At Unia Opticians in St James’s Park, London, we offer a comprehensive range of spectacle lenses from leading manufacturers, combining cutting-edge lens technology with expert guidance to ensure you receive the perfect visual solution. As accredited Nikon lens wear consultants, we specialise in premium lens designs that deliver superior optical performance, comfort, and aesthetics.
We’re proud to be accredited Nikon lens wear consultants, giving us specialist expertise in one of the world’s most respected optical brands. Nikon’s lens technology represents the pinnacle of precision engineering, delivering exceptional visual clarity, wider fields of view, and thinner, lighter designs. Our accreditation means we have advanced training in Nikon’s complete lens portfolio and can recommend the optimal solution for your prescription, lifestyle, and visual needs.
We use the latest technology to help you understand and select your lenses with complete confidence. Our Imagine-I software allows us to demonstrate the features and simulate the usage of different spectacle lens designs, showing you exactly how various options will perform in real-world situations. This visual demonstration helps you make informed decisions about which lens type best suits your needs.
Whether you need simple single vision lenses or the most advanced progressive designs, we offer solutions for every visual requirement and lifestyle. Our expert opticians will guide you through the options, explaining the benefits of different lens types, materials, and coatings to help you find the perfect combination for your individual needs.
Single vision lenses have the same optical power across the entire lens surface, providing a single focus for either distance vision, near vision, or intermediate vision. These are the most common type of spectacle lens, suitable for correcting short-sightedness (myopia), long-sightedness (hyperopia), or astigmatism at one specific viewing distance.
Ideal for:
Single vision lenses can be crafted in any lens material and combined with all available coatings and treatments to suit your requirements.
Progressive lenses, also known as varifocals or multifocal lenses, provide seamless vision at all distances—far, intermediate, and near—within a single lens. With cutting-edge advances in lens design, the latest progressive lenses permit faster and easier adaptation, enabling sharp, instantaneous vision at every focal length for presbyopic patients (those who have lost the ability to focus on close objects due to age).
How they work:
Unlike old-fashioned bifocals with visible lines, progressive lenses feature a gradual change in power from the top of the lens (for distance vision) through the middle (for intermediate vision) to the bottom (for reading). This provides natural, comfortable vision at all distances without the abrupt jump associated with bifocals.
Modern design advantages:
Today’s advanced progressive designs offer:
Ideal for:
As Nikon lens specialists, we have access to premium progressive designs that represent the cutting edge of lens technology, offering exceptional visual comfort and performance.
Special progressive lenses are available specifically designed for work and office use, providing enhanced and expanded intermediate and near vision. Unlike standard progressive lenses optimised for distance vision, vocational lenses prioritise the visual zones you use most during work activities.
How they differ:
Vocational lenses dedicate more of the lens area to intermediate and near vision, providing:
Ideal for:
These specialised designs can significantly reduce eye strain, neck discomfort, and fatigue associated with prolonged near and intermediate work.
With today’s evolving technology, thin and light lenses are available for all prescriptions. High index lenses use advanced materials with superior light-bending properties, allowing the same optical power to be achieved in a thinner, lighter lens compared to standard materials.
Benefits:
Material options:
High index lenses are available in various refractive indices (1.60, 1.67, 1.74), with higher numbers indicating thinner lenses. We’ll recommend the optimal index for your prescription, balancing thinness, weight, optical quality, and cost.
Ideal for:
Polycarbonate lenses are lightweight, impact-resistant lenses offering exceptional durability and safety. Originally developed for aerospace applications, polycarbonate has become a popular lens material due to its unique combination of properties.
Key advantages:
Ideal for:
Polycarbonate lenses are particularly suitable for sporting activities and safety spectacles where eye protection is paramount.
Modern lens coatings significantly enhance the performance, durability, and appearance of your spectacle lenses. We offer a comprehensive range of treatments to optimise your visual experience.
Anti-Reflection (Anti-Glare) Coatings
Anti-glare coatings reduce reflections of light and glare, giving optimum visual clarity by allowing more light to pass through the lens rather than reflecting off the surface. This provides multiple benefits for both vision and appearance.
Visual benefits:
Aesthetic benefits:
Modern coating technology:
Developments in this field provide improved scratch resistance whilst simultaneously creating a hydrophobic (water-repelling) surface. Premium coatings also offer:
We strongly recommend anti-reflection coatings on all lenses, particularly high index materials where reflections are more pronounced.
The latest innovation from Transitions is the Signature lens, designed to quickly adapt from clear indoors to a darker state in changing light conditions. These intelligent lenses provide the convenience of glasses and sunglasses in one.
How they work:
Transitions lenses contain photochromic molecules that react to UV light, darkening when exposed to sunlight and returning to clear when indoors. The latest Signature technology offers:
UV protection:
As clinically necessary, Transitions lenses offer the required 100% protection from UVA and UVB rays, protecting your eyes from harmful ultraviolet radiation whether the lenses are clear or dark.
A polarising lens manages reflections and suppresses glare from any flat or shiny surface, resulting in a cleaner and sharper image. Unlike standard tinted lenses that simply reduce light, polarising lenses selectively block reflected glare whilst maintaining clarity.
How polarisation works:
Light reflecting off flat surfaces like water, roads, or car bonnets becomes horizontally polarised, creating intense glare. Polarising lenses contain a special filter oriented vertically that blocks this horizontally polarised light whilst allowing useful vertical light through.
Real-world benefits:
Most of us are aware of the dangerous effects of UV rays on our skin, but fewer realise the danger imposed on our eyes. Protecting your eyes from ultraviolet radiation is essential for long-term eye health.
Why UV protection matters:
Immediate damage:
Ultraviolet light, whether from natural sunlight or artificial UV rays, can damage the surface tissues of the eye, including the cornea. Acute exposure can cause painful conditions similar to sunburn of the eye.
Long-term risks:
Transitions’ latest Signature lenses and all of our sunglasses (prescription and non-prescription) provide the required EU protection of up to 400nm, blocking 100% of UVA and UVB radiation.
Selecting the right lenses involves balancing optical performance, lifestyle requirements, aesthetics, and budget. At Unia Opticians, our experienced opticians take time to understand your needs and explain your options clearly, ensuring you make informed decisions about your eyewear.
Our advanced measurement and visualisation technology, combined with our Nikon specialist accreditation, means you receive the highest standard of lens dispensing available. Whether you need straightforward single vision lenses or the most sophisticated progressive designs, we’ll ensure your spectacles deliver exceptional vision, comfort, and satisfaction.
At Unia Opticians in St James’s Park, London, we’re accredited as Nikon lens wear consultants, giving us specialist expertise and advanced training in Nikon’s complete lens portfolio. This accreditation distinguishes us as experts in one of the world’s most respected optical brands.
What Nikon specialist accreditation means for you:
Expert knowledge:
We have comprehensive training in Nikon’s lens technology, designs, and manufacturing processes. This means we can recommend the optimal Nikon lens solution for your specific prescription, lifestyle, and visual requirements with confidence and precision.
Access to premium technology:
Nikon applies the same precision engineering and optical excellence to spectacle lenses that made them famous in cameras and imaging. Their lens designs incorporate:
Personalised lens optimisation:
As Nikon specialists, we use advanced measurement systems to capture precise data about your facial features, frame position, and visual behaviour. This information allows Nikon lenses to be individually optimised for how you specifically wear your glasses and use your vision, rather than being manufactured to generic specifications.
Why Nikon lenses are exceptional:
Optical heritage:
Nikon has over a century of experience in precision optics. The same expertise that produces world-class camera lenses and microscopes is applied to creating spectacle lenses with exceptional clarity, minimal distortion, and superior visual performance.
Progressive lens excellence:
Nikon’s progressive (varifocal) lens designs are particularly renowned for:
Advanced materials:
Nikon offers high-index materials that provide thinner, lighter lenses without compromising optical quality, ensuring both cosmetic appeal and visual excellence.
Demonstration and visualisation:
Our Imagine-I software allows us to demonstrate Nikon lens features and simulate how different designs will perform for your specific needs. You’ll see the difference advanced lens technology makes before you commit, helping you make informed decisions with complete confidence.
Whether you need single vision, progressive, or specialised lenses, our Nikon specialist expertise ensures you receive exceptional optical performance, personalised service, and lenses that genuinely enhance your quality of life.
Progressive lenses (varifocals) vary significantly in design sophistication, optical performance, and price. At Unia Opticians in London, we offer progressive lenses at various levels to suit different needs and budgets, and as Nikon lens specialists, we can explain exactly what you’re gaining with premium designs.
Standard progressive lenses:
Design characteristics:
Who they suit:
Premium progressive lenses:
Advanced design features: With cutting-edge advances in lens design, premium progressive lenses offer:
Personalised optimisation: Premium lenses, particularly Nikon designs, are customised based on:
Wider vision zones:
Reduced distortion:
Faster adaptation: Premium designs permit faster and easier adaptation, with many wearers adjusting within hours or days rather than weeks. Some people who struggled with standard progressives find premium designs completely comfortable.
Digital surfacing technology: Modern premium lenses use advanced digital surfacing that calculates lens geometry to 0.01 dioptre precision, compared to 0.25 dioptre steps in conventional manufacturing. This creates smoother power transitions and superior optical quality.
The practical difference:
Standard progressives: You’ll need to move your head more deliberately to find the right viewing zone, may experience more peripheral blur, and might need longer to adapt. They provide functional vision at all distances but with compromises in comfort and visual field width.
Premium progressives: Vision feels more natural and intuitive, almost like not wearing progressives at all. You can move your eyes and head naturally without hunting for the right zone. Peripheral vision is clearer, and adaptation is typically much faster and easier.
Our measurement technology:
At Unia Opticians, we use Capture-I technology to ascertain the exact measurements required for premium progressive lenses. This precision measurement system captures:
These measurements allow premium lenses to be manufactured specifically for your individual wearing position, maximising the benefits of advanced lens designs.
Our recommendation approach:
During your consultation, we’ll assess your prescription, lifestyle, and visual demands to recommend the progressive lens level that offers the best balance of performance and value for your specific situation. We’ll demonstrate the differences using our Imagine-I software so you can make an informed decision.
As Nikon specialists, we have access to some of the finest progressive lens designs available, representing the cutting edge of lens technology for those seeking the very best visual experience.
