History of sunglasses
We are so used to wearing and seeing sunglasses that it is difficult to imagine a time without them. Yet, history tells us that they are a relatively recent phenomenon – as recent as the early 20th century. And it wasn’t until the 1960s that they started to become the fashion statement they are today.
Tinted glasses did exist before this time but they weren’t intended to block the sun’s rays. The Chinese developed a technology of smoke tinting in the 14th or 15th century. These darkened lenses were not vision-corrected, nor were they initially intended to reduce solar glare. Their purpose was to conceal the eye expressions of Chinese judges in court. A judge’s evaluation of evidence as credible or mendacious was to remain secret until a trial’s conclusion.
These smoke-tinted lenses did come to act as sunglasses, but that was not their primary function. When vision-correcting glasses were introduced into China from Italy, around 1430, they were darkened as well.