There is nothing quite like a personal recommendation when it come to equipment, and there is nothing like a recommendation from a mountain guide when it comes to mountain equipment! On this occasion I was in Lech in Austria during the summer where I met the mountain guide Bjoern Proel who was wearing a mighty looking pair of sunglasses. I was intrigued because I did not recognise the brand and the shape and style were aesthetically bang on. However, this is not where the story finishes, Bjorn went on to tell me how the glasses are perfect for active lifestyles because they were ‘unbreakable’. Oooo! The magic word . . . I remember as a kid everyone at school had to have a ‘shatterproof’ ruler, just because it sounded really cool. These shinny glasses were pulling those same childhood levers. Gotta have, gotta have . . .
So who was behind this great brand of ‘unbreakable’ sunglasses? Christopher Egger, designer and entrepreneur from Mayrhofen in the Austrian Tyrol, started the story in 2004. It took about four years of test after test in his laboratory to finally come up with the first Gloryfy sunglasses. However, the research has not stopped there, Christopher has kept pushing the boundaries in sunglasses and goggle technology to perfect every part of the material, process and design of the Gloryfy products. He uses a non-breakable flex polymer NBFX™ which was created in his own lab to create every part of the eyewear.So it was time to select some eyewear to put to the test. On this occasion we were lucky enough to test two pairs of sunglasses, so we selected the G12 from the Sport range and the Gi9 from the Sun range. They both arrived in good sturdy zippered glasses cases and initially I noticed that the glasses were very light and seemed to be very well constructed.
The Sports G12 came in the colour ‘Twice Lime’ and had magical ‘Transformer lenses’ in anthracite, this meant that the lenses would change their tint depending on the intensity of the UV radiation… Wow! I am finally living in the future. The lenses can also be changed quickly and easily for different colours and shades.
From the Sun Range GI9 Butterfly in colour ‘Havanna Rose’ is a ladies model and comes with ‘Energizer’ lenses which are red-brown in colour which apparently restores energy to the body of the user. Both of these models also have ‘Contour Lens Technology’ which creates high-contrast and colorfast vision, they are also available with optical correction for those with any eyesight problems.So how did these sunglasses perform in the field? Well I was not going to sit on them or hit them with a hammer on purpose to test the unbreakability, but they are super flexible. If one is brave enough one can bend and contort the glasses into all sorts of shapes quite easily, this is certainly a good start, but leaves me wondering why are all sunglasses are not made like this? Also because of this flexibility the glasses form to the head really well without pressing into or pinching the skull behind and above the ears, however they still manage to grip well and stay on your head. The G12 sunglasses have a big bold style and wrap closely around the face making one feel like a superhero; I felt invincible wearing these… as if nothing is impossible! Is this possibly why Superheroes wear masks?Cheeky put the Gi9 Butterfly sunglasses to the test. This model is oversized on purpose and harks back to classic designs from the sixties and seventies. She just needed to add an old classic convertible car, a headscarf and Matt Monroe playing in the background and these glamorous glasses would be complete in their aspirations. These are a versatile model, looking the part on a James Bond lady, dressed up in the city, relaxing in the countryside or looking hip on the Alpine piste. What I like about Gloryfy is that they have it all covered when it comes to eyewear, from the look and style to the technology, material and process and of course that fact that they are so flexible and tough’. As they say at Gloryfy… ‘Stay Unbreakable’.
For more information or further products see Gloryfy online.
