The adventures of tinting

Where better than a sun-soaked Milan to announce a tie-up on variable tint sunglass lenses? Rory Brogan reports

Oakley and Transitions used the Mido exhibition to announce a partnership programme offering variable tint sunglass lenses in prescription and plano versions.

 This is the first time that variable tint optics technology has been integrated with Oakley prescription eyewear and speaking at the show, Oakley's Richard Powell and Roland Allen, marketing director of Transitions Optical Europe,  described the potential as huge, with a UK trade launch of June 1.

There are two Rx lens options in 'Oakley Transitions' and 'Oakley Iridium Activated by Transitions', combining Transitions V, the Oakley Iridium lens coating and the Oakley Plutonite material. The plano sunglass lenses combine Transitions, Oakley's High Definition Optics and the Plutonite lens material, with the enhanced visual contrast Oakley's lens colours.

The Rx lenses differ in that 'Oakley Transitions' are virtually clear indoors and darken when exposed to direct sunlight to achieve 84 per cent light absorption, while 'Oakley Iridium Activated by Transitions' give a slightly tinted appearance in their inactivated state, achieving a minimum of 88 per cent light absorption when exposed to sunlight.