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The smartest, most timeless sunglasses?

LuvMyMan

I’ll Lock Up.
Messages
4,558
Location
Michigan
You can't go wrong with AO Aviators for the money. You choose the frames and lenses. The options are endless. I have maybe 5 different pair.

Lately though I have gotten into Tom Ford. He was the head designer for GUCCI for many years who recently went out on his own.

This is my latest from him among other designers. Love Sunglasses just as much as Fedoras and Jackets.

The CARY model in Dark Havana:

View attachment 55657

Way cooler than Rayban IMO and less traveled in.

Givenchy's take on the Wayfarer :

View attachment 55658

Dita Flight 006 :

View attachment 55659

Cazal 8022 :

View attachment 55660

Sunglasses hardly work with baseball caps but since I am getting into fedoras new avenues have been opened. :)

Nothing wrong with your picks....yet you see...these are all mostly based upon what sun glass make? The Timeless Rayban!
 

LuvMyMan

I’ll Lock Up.
Messages
4,558
Location
Michigan
You should really buy Raybans from Sunglass Hut. They are owned by the manufacturer Luxotica which makes RayBans. I love the ease of shopping on Amazon but there is a lot of counterfeit merchandise circulating on it and Amazon does nothing about it.
There are guides you can read online on how to tell fake Raybans from real ones, to know you are buying the real ones. After reading and seeing pictures of the fake ones it is easy now to pick them out when I see anyone selling them online or in a store. That is actually much easier than you would think. Yes there are some fake sunglasses being sold...but not as much as maybe some people would think.
 

LuvMyMan

I’ll Lock Up.
Messages
4,558
Location
Michigan
I have a pair of gold AOs, a pair of silver Randolphs and some tortoiseshell RB Clubmasters, but my favourite pair has to be my RAF MK VIII in their original case...

72f8c0de9bd54ad7734bf99a67e1ec87_zpskumfrm5w.jpg
WOW! Super nice!
 

Sonero

Practically Family
Messages
867
Location
San Diego / Tijuana
Randolph Engineering deserves more than an honorable mention... ABSOLUTELY the best quality, best VALUE for classics available today, bar none. I have had AO originals, B&L Ray Bans, and other top shelf shades, but now the ONLY option for quality is Randolph Engineering. Period.

I agree if you are referring to older RE models. I stopped buying them a few years ago due to cheap quality materials being used. My vintage RE's however are SOLID and cost me 1/3 the price of a designer sunglasses in the same model. They are being sold for 3 times the original costs at department stores these days. Average cost for old RE's was around $110.

In this regard AO offers the value that RE once did. Not to mention both companies were under one roof at one point in time.
 

EstherWeis

Vendor
Messages
2,615
Location
Antwerp
A great example of frames fitting a face. You have nice wide jawline and an, overall, strong, full face that the Persols compliment nicely - Persol should hire you to advertise for them. I, on the other hand, have a thin, longer face with narrow, angular bones which makes large frame glasses like these look like I'm wearing my "dad's glasses."

N.B. to SBG, the fedora and sunglass look rocks on you - well done sir.

I inherited the German face and build from my grandmother and great grandmother.

Thank you. It's actually a men's model. I haven't seen many women wearing it.
 
Messages
16,886
Location
New York City
I inherited the German face and build from my grandmother and great grandmother.

Thank you. It's actually a men's model. I haven't seen many women wearing it.

The skill of personal style is knowing what works for you - if a man's frame fits your face best, then that's the ticket (but you obviously already know that). You do have a classic Teutonic look - and one heck of a sense of personal style, as seen also by your hats.
 

EstherWeis

Vendor
Messages
2,615
Location
Antwerp
The skill of personal style is knowing what works for you - if a man's frame fits your face best, then that's the ticket (but you obviously already know that). You do have a classic Teutonic look - and one heck of a sense of personal style, as seen also by your hats.

Aw Thx! I try my best.

Oh yes, that I do.
This is my great grandmother.
6edbb16cb36a544d931ae95fee65ea1e.jpg

Most of my older family is/was also mostly blond and blue eyed. Tall, not so much. That I inherited from my Belgian grandfather.
He and I are/were the only 2 really tall ones.

Then again, when I lived in Stockholm I blended right in as well.

Now! Back to sunglasses.
I wear both ray ban pilot's and I do like these as well.
Like to mix it up.

8b95002a62fdfc030c0cb274c3c2d873.jpg

Excuse the bad picture, couldn't find a better one.
They are Armani something or other, and they are really good.

6b02dd1c7d66376f179c1ee049f322f7.jpg

Meh, they look nice but they don't really shield your eyes that much.
As a wearer of contacts you need darker ones for sure.
My fella nicks em most of the time.
 
Messages
10,481
Location
Boston area
Now you have piqued my curiousity
I agree if you are referring to older RE models. I stopped buying them a few years ago due to cheap quality materials being used. My vintage RE's however are SOLID and cost me 1/3 the price of a designer sunglasses in the same model. They are being sold for 3 times the original costs at department stores these days. Average cost for old RE's was around $110.

In this regard AO offers the value that RE once did. Not to mention both companies were under one roof at one point in time.

What RE glasses did you buy? They do have some newer styles (they are in business, after all) but the classic military styles haven't changed, have they?
 
Messages
10,481
Location
Boston area
Thanks! I haven't bought a pair in a while, but would be disappointed to find they'd changed the classics.

Another top shelf line (I heard Seinfeld has been seen wearing them :cool:) is Robert Marc. I discovered them a few years ago, and they are worth a look!
 

Sonero

Practically Family
Messages
867
Location
San Diego / Tijuana
My remaining RE Sunglasses :

thumbnail_IMG_2003.jpg


My AO's which I highly recommend :

thumbnail_IMG_2004.jpg


I get my AO's in both grey and brown lenses in the same models. They offer both *Glass and Polycarbonate options. Polarized or non polarized. You can choose the color frames and what color lenses to go with them. Pretty cool for the asking price of about $100 - 130.

The last RE's I purchased from their website were a copy of the black round aviators photographed above. I wanted the same model with a grey polarized lens. I purchased them and what I got was night and day compared to the ones in the photo...quality wise. I returned them immediately. The customer service rep tried telling me they were the same quality....not true. Since then I have seem them sold at Macy's Etc for 3 times the original asking price.

There was a TV show that made them popular...forgot the name but one of the characters wears them so I know what that leads to......I HAVE NOT touched a pair in a few years but I seriously doubt things have gotten better.

RayBan makes similar aviator models priced at $350 and above.....a complete scam if you ask me. I have touched several of those models at Sunglass Hut and they can't compare to the quality of my AO's.

* In response to RayBan inventing " Cool " with the original Wayfarer I AGREE. If I had to choose one shape of sunglasses for ever it would be the original Wayfarer. HOWEVER classic it may be there a new versions of the wayfarer which give RAYBAN a run for its' money. Most notably by Tom Ford who by the way was featured in the last James Bond movie with the SNOWDON sunglasses. Dita Tom Ford Givenchy are all doing very cool designs.
 

Dirtbagdiver

New in Town
Messages
38
Location
Surrey
AO's for me, but probably because they are the only sunglasses I have bought that really suit me.... some people could make any sunglasses look cool, unfortunately not me!... the AO's seem to compliment not only my face but my general 'style'....
 

2jakes

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,680
Location
Alamo Heights ☀️ Texas
I like Ray Bans, especially “tortoise shell”.
rc5v1h.jpg

At the local Bausch & Lomb plant I would get all parts I needed
to customize my sunglasses.



2nk2hc9.jpg

Top left is the original. I like the “Coca~Cola” light green lens color.
Looks like the 40s.

I replaced the bone-shell with tortoise you see in the middle of the top frame for a custom look.
Later, I found some were made with this shell.


This is my latest pair.
2cybvc.jpg


The only negative thing is that I scratch & break them all the time. :(
 
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