as well as the material.
At Torga you choose your lenses first and your frame second, because a strong prescription looks thinnest in a smaller frame. Your optometrist or eyewear consultant will talk you through the material for your prescription and your frame.
Good to know
Glass, UV protection and special lenses
Glass
Glass gives excellent optics and the most scratch-resistant surface. It is heavier than plastic, and it needs toughening to meet impact standards.
Glass lenses are not available when you order online. Our lab makes glass lenses: clear and photochromic (light-reactive) glass, high-index glass for very strong prescriptions, glass bifocals and glass multifocals. Please ask at your practice.
UV protection
Most of our lens materials, including Strong & Lite and Thin & Lite, absorb UV in the material itself. Standard 1.5 plastic lenses do not, but a UV treatment can be added, and every sun lens gets one.
If your prescription is unusual
Our lab can usually make a plan. It also makes lenses that most people will never need, including:
- Lenticular lenses for very strong prescriptions, which keep the prescription in a central zone so the lens stays thin and light.
- Prism, including press-on Fresnel prisms, for eyes that need help working together.
- Franklin bifocals and trifocals, the split-lens style, for particular working needs.
- Prescription lenses laminated into diving goggles.
- Med-X radiation-protection glass multifocals.
Please ask at your practice.
Find the lens that suits your day
Book an eye test and your optometrist will talk you through the lens options for your prescription and your frame.
Book an eye test