Need help from Oliver Peoples Experts

I've bought OP frames via eBay twice (both Rileys, actually) and had no problems. I don't think you have to worry too much about fakes with any major mover of OPs.

FWIW, every pair of OPs I've had (five or so) has been made in Japan.

The rileys I saw at a dealer recently was made in italy. Not sure what the trend is since the sunglasses range seems to be a mix of made in italy and made in japan. I got a set of denison's which are from italy, all the eyeglass frames that were all acetate were made in italy whereas the ones with titanium or metal parts were made in japan. Unless the seller is known for op, there seem to be a good amount of fakes. Weird that half the ads on ebay etc say "made in japan" when you can clearly see the temple saying italy. Do you not have any type of vision insurance? Mine ended up only costing 132 after insurance which is much cheaper than any ebay seller i've seen.

I have a pair of OP and a pair of Barton Pereira both made in Japan and quality is unbeatable. I'd say you should be fine with Italy, Japan costs were probably getting too high for production.

all OPs used to be made in japan , up until just a few years ago

now there are two lines: regular oliver peoples, which are made in italy, and 'oliver peoples vintage' which are made in japan. the OPV might be harder to come by, and they seem to be a little more expensive. ive handled OPV at the store, and they seem to merely have more extravagant detailing (eg, metal nosebridge with tooled carving; metal earpieces), and they all seem to be riffs on the classic circular design that OP is known for.

i myself own a pair of MIJ OPs ('emerson' which is a variation on OP's signature circular design) and the detailing and design is impeccable, but no moreso than the made in italy ones i've looked at at the store. i'm sure someone will claim that the MIJ acetate or construction is superior of whatever, but there really doesn't seem to be a substantive difference between the MIJ and made in italy models

all OPs (at least modern models) have the following, or most of the following:

- OP logo at end of left earpiece. i think this would be hard as fuck to replicate, so if the seller posts a good photo of this, they're probably genuine. it's basically a little window in the plastic of the earpiece that houses a tiny metal cast of the OP logo (circular frames/triangular frames/square frames). i say this would be hard to replicate b/c it seems simply hard to manufacture it properly unless you have the proper machinery. the logo catches the light in such a way that reveals the logo as an actual metal cast of the logo, not merely a print or stamp. the logo is surrounded by little gold flourishes, and is NOT physically raised from the earpiece itself - the entire design is set WITHIN the window on the earpiece

- OP earpieces consist of plastic around metal (ie, you can see through the plastic of the frame and see its metal skeleton). the metal part has the OP logo over and over again. like the earpiece logo, this would simply be hard to replicate, so they're probably genuine if they have this.

- inner side of right earpiece, at end, will say "Made in Japan" for older models and "Hand Made in Italy" for newer models

- inner side of left earpiece, at end, will say CE on all models

then there are a lot of other indicators that are harder to describe, but if you post specific photos, it'll be easy to tell. i've handled so many OPs over the years that i'll easily be able to spot a genuine pair.

also, if a seller only posts stock photos of the glasses, i wouldn't go w/ that seller

If you are not in a rush, Gilt has OP every once in a while, maybe not your specific model but the prices are usually pretty good

the gilt OP sales never (at least since 2008) have any of the circular frames w/ the keyhole nosebridge