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oosterling

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@mmafia1 honesteĺy ive been wearing luxottica rb glasses for many years, with great pleasure. but bl raybans are just more than sunglasses arent they? its attitude, like my 64 sharpshooter, i hardly wear them...but if i do, i definitly do! B-)
 

paudical

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I'm curious what you make of these two pairs from Bausch & Lomb, most likely from the Irish factory. Not sure of the date of production but definitely pre-2000. Most likely 80s or 90s.

The "Ray Ban Leathers" pair has the inscription "B&L RAY-BAN USA" on the top bar above the nose bridge part. They also read, I think, "62 14" to indicate size? Also if you can't tell from the photos that is brown leather all around the frames and at the end of the temples.

The smaller gold pair read "B&L RAY-BAN" on the nose bridge and also on the right hand arm. Also "RayBan" and "B&L" inscriptions on the right hand glass.

They are in very good condition, only very minor smudges or scratches. The cases are also decent although the leather lettering on those is beginning to wear off.

Here is the album: http://imgur.com/a/DbNbr

Thanks.
 
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benn25

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Is there any model number on the gold pair? Theyre very nice. My brain keeps thinking theyre some form of signet but theyre not. . Very nice detailing aswell. With the flowed engraving to the frame finished off with tortoise shell ear stems. Would be nice to know the model number if it has it on the ear stems.

Interesting to note that they have star head screws. Could be a clue in that, but who knows.

Age wise. Id agree theyre 80/90s aswell.

My main area of research interest atm is the gold cursive writing and trying to date models from that.

So far, my research has led me to early 90's models BUT obviously that doesnt mean thats when it was started. It baffled me that the 'Generals 50' werent in gold considering the landmark, but then thought the white shows better so to show off the model they used the white. Plus the gold writing just looks better on some of the gold, tortuga or tortoiseshell frames. Just alot more discreet than the white cursive you get now on the Luxottica models where theyre all white (the ones ive seen anyway) and look terrible imv.
My other queries is were the gold cursives used for particular factories or for specific models or was it based on the frame?

Anyway nice glasses you have there.
 
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paudical

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Actually on closer inspection I just noticed another inscription on the gold pair, on the ear stems. It reads "W 1987 YSAY". That explains the year. Perhaps "W" stands for Waterford where the Bausch & Lomb factory was located. Is YSAY some sort of model?

Thanks for the reply.
 
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benn25

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Im unsure whether the W stands for the industrial estate in Ireland. What would the L stand for?
Although they did have an assembly facility in Hong Kong too in the early to mid 80s in the Watt's Industrial Building. But still unsure what the L stands for.

Are you sure its definitely W1987 as absolutely nothing is coming up?

"B&L used stock keeping units (SKUs) (model serial number) to keep track of the finished sunglasses that it produced and sold. Every different type of finished sunglass product made by B&L was assigned a different SKU and represented a separate inventory item. Any variation in the sunglasses caused them to be assigned a different SKU. Thus, for example, if two pairs of large metals contained different colored lenses, or two pairs of Wayfarers were made with different colors of plastic, they were assigned different SKUs even though they were identical in every other respect."
 
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benn25

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Sidestreets. Interesting.
 

benn25

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A good read if interested and probably solves one of the mysteries on how the hell all those malaysian/taiwanese, etc guys have so many NOS glasses.....and top of the range models to boot. Word of warning. Its long!

Blind Ambition Part 1

Blind Ambition Part 2
 

benn25

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Actually on closer inspection I just noticed another inscription on the gold pair, on the ear stems. It reads "W 1987 YSAY". That explains the year. Perhaps "W" stands for Waterford where the Bausch & Lomb factory was located.

The numbers do not relate to the year btw. Its just a code number. Its just coincidence its 1987. Regarding the letters at the end I explained that earlier. In terms of the 1st letter I had to ask someone who use to work for the factory and this was his reply.

"Originally, the "L" stood for Metal frames (the aviator was LO205) and the "W" stood for plastic frames (the Wayfarer was WO530). The "Z" codes were Frankenstein models that were made up of left over parts (I.E. black fronts with gold temples, etc). In the late 90s, these E.O.S. numbers started to lose there "code" values and became just an I.D. number."

Hope this helps.
smile.gif
 
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wanqayyiemah

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Hai,may i have your email please?i have something to ask you about rayban diamond that i bought last night,maybe i was cheated by seller..here my email adress [email protected],kindly you can email me..i will wait your email,thanks
 

benn25

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Hai,may i have your email please?i have something to ask you about rayban diamond that i bought last night,maybe i was cheated by seller..here my email adress [email protected],kindly you can email me..i will wait your email,thanks

Hi. PM is better. Send us your query.
 

gingerly88

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Hi Musehead.
I am going to an auction later this evening and have been looking online at the pictures of the glasses and forums trying to determine if the vintage Ray Bans they have are fake or not. I am wondering if you can tell by the photos if I should pass or try for them. Some look legit to me and some don't but I honestly have no idea. I see boxes with new models but did the old models come with boxes or soft pouches? I have included the link. There are many photos further down the listing. I appreciate any help you can give me. Thanks in advance.
http://www.auctionzip.com/cgi-bin/photopanel.cgi?listingid=2225220&category=0&zip=44883&kwd=
 

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