Ray Ban sunglasses

Greek Trojan said:

Legitimately curious, what about the new Ray Bans feels poor/cheap compared to the old ones/options like Randolph Engineering etc...? I've heard it a lot and my gut is to assume its true but I don't see much room for short cuts unless the metal is of a poor quality or it has poor screws.

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I don't see that at all. Of my 4 pairs of Ray Bans, only one, the Outdoorsman, is new era; can't see a difference in quality between them and the Caravans my dad got the late '80s. I also had a couple of pairs of Outdoorsman the '70-80s and my current era ones (about 5 1/2 years old) Are the same quality.Just my opinion

Greek Trojan said:

Legitimately curious, what about the new Ray Bans feels poor/cheap compared to the old ones/options like Randolph Engineering etc...? I've heard it a lot and my gut is to assume its true but I don't see much room for short cuts unless the metal is of a poor quality or it has poor screws.

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Nothing. It's just a feeling of "Older stuff was better!" and "Made in the USA is better than Chinese cheapery!" etc. When I worked in an antiques store, we had several older B&L Aviators from the 80's and 90's. There was no real difference in quality between them and the current Luxottica offerings, except the screws used were flat instead of hex. The frame felt the same. It's always been a thin, semi-flexible wire frame. Now, I have zero experience with the Wayfarers...so maybe there's a difference between the older B&L ones and the current Chinese-origin ones. But between the Aviators (which are made in Italy now)...nah.

IMO, the whole argument revolves around viewing the past through rose-tinted glasses (pun intended). It's older, so it MUST be better, right?

With Randolph Engineering, their Concorde (Ray Ban lookalike) frame has a thicker eyewire construction than the Ray Ban Aviator does. That doesn't mean it's better, though. The same can be said of Randolph vs. AO Pilot frames. Those two are essentially the same frame, but Randolph claims to use a better quality Monel nickel-silver alloy. I own both. I don't think there's $100 difference in them, honestly. RE is just capitalizing on their Mad Men fame. Some claim that Randolph holds its finish longer from degradation due to sweat and the elements, but I haven't seen anything to separate mine from the AO frame as yet.

And truthfully, I wear the Ray Ban Aviator frames most often. They fit my face the best (and feel the best) out of all of them.

If you are going aviators, Tom Ford Marko's are killer and absolutely my favorites.

I'd get them from an independent optician. Most times it's the same price as the chains but better service, warranty is included rather than an upcharge

How do get non-prescription sunglasses through insurance? I have Blue Cross health with supplemental vision as well.

ByMyBeard said:

Definitely check on your insurance. I am blessed with 20/20 vision, and have never needed glasses, yet had eye insurance in the event something happened. Then I had a friend tell me about using his eye insurance for non prescription sunglasses. Best move I've made (I got Oakley's though...).

Hopefully your wife takes care of her stuff. I don't mean that negative, but if she loses sunglasses all the time, this may not be the best option. My wife is constantly losing sunglasses, so she gets the cheapies.

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Cigar Guy said:

I'm thinking the Wayfarer. They are unisex right? I did get the sticker shock. I was hoping someone here could guide me in the right direction so I don't get ripped off.

I see some websites overseas advertising them for $22. I know that is not right. Probably a lot of counterfeits out there.

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$22 is pretty high for some counterfeits. I was somewhere near the Persian gulf and they had fake ray bans for $10, or $15 total if you wanted a case for them. And they were decent counterfeits, other than the case, they were almost spot on with real ray bans.

I love my Wayfarer II's in tortoise shell, but I did get them for free as they had been in a lost and found for 3+ years. They are still by far my best sunglasses that I have and if I lost them I'd be buying a pair.