Tag-Heuer Releases Night Driving Glasses

Swiss company Tag Heuer is best known for their “luxury” (aka, really nice but extremely expensive) watches. However, the company also produces other luxury gear, including an awesome (though, of course, very pricey) new pair of glasses designed for night driving.

Origins

Dubbed “Night Vision” (duh), these glasses were originally created for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other lengthy races that sometimes take place at night. These are not to be confused with what we think of when we hear the term “night vision,” the glasses or binoculars that special ops protagonists wear at night in spy movies (speaking of spies… check out these specs).

Wearing sunglasses during the day to reduce sun glare is a pretty obvious choice, but how can you deal with glare at night? Night glares from oncoming headlights and other bright illumination spell trouble for the nighttime driver, particularly drivers who wear prescription glasses. Enter the Tag Heuer glasses—a premium, prescription-ready pair of night glasses that clarify vision.

To market the glasses, Tag Heuer has employed such well-known racers as Sebastian Bourdais of Formula 1 and Indy 500 driver Sarah Fisher, allowing the drivers to wear their glasses in actual races as needed. The plan is to continue to use racing stars as front-liners for the (night)shades.

Features

While the “Night Vision” glasses were originally developed for racing, the Swiss company decided casual drivers needed them, too. The glasses are designed to limit incoming light sources and distribute the light over the lens, creating a more natural light environment, even at night. The yellow lenses keep dark blues and greens (common colors seen at night) differentiated from other colors, making vision significantly clearer.

These stylish sunglasses come with an anti-reflective coating (pretty standard for night glasses) designed to reduce glare. They are adjustable and flexible. One selling point is that they can fit comfortably beneath most racing helmets and headgear. These glasses, it is not to be mistaken, were originally designed for race car drivers (including amateurs and wannabes!).

Sizable Price Tag

Like many luxury goods, the cost of these shades is quite high, upwards of $450. This hefty price tag is a bit of a barrier to most people. However, for the typical Tag Heuer-er—patrons with money to burn—the glasses are an admittedly cool investment, even if just for the curiosity factor of finding out how well these babies actually work.

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