The Randolph Replacement Lens Wars

In every market there will be competitors, and replacement lenses are no exception.

One of the things I work hardest at is to provide you with the very best replacement parts for those precious Randolph sunglasses.

No matter what style you have, Aviator to P3s to Sportsman, sooner or later you will need to replace your lenses.

Why?

Because no matter how careful you are things happen and you can wind up with a broken, cracked or scratched lens.

Why Not Purchase Cheap Replacement Lenses?

I did some research for you on the interwebs and found a number of websites for replacement lenses.

Some even advertise Randolph replacement lenses.

Those two are Fuse Lenses and The Sunglass Fix.

In researching theses lenses I found the following information regarding the replacement Randolph lenses they are selling:

Fuse Lenses

1. Fuse lenses uses only high quality, optical grade Polycarbonate for our lenses.
2. All lenses meet or surpass ANS Z87.1 standards for impact resistance.
3. Our lenses filter out 100% of harmful UV rays.
4. Costs: Non-Polarized Lenses @ $ 24.99; Polarized @ $ 34.99; Polarized Anti-Reflective @ $ 44.99.

The Sunglass Fix

• Lenses are made in Australia
• The Sunglass Fix uses polyamide and polycarbonate lenses
• 100% UV protection
• Costs: Non-Polarized @ $ 33.99; POlarized @ $ 42.99; SFx Diamond @ $ 49.99

Of course they offer additional services like lens guarantees and care at an additional cost, as well as cleaning and polishing products at an additonal cost.

This sounds like a great deal, right?

So, why spend more money on Genuine Randolph Replacement Lenses?

To understand why you need to consider the difference in these lens materials:

1. Fuse Lenses are Polycarbonate lenses
2. The Sunglass Fix lenses are Polycarbonate lenses
3. Randolph SkyTec™ lenses are Crown Mineral Glass Lenses
4. Randolph SkyForce™ are Nylon Lenses
5. Randolph SkyForce™ are Nylon Gradient Lenses

ABBE Value

One of the most important properties of lens materials is it's ABBE value.

ABBE value tells you the amount of chromatic aberation of a lens material.

The higher the number, the less aberration and the lower the number, the more aberration.

In other words, aberration refers to the distortion present in the lens material. Generally speaking most of the distortion appears at the outer perimeter of the lens, but as the ABBE value goes lower the more optical distortion you will find in the lens.

The higher the ABBE value the better the optics of the lens.

 Here are the ABBE values for the different lens materials:

Lens Material:	ABBE Value:
CR-39	58
Crown Mineral Glass	58
Nylon	52
Polycarbonate	30

 

Genuine Randolph Replacement Lenses

 When you purchased your original Randolph Engineering sunglasses they came with either the SkyTec™ Crown Mineral Glass or the SkyForce™ Nylon lenses.

This means that you have experienced the best optical qualities available today in the lenses you received in your Randolph sunglasses.

So, if you have damaged Randolph lenses do you want to replace them with the same quality lenses, or would you rather pay less and replace them with lenses of lower optical quality and some peripheral distortion?

As they say, buyer beware! 

When you choose your replacement lenses have all of the facts so that you make the best possible choice.

Check out all of our Genuine Randolph replacement lenses here.

In the meantime, keep your eyes safe and focused on what's ahead of you Hersch!