Uncompromising Transparency
When the sunshine beckons, and bicycles, inline skates, and walking shoes are pulled out of the closet where they've been hibernating all winter, sunglasses are an indispensable companion. Thanks to advanced polymer research at Evonik, they keep pace with every fashion trend—while providing optimal protection.
A cult object, thanks to Evonik
The world's best selling functional sports glasses, SWING from Alpina International, have long
since achieved cult status: About three million pairs have been sold over the last 25 years. The
popular fashion glasses are the product of a successful collaboration with Evonik. For more
than six years, Alpina has been making frames, temples, and endpieces from the
high-performance polyamide TROGAMID® CX.
TROGAMID® CX is impact resistant and also highly resistant to UV light, stress cracking, and
chemicals. The plastic is also scratch-resistant and non-allergenic. Further plus points are the
high light transmittance and low tendency to water absorption, which means that the excellent
mechanical properties are retained even in high atmospheric humidity.
Clear vision with optimal protection
The SWING also has a clever all-weather lens system consisting of two polycarbonate shields. The fixed, lightly tinted base shield allows undistorted all-round vision and screens out harmful UV radiation. Mounted on this is a second, dark-tinted covering shield that provides glare control. This can be very easily removed if, for example, the sun is obscured by clouds. An almost invisible and absolutely stable push-button is used for this purpose—and this too is made from TROGAMID® CX.
Fabrication and design without limits
Thanks to the high-performance polymer from Evonik, the individual parts of the SWING goggles
are easily injection molded, and can be drilled, ground, milled, and colored as required. There are
virtually no limits on design.
Alpina exploits this advantage in a particularly attractive feature. By means of a filigree
mechanism made of TROGAMID® CX, the temple joint can be adjusted to five different inclinations.
Wearers can therefore choose either to shield their eyes completely from drafts or to allow freer
ventilation—an option that, thanks to the mechanical strength of the high-performance polyamide,
remains available for many years.
