Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As we draw closer to the Total Solar Eclipse in seven weeks, many are scrambling to get special glasses to view it safely. One maker says they're very much different from sunglasses.
Mark Margolis of Rainbow Symphony says his company is one of a handful of manufacturers of eclipse glasses in the U.S. He says no matter where you get them, you need to look for one thing.
"Whatever glasses you get, whether they're made in the US or from outside of the U.S. that they are ISO certified," says Margolis.
Margolis says sunglasses are often polarized, and you'll still have UV rays go through lenses. He says sunglasses and eclipse glasses are two different things. With eclipse glasses, you'll only see one thing.
"You will not see anything through these glasses, but an orange disc of the sun. They filter 100% of UV 100% of IR radiation and and most of the visible light transmission. So you shouldn't see anything but the orange disk of the sun when you look through these," says Margolis.
Once you have the glasses, Margolis says it's easy to protect them.
"You want to make sure that the frames stay dry, that you don't get them wet, because they're paper frames and will absorb moisture," says Margolis.
He adds you want to keep your fingers off the lenses, so you don't have to like wipe anything off the lenses. Margolis notes the best way to store them is keep them wrapped. If they're not wrapped, you can put them in a little sleeve.
After the eclipse, Margolis says his company will still be busy.
"We make, what we call, fireworks and rainbow glasses. We have the registered copyright on fireworks and rainbow glasses and diffraction glasses. We make all types of 3D glasses from adequate red and blue to polarize to Rainbow depths, there's all kinds of different 3d glasses we make," says Margolis.
Rainbow Symphony also makes decoder glasses that reveal secret messages.
The Total Solar Eclipse will take place on Monday, April 8.