Progressive lenses
How progressive lenses work
The power changes as your eyes move down the lens. Here’s how to use it.
The short answer
A progressive lens changes power gradually from top to bottom. The top holds your distance correction. Moving down a narrow corridor in the center, the power increases until it reaches your reading correction near the bottom. You look straight ahead for distance, lower your eyes for a screen and drop them further to read. The sides of the lens soften, so you turn your head toward what you want to see. Most of the adjustment takes a few days to a week.
The corridor
Why the corridor is narrow
A progressive covers everything from about 18 inches to the horizon. The more distances a lens has to cover, the narrower the clear channel down its center. Darren, our co-founder, calls it the Pinocchio rule: the longer the range, the narrower the corridor.
Outside the corridor the lens softens. That’s why you see people in progressives moving their head side to side, or lifting their chin to line up their vision.
Adjusting
How to adjust to progressive lenses
- Turn your head, not your eyes
Point your nose at what you want to see. Your eyes stay in the clear corridor.
- Drop your eyes to read
Look down through the bottom of the lens for your phone or a book.
- Start near, then look up
Look at something close first, then raise your gaze to the distance. It helps you find each zone.
- Give it time
Most of the adjustment happens in a few days to a week.
When something feels off
How to tell if your progressives are made right
Darren’s experience is that the usual problem is the height of the zones. The power is rarely wrong.
- You can’t find the reading zone
It may sit too low. We can raise the magnification. On frames with adjustable nosepads, pinching them raises the frame and the zone with it.
- Distance looks soft straight ahead
The reading zone may sit too high. We can lower it.
- Everything feels slightly off
Put a small dot on each lens directly in front of your pupil while you look straight into a mirror. We use those marks to remake the lenses to your eyes.
Our lenses
How we set up your progressives
We use a sport-style digital progressive design for the widest field of view we can give you. Each lens is digitally surfaced to your prescription in our California lab. The reading zone height comes from your frame’s measurements and your PD.
If the zones don’t sit right for you, tell us within 60 days. We remake the lenses at no charge.
How we make them
Lenses made to your prescription in California
Digitally surfaced
Computer-guided equipment cuts the curves for your prescription into a single lens blank, accurate to a hundredth of a diopter.
A full stack of coatings
An anti-reflective layer stops bounce-back glare. Oleophobic and hydrophobic layers keep fingerprints and water from sticking. A hard coat goes on last to resist scratches.
Edged for your frame
A multi-axis edger cuts each lens so your correction sits exactly in front of your pupils in the frame you chose. We inspect every lens at every stage. If we find a blemish, we start over with a fresh blank.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to get used to progressive lenses?
Usually a few days to a week. Turn your head toward what you want to see. Some people who have never worn glasses take longer.
Why is my peripheral vision blurry in progressives?
Fitting every distance into one lens narrows the clear corridor in the center. The sides soften. A digital design widens the corridor as much as the range allows.
What if I can’t adjust to my progressives?
Tell us. Within 60 days we remake the lenses at no charge, usually with the zones moved.
Can progressive lenses go in any frame?
Every prescription frame we sell takes progressive lenses. Lens height matters more than width.
How do I know if I have progressive lenses?
Check your prescription for an ADD power, or ask the eye doctor or shop that made your glasses. A progressive lens has no visible line between its zones.
What’s your return and remake policy?
Return them within 30 days of delivery for a full refund. Within 60 days we’ll remake your lenses at no charge for any reason, or exchange them into a different frame style or color. Scratched lenses are remade once, free, within the first year.
Progressive lenses
Made to your prescription and your frame.
Lenses made to your prescription · Free 3-day shipping · 60-day remakes
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