Progressive lenses
What are progressive lenses?
A progressive lens lets you see far away, across a room and up close without a line across the lens.
The short answer
Progressive lenses are multifocal prescription lenses. The top of the lens corrects your distance vision. The power changes gradually down the lens until it reaches your reading correction at the bottom. A narrow corridor down the middle connects the two, so you can see across a room and glance down at your phone without switching glasses. They’re sometimes called no-line bifocals because there’s no visible line between the zones.
The zones
Three zones in one lens
Your eye doctor’s prescription sets the power at each end. The lens design decides how it changes between them. For reading glasses that need no prescription, see how our readers work.
- Top: distance
Your full distance correction, for driving, walking and seeing across a room.
- Middle: the corridor
The power increases gradually down a channel in the center of the lens. This is where a computer screen or a dashboard comes into focus.
- Bottom: reading
The ADD power from your prescription, for your phone, a menu or a book.
The trade-off
Why the sides of the lens are soft
A progressive packs every distance from about 18 inches to the horizon into one lens. To fit that range, the clear corridor down the middle gets narrow. The edges on either side of it blur.
Darren Rosenberg, our co-founder, puts it simply: the longer the range, the narrower the corridor. You can’t design that trade-off away. What a lens maker can do is make the corridor as wide as possible for the range.
That’s why people new to progressives learn to turn their head toward what they want to see. Their eyes stay in the corridor.
Compared
Progressive, bifocal and single vision lenses
| Lens | What it corrects | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Single vision | One distance | The whole lens is clear for that distance |
| Lined bifocal | Distance and near | Two zones with a visible line between them |
| Progressive | Distance, the middle and near | A gradual change in power with no line |
Our design
How we make progressive lenses
Every progressive we make uses a sport-style digital design, chosen for the widest field of view we can give you. We digitally surface each lens to your prescription in our California lab.
We set the height of the reading zone from your frame’s measurements and your PD, so there’s no fitting appointment. If the zone sits too high or too low for you, we remake the lenses at no charge within 60 days.
Progressive lenses cost about $100 more than single vision. They come in eyeglasses and in prescription sunglasses.
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Frames for progressive lenses
Every prescription frame we sell takes progressive lenses.
How it works
From your prescription to your door
Pick a frame and your lenses
Choose single vision or progressive. Eyeglasses come with clear lenses or our Indoor / Outdoor lens tint option. Sunglasses come with Grey or Brown Polarized lenses.
Add your prescription and PD
Upload a photo of your prescription when you order, or send it afterward from the link we email you. Our team reviews every prescription before we start.
We make them in about two weeks
We digitally surface, coat and edge your lenses in our California lab. Shipping is free and takes about three days.
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Who needs progressive lenses?
People whose prescription has an ADD and who want to see far away and up close in one pair. We can only make progressives from a prescription with an ADD. Do I need progressive lenses? walks through it.
Do progressive lenses have a line?
No. The power changes gradually down the lens, so there’s no visible line between distance and reading. They’re sometimes called no-line bifocals.
What’s the difference between progressive lenses and bifocals?
A bifocal has two zones, distance and near, with a visible line between them. A progressive changes power gradually from distance at the top to reading at the bottom, so you also get the middle distances. There’s no line.
Are progressive lenses hard to get used to?
It usually takes a few days to a week. Turn your head toward what you want to see. Drop your eyes to read. If you can’t find the reading zone or the distance looks soft, we can move the zones and remake your lenses within 60 days. How to adjust to progressives.
How do I know if my prescription is for progressives?
Look for a number in the ADD column. ADD is the extra near-vision power your eye doctor prescribed for reading. If your prescription has one, you can order progressive lenses. If it doesn’t, single vision is the lens that matches it.
Can I get progressive sunglasses?
Yes. Every prescription sunglass frame we sell comes with progressive lenses, in Grey or Brown Polarized. Progressive sunglasses.
Do you make bifocals?
We don’t make lined bifocals or trifocals. A progressive lens gives you distance and near correction in one lens with no visible line. Darren, our co-founder, calls them no-line bifocals.
How long do progressive lenses take to make?
About two weeks to make your lenses, counted from when we have your prescription and PD. Shipping is free and takes about three days. Faster shipping can’t shorten production.
Progressive lenses
Progressive lenses made to your prescription.
Lenses made to your prescription · Free 3-day shipping · 60-day remakes
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