Ray-Ban sunglasses

[Guest]

I noticed in Mr. Alden's post about the "best of the best," it was mentioned that the best sunglasses were Persol.

What's the opinion on Ray-Ban? I really like the aviator look (in addition, these are nice, lightweight sunglasses), but is that a strictly American thing?

[Guest]

I don't think there is a best sunglass.

What ever suits you best is the best. If you look good in Aviators then Ray Bans are the traditional ones to buy.

[Guest]

Raybans easily have some of the best lenses - minimal color distortion.

[Guest]

The glasses by Zeiss are very good optically. I find the coatings on Revo to be exceptional. This may be due to occupational familiarity with optics and coatings. Nikon glasses also worth examining.

My method of trying sunglasses is to take a few pairs and take them outside the shop (after leaving my credit card with the salesperson). In addition to fit and coverage, which are essential, it is best to wear them each for about 5 mins outside. Look at objects near and far. See how far you can resolve each object (i.e tree branches) with each pair. Are they sufficiently dark? Are they too dark? Are they for summer or winter? For driving? Skiing? Nursing hangovers?

No I don't want your significant others coming after me for instigating yet another genre of acquisitions but I recommend having several sunglasses. Would you wear your mink ushanka with your mohair-linen quarter lined suit? Or would you wear a panama? Similarly, the sunglasses have an important function beyond aesthetics.


Ahhh and there is the most important question of how they look. Dahling, they look Fabulous!

-Oscarsfan

[Guest]

That's a pretty cool idea---testing them outside.

kirsch

[Guest]

What are your thoughts on polarized lenses?

I have always used them on glacier glasses (and understand they are equally valuable on water) andt have recently gotten them for my last pair of ordinary sunglasses.

I have a possibly degenerative eye condition that, among other things, causes me to see large halos around light sources (people with ordinary astigmatism experience this as well). Polarized lenses cut this down remarkably and also sharply improve color contrast in bright conditions, though I am sure they also shift colors more than ordinary lenses. I have been very happy with them so far.

[Guest]

To my knowledge, polarized lenses do not shift color. They simply don't let "scattered" light through. Only light waves propogating in a certain direction are allowed through the lens to the eye.

--kirsch

[Guest]

To my knowledge, polarized lenses do not shift color. They simply don't let "scattered" light through. Only light waves propogating in a certain direction are allowed through the lens to the eye.

--kirsch

Then maybe it is just the tint, although I have not been able to buy a pair of untinted polarized lenses (not that I tried that hard and I know they are made for camera filters). The only available options were a gray and a brown and I chose the brown because it was darker.

The optician had a remarkable sales device, which was a very glossy illustration of a tropical scene (printed on something like mylar). It was a bland monotone until viewed through a polarized lens - then the colors popped out. I assumed that the colors weren't really "true" though I don't know what that means in this context.

dopey

[Guest]

I think you should stick to the polarized lenses. They may appear to affect color---I mean, yeah, that's what they do...they affect appearances to our eye. But the only reason for this is due to it limiting some light. Too much scattered light to our eye = what we call "glare." So, really, they shouldn't be affecting color...just the way we see certain things and maybe how we perceive color. But even then, I've never noticed anything as far as colors being off.

The sales device was probably over-emphasized (very glossy) but still makes a good point. Basically, you could not "see" the "beauty" of the colors because of the glare caused by the gloss. Once you limited that with polarization, you saw the colors in a more "true" way. They were always there---just, reflected light was scattered to your eye without the lenses in place.

About the tint of the lens--yeah, my dad complains about that a lot. He can't stand cheap sunglasses, because all they do is make the scene dark.

The ray-bans I have (well, actually, the ones I lost in the ocean and now some lucky fish is a proud owner) are wonderful, I think. They don't really make the scene dark--just limit scattered light.

Plus, the ladies love aviators

Damn fish.

--kirsch

[Guest]

by the way...do you have macular degeneration?

kirsch

[Guest]

by the way...do you have macular degeneration?

kirsch

]Kerataconus[/color]

[Guest]

I find Ray Bans a little on the small side.

You may want to consider the lenses made by Maui JIm. They frames are not great, but the lenses are fantastic. They also come in perscription. If I could fit the Maui Jim lenses into Persol's frames, it would be "best of all possible" worlds.