Achieving the thinnest possible lenses for your eyeglasses is often a priority, especially for those with high prescription strengths. The thickness of your lenses can impact not just the appearance of your glasses, but also their comfort and weight. Here’s how you can ensure you get the slimmest lenses possible for your needs.
Choosing the Right Frame Size and Shape
- Choose a Smaller Frame for Thinner Lenses: This is the single most important thing you can do for thinner lenses, regardless of your prescription. Opt for the smallest frame that fits your face comfortably. Larger frames require thicker lenses, as the distance increases from the optical center to the edge of the frame it gradually grows thicker and thicker. By choosing a smaller frame, the lens width is reduced and the result is an overall thinner lens.
- Proper Fit Is Crucial: While smaller frames can lead to thinner lenses, ensure that the frame fits correctly. If the frame is too wide or too narrow, your optical center will be missalligned leading to thicker lenses. Be sure to match the frame PD as close as possible to your PD for optimal results.
- Last but not least avoid frame shapes with corners. Corners also increase the distance between the optical center and the edge of the frame creating thicker lenses.
If you’d like a more technical dive into how the size and shape of your frame affects your lenses, consider watching this video:
What About Lens Materials and Manufacturing?
- Simply put, there is no magic lens material to guarantee thin lenses, certain materials can be naturally thinner, but won’t always produce results. Most everyone will tell you that high-index lenses are the first solution to getting thin lenses, but in reality the results will vary due to different factors like frame size, prescription strength, quality lens production and frame fit.
- Dispelling Myths About Surfacing Techniques: You may have heard that free-form, digital, or HD lens manufacturing techniques can contribute to reduced thickness. In practice the difference is often minimal, we’re talking hundredths of a millimeter thinner. These techniques primarily enhance vision clarity and precision rather than reducing lens thickness.
The Importance of a Quality Lab
- If you’re using a Vision Care Plan to get your frames and lenses, there’s a higher likelyhood that your lens order will be sent to a substandard lab. Meaning your lenses may not be properly optimized which can lead to thicker lenses and suboptimal vision correction.
- Having your glasses crafted at a high-quality lab is important. The expertise and equipment used in a top-tier lab can make a significant difference in the final product, giving proper optimization to your lenses.
- Contrary to what one might think a top-tier lab isn’t neccisarily going to be a large corporate lab like Zeiss or Essilor. The best quality labs are often small independent labs, be sure to talk to your optician and find out who they use for lenses.
What to Remember Shopping for your next Frame
Unfortunately many opticians aren’t going to know all these things. When trying to optimize your lenses to be thin, you might be told that you can pick any frame shape or size as long as you use the highest index lens matierial. If that’s the case, you might consider looking for a new optician. One that understands the importance of picking a smaller frame that fits your face, using a quality lab and how certain matierials can affect lens thickness. Don’t be afraid to speak up and ask questions when you meet with your optician to ensure that you get the thinnest lenses possible.