Nomenclature and Terminology for Reading Glasses and Eyewear

The nomenclature used in describing reading glasses (including their styles, frames, etc.,) and their accessories is not as straightforward as it could be. It has come to our attention that this can be confusing to some of our customers. Today’s post is intended to shed some light on the terminology of reading glasses and eyewear accessories. We will cover unclear terms and misconceptions in the world of eyeglasses. Oftentimes, terms are used synonymously in different places which can lead to confusion.

The Differences Between the Terms “Half Moon” vs. “Half Frame” vs. “Half Eye” vs. “Half Rim” 

These terms specifically can be confusing as only two of these are even talking about the same thing: half frame and half rim. Both of these terms describe the actual frame of the glasses, specifically the eyewear component holding the glasses together. There are three main frame styles for reading glasses: full frame, half frame, and frameless (you can substitute the word rim for frame in any of these as well, i.e. full rim, half rim, and rimless). A full rim pair of reading glasses will have a frame material around the entire lens, half rim glasses will only have frame material across the top of the glasses, and the rimless readers will have no frame at all (with the temple arms attached directly to the lenses). In this last style the temple arms will be attached via one of two methods, a screw mount using screws or a compression mount which creates a cleaner look (albeit a little more expensive). Here at Visualites, almost all our glasses are of the rimless variety so we do not have any of the half rim or half frame style.

Visualites 2 Half Moon Reading Glasses

Next up is the half moon style of reading glasses we carry. In this case, half moon is not talking about a frame style but rather the shape of the lenses themselves. Popular lens styles of rimless glasses include rectangle, round, pillow and as in the case of the Visualites 2 the half moon. This shape is somewhat like a heart or if you took a moon, cut it in half and put it on its side you would have something very close, hence the name half moon. This is a very soft style in terms of appearance as supposed to say in contrast of the rectangle shape making it much more popular with the woman but we do find a fair number of men like this style as well.

A half eye pair of reading glasses is a style designed to be worn low on the nose so the wearer can easily look over the top to see around themselves and then simply look down to see through the lenses and read clearly. This is achieved by making the nose arms shorter allowing the glasses to sit comfortably low on the nose. If you are having a hard time picturing this simply imagine Benjamin Franklin in the classic images of him with his reading glasses sitting low on his nose.

We have had questions concerning Visualites reading glasses accessories due to the fact that no intuitive terms come to mind when mentioned. We have two styles of products that are made to assist you in keeping your glasses handy: one style is affixed to the glasses in a more permanent way on the temple arms. This allows you to keep them hanging around your neck when you take them off and then simply slide them back on as you need. We call these “carriers”. There is a term that is more ubiquitous among the world:“croakies”, which is actually a brand name. Think “Kleenex“. Immediately you can picture a tissue, but that is the thing, Kleenex is a brand and what it is, is a tissue. 

The other style we carry is identified as a “loop“. These are often more ornate necklaces that have a loop at the bottom that functions as a handy place to keep your glasses available and safe when you are not using them. We have simple, sporty, and elegant reading loops fit for any occasion.

We hope this clears up any confusion you may have about any of our products and enable you to buy the perfect reading glasses or accessories with more knowledge and confidence. You may even want to jump over and order a pair of Visualites Half Moon reading glasses in Tortoise and then add the Black Classic Leather with Silver Plated Loop for the perfect combo of reading glasses and necklace.

If you have any other questions you would like answered about our products please reach out to us at customerservice@visualites.com.