Salt Optics: The Optimal Amount of Colour, Contrast, and Light.
Salt Optics decided to look into the connections between motor vehicles, popular culture, and the history of eyewear. They analysed the significance that iconic eyeglasses played on seminal occasions in both racing and popular culture. For instance, Paul Newman wore a classic teardrop aviator while racing at Le Mans in 1979, while Steve McQueen modified his own pair of 714s.
They made a comparison to classic Italian racecars. Due to the lack of tempered glass, windscreens were either folded down or removed, leaving drivers exposed to flying objects at high speeds. Originally, goggles were the defence method of choice; however, around 1917, an Italian eyewear maker developed the first “protector” eyeglass. These teardrop sunglasses were designed to provide state of the art comfort, vision, and protection in both aviation and sport driving, thus quickly becoming a staple of motorcycle and automobile racing communities around the world.
They sought to improve upon tried-and-true designs in automotive eyewear by using modern manufacturing techniques and cutting-edge materials. Titanium of Japanese aerospace quality has an incredible strength-to-weight ratio, making even the most daring frames seem surprisingly light. Its titanium is hypoallergenic and designed to keep its optical qualities unchanged. When it comes to keeping the lens in place within the frame, nothing beats the proprietary thickness transitions and bevel positioning of titanium. This prevents any distortion of the lens due to tension on the frame, which is especially helpful while driving.
When thinking about how to improve a driver’s overall performance, the eyes are the most important sense to focus on. The proprietary lenses available from Salt. make use of cutting-edge coatings, filters, and optics to provide a pristine field of view. Lenses by Salt are designed to provide the optimal amount of colour, contrast, and light transmission by incorporating a thorough understanding of how the human brain processes visual information taken in by the eye.
They wanted the frames to reflect both the Radford and racing traditions. Cloisonee plating is specially matched to both the gold leaf and JPS colour schemes, and the titanium side shields and grill give the glasses an automotive bent and a reference to the tradition of racing eyewear while ensuring optimal airflow. Their mission is to design high-end eyewear that delivers exceptional driving performance so that every customer may enjoy a really unique driving experience.