Rayban Wayfarer replacement.....what manufacturers use glass lens (vs polycarbonate)?

[SSingh1975]

Just returned from vacation and lost my 4 year old Wayfareres. I loved the fitting but the polycarbonate lens do get smudged up a lot from oils etc. Also had light scratches.

Are there any manufactuers that make glass lens? I've even looked at Gucci at a outlet store and they also use polycarnate lens.

I know Serengetti uses glass lens but its not my cuppa (pilots style)

cheers.

 

[MajorDash]

Just returned from vacation and lost my 4 year old Wayfareres. I loved the fitting but the polycarbonate lens do get smudged up a lot from oils etc. Also had light scratches.

Are there any manufactuers that make glass lens? I've even looked at Gucci at a outlet store and they also use polycarnate lens.

I know Serengetti uses glass lens but its not my cuppa (pilots style)

cheers.

Not glass, but Persol uses crystal lenses. They have a lot of classic 'Wayfarer' type styles.

 

[jazerad]

Just returned from vacation and lost my 4 year old Wayfareres. I loved the fitting but the polycarbonate lens do get smudged up a lot from oils etc. Also had light scratches.

Are there any manufactuers that make glass lens? I've even looked at Gucci at a outlet store and they also use polycarnate lens.

I know Serengetti uses glass lens but its not my cuppa (pilots style)

cheers.

Ray ban has wayfarers with glass lenses additionally here are a few brands that I own that have glass lenses in addition to persol. Petar millar, Giorgio Armani (frames of life collection), Zegna (marked barberini lenses), Oliver peoples and ray ban club masters. Etnia Barcelona exclusively uses glass lenses

 

[Thin White Duke]

Randolph Engineering if you want to try metal frames.
Garret Leight, Moscot and Oliver Peoples
If you’re really committed to glass lenses you can have them custom fitted into a frame that you like. I’ve done it several times. You have to be patient as a lot of vendors source from Carl Zeiss in Europe and they have to first make your lens then have it pass through a ball drop test. If it fails the ball drop then they have to start over.

 

[podz]

Just returned from vacation and lost my 4 year old Wayfareres. I loved the fitting but the polycarbonate lens do get smudged up a lot from oils etc. Also had light scratches.

Are there any manufactuers that make glass lens? I've even looked at Gucci at a outlet store and they also use polycarnate lens.

I know Serengetti uses glass lens but its not my cuppa (pilots style)

cheers.

Serengeti makes a ton of styles other than pilot style. I own 2 pairs that look nothing like aviators. One model is called SHELTON and the other one is MATERA. The Sheltons with the brown "Drivers Lens" are my favourite shades, ever, and they are incredibly stylish with dress clothes.

SHELTON

Serengeti Eyewear

www.serengeti-eyewear.com

 

[podz]

Ray ban has wayfarers with glass lenses additionally here are a few brands that I own that have glass lenses in addition to persol. Petar millar, Giorgio Armani (frames of life collection), Zegna (marked barberini lenses), Oliver peoples and ray ban club masters. Etnia Barcelona exclusively uses glass lenses

RayBan doesn't make full glass lenses anymore. They make a crystal-polycarbonate composite lens now (part glass and part plastic).

 

[jazerad]

RayBan doesn't make full glass lenses anymore. They make a crystal-polycarbonate composite lens now (part glass and part plastic).

Oh, that's odd when did they stop ?

 

[admz]

Is there a reason you want glass?

Glass lenses are brittle and the quality and hardness of polymer materials has reached a point where it doesn't really make sense to get anything else outside of very specific use cases (for example, if your job requires you to look into high-temperature ovens for extended periods of time). The gain in resistance to scratches is marginal compared to a good quality plastic lens.

If you talk to an optician, they'll most likely advise you against glass.

 

[jazerad]

Is there a reason you want glass?

Glass lenses are brittle and the quality and hardness of polymer materials has reached a point where it doesn't really make sense to get anything else outside of very specific use cases (for example, if your job requires you to look into high-temperature ovens for extended periods of time). The gain in resistance to scratches is marginal compared to a good quality plastic lens.

If you talk to an optician, they'll most likely advise you against glass.

Not OP but I personally like the weight of glass

 

[podz]

Oh, that's odd when did they stop ?

At least 5 years ago, maybe longer. They are engaged in quite a bit of false advertising on the topic these days since there isn't currently a government consumer protection law to prevent them from doing so.

"Ray-Ban no longer manufactures lenses that are 100 percent glass. However, they offer crystal sunglass lenses, which are manufactured with a 50/50 mix of glass and polycarbonate. Crystal lenses are often referred to as glass lenses since they technically contain glass."

 

[podz]

Is there a reason you want glass?

Glass lenses are brittle and the quality and hardness of polymer materials has reached a point where it doesn't really make sense to get anything else outside of very specific use cases (for example, if your job requires you to look into high-temperature ovens for extended periods of time). The gain in resistance to scratches is marginal compared to a good quality plastic lens.

If you talk to an optician, they'll most likely advise you against glass.

Is there a reason why some people want 100% cotton jeans without stretch? Is there a reason why some people want 100% juice and not some kind of strange mix? Is there a reason why some people want solid wood furniture instead of veneered MDF? Sorry but your question carries a condescending, besserwisser attitude with it - the same attitude as those who try to push consumers away from what they want and toward what is actually cheaper to mass produce.

I have a pair of RayBan Aviators, bought from Sunglass Hut in USA in 1996. They have 27 years of regular use. They have been stored both with and without a case in drawers full of this and that. One of the side screws wore out and I had to get the hole retapped by a jeweller and a new screw fitted. They have been cleaned with my shirt well over 1000 times. They have also been on my face well over 1000 times when I've been loading up my grill with cherry-red charcoal from a starter chimney. Never once worried about them melting. And they have zero scratches, not even a micro scratch. Nothing. And the only time a lens ever popped out was when the screw broke.

I have actually spent far more money buying polycarbonate sunglasses (Polaroid brand, usually) because they last me between 1-3 months before they are full of gouges. Additionally, I don't know what I do but the lenses also pop out of the frames. It has happened to me so many times that the god damn lenses pop out of the frames and I am spending the next 10-20 minutes trying to fix them. I just tossed 3 pairs of Polaroid sunglasses into the garbage a few months back.

Finally, and yes, I saved the best part for last, the optical clarity of 100% glass is unbeatable. I have 20/10 vision and with glass lenses I can count bricks on the side of a building at nearly 200 meters distance. If your eyesight is not that good, then perhaps compromise in optical clarity isn't even noticeable. For me, I like to enjoy my vision to its fullest. My Maui Jims are glass. My Serengetis are glass. One of my Rayban Aviators is glass, the other is a glass-polycarbonate mix. The composite RayBans don't have any scratches so far, but the optical distortion is noticeable by me and I'm still thinking of who I know that might like them for a gift.

 

[podz]

Not OP but I personally like the weight of glass

Yeah, it's also kind of important if you go on summer vacation to the Cyclades where the wind can blow lightweight plastic shades right off of your face. I've spent 5 summers there for 2-4 weeks each stretch. Vicious wind is an understatement, all while there is not a single cloud in the sky.

 

[admz]

Is there a reason why some people want 100% cotton jeans without stretch? Is there a reason why some people want 100% juice and not some kind of strange mix? Is there a reason why some people want solid wood furniture instead of veneered MDF? Sorry but your question carries a condescending, besserwisser attitude with it - the same attitude as those who try to push consumers away from what they want and toward what is actually cheaper to mass produce.

I have a pair of RayBan Aviators, bought from Sunglass Hut in USA in 1996. They have 27 years of regular use. They have been stored both with and without a case in drawers full of this and that. One of the side screws wore out and I had to get the hole retapped by a jeweller and a new screw fitted. They have been cleaned with my shirt well over 1000 times. They have also been on my face well over 1000 times when I've been loading up my grill with cherry-red charcoal from a starter chimney. Never once worried about them melting. And they have zero scratches, not even a micro scratch. Nothing. And the only time a lens ever popped out was when the screw broke.

I have actually spent far more money buying polycarbonate sunglasses (Polaroid brand, usually) because they last me between 1-3 months before they are full of gouges. Additionally, I don't know what I do but the lenses also pop out of the frames. It has happened to me so many times that the god damn lenses pop out of the frames and I am spending the next 10-20 minutes trying to fix them. I just tossed 3 pairs of Polaroid sunglasses into the garbage a few months back.

Finally, and yes, I saved the best part for last, the optical clarity of 100% glass is unbeatable. I have 20/10 vision and with glass lenses I can count bricks on the side of a building at nearly 200 meters distance. If your eyesight is not that good, then perhaps compromise in optical clarity isn't even noticeable. For me, I like to enjoy my vision to its fullest. My Maui Jims are glass. My Serengetis are glass. One of my Rayban Aviators is glass, the other is a glass-polycarbonate mix. The composite RayBans don't have any scratches so far, but the optical distortion is noticeable by me and I'm still thinking of who I know that might like them for a gift.

There was no intent to be condescending, I have simply been on a similar journey starting from a strong preference for glass, and realised in the past few years that my idea about the quality of synthetic lenses was outdated. None of it is about cost, in fact some polycarbonate lenses can end up costing more than glass, depending on the treatment.

You do sound like someone who would benefit from a custom lens, whichever the material.

 

[podz]

There was no intent to be condescending, I have simply been on a similar journey starting from a strong preference for glass, and realised in the past few years that my idea about the quality of synthetic lenses was outdated. None of it is about cost, in fact some polycarbonate lenses can end up costing more than glass, depending on the treatment.

You do sound like someone who would benefit from a custom lens, whichever the material.

I misjudged the intent, then. There is no doubt that the quality of synthetic lenses has improved by leaps and bounds during the past decade or so. There is also no doubt that the optical clarity of synthetic lenses is still nowhere near that of glass, otherwise they would already be using it in camera lenses, binoculars, microscopes, etc and solid glass lenses would have already disappeared.

Not sure how any sort of custom lens would benefit me. I already find the Serengeti glass lenses to be everything I ever wanted in terms of optical quality as well as having both photochromatism and polarisation at the same time (btw, they are the only lenses in the world with both of those features simultaneously).