There is nothing quite like a day at the beach — warm sun, the waves, a book on the sand. But the shore is the hardest light you will stand in all year. UV arrives from above, bounces off the water, then bounces again off pale sand. A cheap pair from the boardwalk darkens the view without protecting anything behind it.
Here is what actually matters when you choose a pair for the beach, and which of ours do it.
UV400, and nothing less
Dark lenses are not protection. A tint makes your pupils open wider, so a dark lens with no UV filter lets more ultraviolet into your eye than wearing nothing at all. What you want is UV400, which blocks 100% of UVA and UVB. Every Privado lens has it, polarized or not.
Clouds do not help. UV passes straight through them, and the beach reflects what gets through twice over.
Polarized, for the water
Glare off water is light reflected on a single plane. A polarized filter blocks that plane, which is why the sea stops being a sheet of white and becomes something you can see into. Less squinting, and no headache at the end of the day.
Nine of our sixteen frames are polarized: the Tyto, Bubo, Cyprus, Noctua, Omani, Seductus, Phodilus, Asio and Verraux Black. For a day on the water, those are the ones.
Lens colour
Tint is not only decoration. Grey keeps colours true and is the easiest to live in all day — the Cyprus, the Phodilus, and the Asio in grey. Brown and amber lift contrast, which helps you pick detail out of bright sand and water: the Asio in brown, the Otus in tea, and the Ninox in amber.
One caveat worth knowing. The Otus and the Ninox are not polarized. They will protect your eyes completely, but they will not cut the glare coming off the water.
Scratch resistance
At the beach your sunglasses live in a bag with sunscreen, keys and sand. Every Privado lens is scratch resistant, which is the difference between a pair you relax in and a pair you keep checking on.
Cleaning them afterwards
A correction to advice you will read elsewhere: saltwater does not damage the polarizing layer. It is laminated inside the lens, not painted on the surface. What does the damage is wiping a dry lens — salt dries into crystals, and crystals scratch. Rinse with fresh water first, then dry with the microfiber cloth from your case. No acetone, no alcohol.
Something you can wear all day
Eleven of our sixteen frames are acetate, polycarbonate or TR90, with no metal where the frame meets your skin. If you have ever come home from a day out with a sore spot behind your ear, start there.
Decide with them on your face
There is no way to tell how a frame sits on you from a photograph. Order the one you keep looking at and decide wearing it. Shipping inside the US is free, you have 60 days, and if it is not right we pay the return. Browse all sixteen and see which one is looking back.
