In this article, you will see the impressions I had with the Shamir Autograph Intelligence. In this review, I will tell you exactly what I liked and what I did not like with these progressive lenses.
First of all, here is the exact specification of the progressive lens design:
| Progressive Lens Type | Autograph Intelligence |
| Material | 1,6 Blue Zero (420) |
| Coating | Glacier Plus UV Infra Red |
| Design Choice/Length | Just one design available / I chose 15mm |
| Individual Parameters | yes / except of reading distance |
So first of all the Autograph Intelligence has its strengths in its design. I like the wide sharp field of view it gives me. And that is actually true for the whole part of the reading support. I get a wide field of view in the intermediate part in which the Laptop distance is and also of course in the reading distance. But where the progressive do not perform at the highest levels is the coating. Because they reflect a little more light compared to other manufacturers.
So in some situations, you get more mirror-like effects if a person tries to see your eyes behind your lenses. The same is true if you work in a space with a lot of neon lights. You will notice the green reflections more compared to normal sunlight. Only then but in this lighting, it is what it is.
The Glacier Plus Infra Red always has a little more reflections due to superior protection compared to other coatings. If you want less mirrorlike effects you could choose the Glacier Plus UV. But still, the reflections are a little bit more noticeable compared to other brands out there.
Side note from Michael Penczek
The coating of the Autograph Intelligence is strong and weak at the same time and here is exactly why
You have green or blue mirroring effects in every anti-reflective coating out there. That is just the rest of the light that can not be eliminated so it gets mirrored into your eyes. For 98% of the time, these lenses are perfectly transparent and you have a perfectly transparent lens in front of you. But there are times where you just positioned yourself on a bad angle to a light source which shows you the green reflections in a big way on the lens surface.
Just so I made this clear here. You are not blind or you are not able to see clearly in those situations. It is just bothersome to me that especially with neon lights, not LEDs, and not outside with normal daylight this mirroring arises. And I mean really with neon lights only! These lenses reflect a bit more than most coatings.
Of course with the Infra-Red feature, you also get more protection out of the lenses. Most manufacturers of progressive lenses just focus on the shorter wavelengths (UV and blue light) when in fact the other end of the spectrum is not covered at all. Shmarir´s Glacier UV IR shines in here and reduces the exposure of infrared light in the spectrum of 700 to 1400nm.
So of course if someone wants to block a part of the light spectrum it somehow will get mirrored back as you can see here. I really had to turn my glasses and position the lenses at an unusual angle so you can see it in the picture below.
But I guess it is just me testing things out for my customers to give them the information. That is why I use the products before, look at them, and oftentimes hold them in different angles to see how they perform under unusual conditions. But to me every little counts. So we have a little more mirroring here and protection you do not get from other manufacturers on the market.
Most people will not notice the mirroring effects at all. But I find this really important if you are working in an environment with a lot of neon lights you should know about this fact. The rest of the coating is totally fine. The anti-static effects are great. So dust does not accumulate as fast on my lens surface.
Compared to other brands the Glacier UV tends to mirror in a brighter green tone compared to other brands as you can see in the picture above but that is ok for me. The cleaning was easy and the anti-dust did not accumulate as fast on the lens surface compared to other brands.
The really good part of the Autograph Intelligence lens design is the sharp field of view
Where the Autograph Intelligence really shines is the wide field of view. I get more sharp space out of the lenses compared to other brands. So I can move my eyes a little more from left to right compared to other manufacturers. In addition to that, I like to wear them outside or in the car. The start really just felt easy to me.
I chose the 15mm length for my little comparison between a lot of progressive glasses to get an overview of the progressive lens market and to share my experiences with you and my customers. So every lens I order is a medium-sized one or has a corridor length of around 15mm. Otherwise, I could not compare them. Because the blurry parts of the lens design on the left and right in the lower half of the progressive lenses change with an altered length.
Side note by Michael Penczek
The funny part about the sharp field of view is that Shamir is able to achieve this without special devices needed for the manufacturing process of the Autograph Intelligence. So with most progressive lens manufacturers, the optician needs a multi diagnostic unit that measures a lot of data from your eyes.
The most relevant part of the lens design is the topography of your cornea and your pupilar size. It tells the optician what “form factor” your cornea has and how the lenses could be theoretically optimized to match your eyes best. Those multi-unit devices are mostly exact same unit with a changed branding. These measurements should enhance your vision as well as it can get.
To me, it never made a difference whatsoever to have the measurements built into my lenses or not. Just none. But theoretically, it could make a difference for you if you look just straight through the lenses in a special illumination around you. But with Shamir, in general, you can not get these measurements built-in. This is not a loss to me if I did not make this clear enough until now.
So as you see I really liked the lens design but I had mixed feelings about the coating. This is something probably no one will notice except for a really small percentage of wearers of progressive glasses. But some will do if they notice a little bit more glare.
In the last few years, I already had a lot of progressive lenses on my nose. And the design of the Shamir Autograph Intelligence just fits my needs. But I want to point out that this is of course just my personal opinion.
My colleague, for example, prefers other progressive lens designs. Also not the ones with the measurements built-in from the multi-unit devices but he prefers another manufacturer. So don´t get too caught up in thinking the Autograph Intelligence lens is the only option out there for you. To me the experience is great.
Most of the positive effects are not visible because they do not get in your way during your daily routine. And was exactly was happened with the Shamir Intelligence. I had in on my nose and straight lines were pretty close to straight as I looked at the stairs. Driving with these progressive lenses was also easy because of the wide view they gave me. Although I experience a little blur in the periphery.
I also ordered another pair of Autograph Intelligence lenses. The difference here was the coating. My second pair came with the Glacier Acromatic UV which is available with the Index 1,5 only. And I don´t like it. With this coating, I notice mirroring effects all the time. That is too much so I don´t use it all.
If you want a really solid progressive lens Design I highly recommend Autograph Intelligence but only with the coatings Glacier, Glacier Plus UV, or Glacier Plus UV Infra-Red.