Welcome to 2020. As always, your friends at Creditview Optical are looking for ways to make your world more beautiful to behold. But 2020? That means ideal human vision. Which is odd because if you look at it again, 2020 looks weird. The repetition is of the 2 and the 0 is a bit hypnotizing. However, if it looks at all blurry, please book your annual appointment early.
Anyway, back to your vision. It’s important to be able to discuss your eyesight with your optician. A big part of that is the vocabulary surrounding your glasses. This list breaks your specs up into their ten or so essentials parts. (Just ask Sir Elton: some glasses have more pieces than others.)
Even if some of the names seem obvious, it’s best that we’re all using the same words and understand each other. Your eyesight’s too important to risk making any assumptions over.
- Lenses: There are two pieces of glass or plastic, which are often differently configured to correct your unique condition and prescription. (See our last blog for a breakdown of bifocal and trifocal lenses.)
- Rims / wires: These are the bordering pieces holding your lenses in place, while giving your glasses their form and style. Like the lenses, there are two rims, one for each lens/eye.
- Temples: These are the long straight pieces that flank your head, sitting directly beside your left and right temple. (See above re sounding obvious and why.)
- Temple tips / earpieces: the plastic casing adhered to the ends of the temples. They exist for comfort. Metal can be sharp and slippery.
- Hinges: Movable joints that rest inside the frame, your hinges enable the temples—see the definition above—to fold inward. Hinges with springs maximize your glasses’ flexibility beyond 180 degrees.
- Ends / end pieces: These are the corner sections that extend off the outside of the lenses and connect to the front of the hinges.
- Screws: tiny plastic or metal tools, connecting the hinges to their respective end pieces. Often also used to secure nose pads to the bridge. See below.
- Bridge: Connecting the two rims in the middle, the bridge rests above the wearer’s nose.
- Nose pads: Cushioning between the bridge—see above—and your nose, these not only offer comfort but increase stability, lessening unwanted downward slide.
- Pad arms: the adjustable fixtures between the nose pads and rims. Not all glasses contain pad arms, but they usually are found on metal frames.
