Beauty & Style | Sunday 17 May, 2015 9:58 am |

– Are your sunglasses wearing you down with their chunky frames and heavy lenses? This spring, Maui Jim lets you strut your stuff in three new ultra-light designs – all named after birds – and they’re swooping into stores now.

All three of the new rimless styles make a polished eyewear statement as a result of their simplicity and superior engineering. Unique to the beta-titanium designs are uber-thin nose bridges and colorful, rubber-sheathed temples with distinctive disk hinges that make these styles stand out from ordinary metal frames. Your comfort is further extended by the rubber-padded, adjustable nose bridges for the longest days in the sun.

Don’t let the thin, lightweight nature of these designs fool you. The MauiPure™ lenses are the world’s clearest non-glass lenses that are also scratch- and impact-resistant. The lenses have waterproof and oleophobic coatings to shed water and repel grease and smudges. All Maui Jim lenses are distinguished by the company’s patented nine-layer PolarizedPlus2® technology that cuts 100 percent of UV rays and 99.9 percent of glare from above, below and behind each lens. Maui Jim is the only company to use three rare earth elements and other treatments to white-balance its lenses, resulting in true color vibrancy. PolarizedPlus2 technology also increases definition and depth perception. All Maui Jim sunglasses have been recommended by The Skin Cancer Foundation as an effective UV filter for the eyes and surrounding skin. Proper UV protection is critical, as ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun plays a significant role in the development of skin cancer. About 86 percent of melanomas and 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to the sun’s UV rays.

Apapane (Style #717, $329 US MSRP) takes its name from a species of Hawaiian honeycreeper, a small bird known for its bright crimson feathers that were used to adorn the capes, helmets and leis of Hawaiian nobility. This delicate rimless style has an elegant butterfly-shaped lens that flatters smaller faces. The lenses have fashion-forward MauiGradient™ tinting that is darker at the top of the lens, then, gradually gets lighter towards the bottom. This style comes in three feminine colors: Burgundy with Red Sleeve and Maui Rose® lenses for enhanced contrast; Gold with Pink Sleeve and HCL® Bronze lenses for variable light conditions; and Dark Gunmetal with Black Sleeve and Neutral Grey lenses for bright sunny days. This style has an eye size of 57mm, bridge size of 18mm, temple length of 133mm and a six-base curvature.


Sandhill Cranes are known for their elegance, with their tall grey bodies, crimson caps and lithe movements across North America’s wetlands, fields and prairies. That same refinement can be seen in new Sandhill sunglasses (Style #715, $329 US MSRP) that complement medium sized faces with their rectangular lenses. The lenses have Maui Jim’s PolarizedPlus2® protection that is enhanced with the company’s patented bi-gradient mirrors that are darker at the top and bottom of each lens, so the lenses “squint” for you. This style comes in three colors: Gunmetal Blue with Black Sleeve and Neutral Grey lenses; Gloss Dark Brown with Brown Sleeve and HCL® Bronze lenses; and Dark Gunmetal with Smoke Sleeve and Maui HT™ lenses that enhance vision in low-light conditions. This style has an eye size of 57mm, bridge size of 18mm, temple length of 133mm and a six-base curvature.

Just as frigate birds are known for the beauty of their long wingspans, Maui Jim’s new Frigate sunglasses (Style #716, $329 US MSRP) offer a sleek stretch across wider faces. With a generous eye size of 65mm and an 8-base curvature, these PolarizedPlus2 sunglasses wrap your eyes in protection to eliminate glare, make colors pop and bring your world to life. The lenses offer the added protection of bi-gradient mirrors. This style has a bridge size of 18mm and a temple length of 133mm.

Maui Jim’s more than 112 styles of sunglasses are backed by one of the most reputable warranties in the industry that is valid for two years from the date of purchase against any defect in materials and workmanship. Nose pads and temples are replaced for free, as long as the parts are available.