Received our first pair of Style Mirrors! |Review|

Thought I would offer my opinion to the Transitions Style Mirror I received today. Details: 1.67 XtrActive Grey with Blue Mirror in a 52 eye size, Metal Groove frame.

I chose the blue mirror because I feel it is the more natural color for indoor wear compared to the silver, red, gold or pink. Green was my second choice.

Indoors: The mirror is noticeable on the front side of the lens. It is slightly heavier than Prevencia as far as level of color intensity.
The reflections from the backside are horrible. The lenses do have a standard backside AR but the mirror passes through to the backside at a level that is very distracting and uncomfortable. I can clearly see my eyes reflection. The tint that is carried when the Transitions is inactivated is not a true gray either, it is more of a brown yellow tint.

Indoor Experience 4/10

Outdoors: This is where the lenses begin to show their strength. When activated, the Transitions blocks the mirror from coming through the lens, eliminating the discomfort. The color looks natural both looking through the lens, as well as someone looking at the glasses. The speed of transition seems a little slower, but not noticeable and still better than Transitions VII. If they were offered in a Vantage polarized, I would raise my score.

Outdoor Experience: 8/10

Behind the Windshield : These lenses act like normal XtrActive behind a windshield, varying between a grey 2-2.5. The reflections and distortion from the mirror is still noticeable, but not terrible.

Driving Experience 7/10

Real life market:
Would I recommend these lenses to a patient to wear full time? No. Could they be an alternative for a second pair? Absolutely. A patient could wear these from the house, in the car, and go in and order coffee all while wearing one pair of glasses and be completely comfortable and 'fashion trendy'.

Thanks for the real world review. I thought we'd be wise to avoid these silly things based on the early marketing and sales rep pitches we received. This helps solidify that impression completely. :wink:

This was perfect, thank you. I was not impressed with the reps one lone sample and I believe we'll stick to the tried and true Transitions original colors. Thank you very much for your honest review.

Exactly the things I was worried about. Thanks for the confirmation.

Great review.

So...the flash mirror is "a bomb" in the unactivated state, but "the bomb" in the activated.

Will probably limit the use of this product to the "variable tint sun" category?

nice review, I have a pair on order for myself, with the xtractive Gray, and the Green mirror. Will add my thoughts when they arrive. Our reps have always talked about these as a second sun pair, not a first pair. That is the way are offering them.

Remember when Essilor pulled all of its tv advertising for Crizal Optifog because they suddenly realized most people wanted glasses that cleaned easily more than they wanted glasses that didn't fog up?

Did they have mirror coat and photochromic properties, though? :)

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Originally Posted by iaxbbcp

nice review, I have a pair on order for myself, with the xtractive Gray, and the Green mirror. Will add my thoughts when they arrive. Our reps have always talked about these as a second sun pair, not a first pair. That is the way are offering them.

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As "everyday" sunwear (vs. some golf tint/cycling tint, etc) ?

I'm with you, but I worry:
1. deactivated in a true sun frame may look dorky
2. activated may not be dark enough

I think it "could work" though.

I appreciate your posting your results when you get yours!

Bump info share:
VSP will not be making the new Transitions colors or style mirrors available through their labs at this time. No ETA on when or if they will provide coverage.
Had to disappoint a few patients with that information.

Attachment 14075

I'd like to share something that turned out awesome. This is Trans Sapphire with a Cherry Blue AR. In its clear state, it looks like any other pair of blue blocking lenses, but once transistioned it turns the AR into a mirror! The clear frame ties it altogether to a versatile indoor/outdoor fully functional and stylish set. This, in my opinion, is way better than the Transition Mirrors. Feel free to steal the combo if you have someone who likes the Trans Mirror options but wants a higher functioning pair for indoors.

I have the amethyst transitions with a prevencia and it looks and works amazingly well. I'm still waiting for the Transition Style mirror in pink to hit Canada.

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Originally Posted by Quince

Attachment 14075

I'd like to share something that turned out awesome. This is Trans Sapphire with a Cherry Blue AR. In its clear state, it looks like any other pair of blue blocking lenses, but once transistioned it turns the AR into a mirror! The clear frame ties it altogether to a versatile indoor/outdoor fully functional and stylish set. This, in my opinion, is way better than the Transition Mirrors. Feel free to steal the combo if you have someone who likes the Trans Mirror options but wants a higher functioning pair for indoors.

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That is a beautiful custom pair! Thank you for sharing!

Essilor rep told me that the style mirrors make a great second pair. ಠ_ಠ

If you want a second pair sunglass why not get a polarized lens with a mirror?

(Disclaimer- Essilor employee)

Great review- your experience pretty much matches my own with the lenses.
Just an FYI, the mirror color that seems to be least noticeable inside is the red. You can barely see the red mirror when the lens is deactivated, but it shows up really nicely outside. The fellow who sits next to me at the office has a pair with the red that he wears all day, and not many people even notice he's wearing the Style Mirror.

So...the flash mirror is "a bomb" in the unactivated state, but "the bomb" in the activated.
I think someone has a future in marketing... :^)

If you want a second pair sunglass why not get a polarized lens with a mirror?
I asked the same question the first time I saw the product. I love polarized Rx sunwear (I think it is the most underutilized product in the market, considering the "wow" factor it provides to consumers); however, I have found the Style Mirrors are really nice when I'm going to be in and out all day and don't want to carry two pairs of glasses (like when I'm working on a project up at the cabin). Of course, this is from someone who has almost 50 pair of glasses- so if I only had two pair I would probably make the second a polar mirror as you suggested.

How are the new tints without the mirror?

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Originally Posted by LadyDie

How are the new tints without the mirror?

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Amethyst is not true to color in the adverts- the color is enhanced. I have found the other Colors options to be fairly spot-on. The Amber and Sapphire are both quite appealing.

A question from a client, as we (still) don't have samples of the style mirrors: how does the mirror interact with the ~10% tint indoors when the transitions are inactivated? In other words, if it's say grey xtractive + silver mirror, will it just be the usual xtractive shadow or will the slight reflectiveness cancel out the 'aging rockstar' tint?

Anyone know the upgrade charge for this mirror coat over trans xavtive base price ?

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Originally Posted by Quince

Attachment 14075

I'd like to share something that turned out awesome. This is Trans Sapphire with a Cherry Blue AR. In its clear state, it looks like any other pair of blue blocking lenses, but once transistioned it turns the AR into a mirror! The clear frame ties it altogether to a versatile indoor/outdoor fully functional and stylish set. This, in my opinion, is way better than the Transition Mirrors. Feel free to steal the combo if you have someone who likes the Trans Mirror options but wants a higher functioning pair for indoors.

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Is Prevencia the "Cherry Blue AR"? If not, what AR are you referring to? TIA

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Originally Posted by Pete Hanlin

(Disclaimer- Essilor employee)

Great review- your experience pretty much matches my own with the lenses.
Just an FYI, the mirror color that seems to be least noticeable inside is the red. You can barely see the red mirror when the lens is deactivated, but it shows up really nicely outside. The fellow who sits next to me at the office has a pair with the red that he wears all day, and not many people even notice he's wearing the Style Mirror.

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Curious - does the Transitions mirror reduce light transmission? In other words, is an Xtractive lens with a Transitions mirror added to it darker than an Xtractive lens alone?

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Originally Posted by charisw

Curious - does the Transitions mirror reduce light transmission? In other words, is an Xtractive lens with a Transitions mirror added to it darker than an Xtractive lens alone?

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I would look into transitions vantage w/ the mirror coat for less light transmission.

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Originally Posted by Sutured

I would look into transitions vantage w/ the mirror coat for less light transmission.

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Really? I've found that the Vantage is the Transitions that is the least dark. Is your experience different?

They are indeed less dark, but due to their polarized properties I find they are most beneficial with the mirror coat. I do have a pair that I personally use, which I had left under a UV lamp. They tend to become overly dark when I'm out and about. Vantage may get darker upon over-exposure of a UV lamp. This is just my experience.