Sunglasses that work well with a Fedora?

[GHT]

I have to agree with @Hurricane Jack and @Bamaboots--those sunglasses complement you without being absurdly oversized like a lot of "aviator" style sunglasses have become over the years.

That is true, each to their own of course, but I just find oversize sunglasses a distraction, annoyingly so.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Bausch & Lomb Ray-Ban Aviator folding Pilots. Gold/brown lenses. Folds into a case the size of a pack of cigarettes, for a flight bag or a woman’s purse. Virtually NOS. They look great with my Gannon Highwayman or any natural beaver.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

1980’s Bausch & Lomb Ray-Ban Outdoorsman with gold aviator frames & Ambermatic All Weather lenses.

 

[hatsRme]

When I can’t find my Rx sunglasses….
25 yr old RayBans UNDER my Rx glasses.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Early pair of Bausch & Lomb Ray-Ban Outdoorsman aviators with a nickel silver frame. Even the cables are nickel silver & have never been brazed, silver soldered or wrapped. Don’t know what B&L called this early green color. I think of it as Green Apple.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

1980’s vintage Bausch & Lomb Ray-Ban Shooters. All weather changeable blue/gray lenses with gold aviator frame.

Introduced c. 1940 the Shooter “bullet hole” size was 8mm to produce a 3mm nose bridge, as documented by vintage B&L ephemera. The purpose of such a small nose bridge was to bring the lenses closer together to protect the eyes from powder & metal particles when shooting firearms. Starting in the 1970’s as the structure of the human face began to expand a 10mm hole size became an option in addition to the 8mm standard. By 1998 when B&L sold the Ray-Ban name & manufacturing rights, the 10mm size had become the standard for a wider nose bridge, with the 8mm optional. Cable temples on shooters were always standard for a secure fit.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

1980’s vintage Bausch & Lomb Ray-Ban Shooters. All weather changeable blue/gray lenses with gold aviator frame.

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Introduced c. 1940 the Shooter “bullet hole” size was 8mm to produce a 3mm nose bridge, as documented by vintage B&L ephemera. The purpose of such a small nose bridge was to bring the lenses closer together to protect the eyes from powder & metal particles when shooting firearms. Starting in the 1970’s as the structure of the human face began to expand a 10mm hole size became an option in addition to the 8mm standard. By 1998 when B&L sold the Ray-Ban name & manufacturing rights, the 10mm size had become the standard for a wider nose bridge, with the 8mm optional. Cable temples on shooters were always standard for a secure fit.

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Ray-Ban aviators for me too, Jack.
Always has been, always will be.
B

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Ray-Ban aviators for me too, Jack.
Always has been, always will be.
B

I’ve become a collector of B&L Ray-Bans made before the 1998 sale to Luxottica.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

US WWII Cobalt Blue Aviator sunglasses under an Optimo. These glasses were my dad’s found among his things after his passing. He was a WWII veteran drafted into the Navy upon turning 18 yrs of age during his senior yr of HS. He served on ship as a radioman & signalman in the Pacific theater. These were likely gov’t issue.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

1986 Bausch & Lomb Ray-Ban Leather Series Outdoorsman with English bridle leather wrap & gold accents; matching bridle leather case. Polarized lenses are dark gray/black. Worn under a Stetson One-Hundred today.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

1980’s B&L Ray-Ban aviator Pilot’s from the Diamond Hard Survivor Series. Green/gold mirrored lenses in gold frames. Gannon 100X & cool enough for flannel the past couple of mornings.

The Diamond Hard Survivor Series lenses were surfaced with amorphous diamond making them 10 times more resistant to scratching than ordinary glass lenses.

 

[Rmccamey]

Can you still buy those lenses, Jack?

1980’s B&L Ray-Ban aviator Pilot’s from the Diamond Hard Survivor Series. Green/gold mirrored lenses in gold frames. Gannon 100X & cool enough for flannel the past couple of mornings.

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The Diamond Hard Survivor Series lenses were surfaced with amorphous diamond making them 10 times more resistant to scratching than ordinary glass lenses.

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[hambone71]

1980’s B&L Ray-Ban aviator Pilot’s from the Diamond Hard Survivor Series. Green/gold mirrored lenses in gold frames. Gannon 100X & cool enough for flannel the past couple of mornings.

View attachment 552678
View attachment 552675
View attachment 552674

The Diamond Hard Survivor Series lenses were surfaced with amorphous diamond making them 10 times more resistant to scratching than ordinary glass lenses.

View attachment 552676
View attachment 552677

Gannons? Ray-Bans?? And flannels??? YES YES YES!!!

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Can you still buy those lenses, Jack?

I’m assuming you are asking for the scratch resistance diamond hardness? Bausch & Lomb sold the manufacturing rights & the Ray-Ban name to Luxottica in 1998. Luxottica owns lots of brands & are now the largest manufacturer of sunglasses in the world. I’m sure they have some series of scratch resistant lenses among their brands but I don’t know what they might be calling them. Mirror lenses are pretty common.

Bausch & Lomb moved into contact lenses & lens solution, Interocular lenses & eye surgery equipment.

If I assumed your question incorrectly Randy, let me know.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

https://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/sunglasses-that-work-well-with-a-fedora.53099/

I didn’t realize there were 2 of these type threads.
Great content on this one.
B

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Vintage 1990’s B&L Ray-Ban Vagabonds in tortoise with early RB50 brown lenses with block script. Look good with natural, Dun & light brown felt. Worth - Walden 15X.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Bausch & Lomb Ray-Ban’s 50th anniversary 1937 - 1987, The General. Bravura Arista aviator frames in 24k gold with their RB50 Ultra lens technology. The combination goes well with a chocolate Gannon in 100X.

 

[Hurricane Jack]

“And go get yourself some cheap sunglasses”

BCD

From Target:

 

[Hurricane Jack]

Stetson One-hundred with 1990’s Bausch & Lomb Ray-Ban CATS 5000 aviators with the G-15 XLT natural vision lens. The G-15 XLT lens was 14% lighter weight than the G-15 lens allowing for use in plastic & nylon frames, with 85% visible light transmission & 100% UV protection.

 

[Edward]

Cathcart Heritage (formerly Simon James Cathcart / SJC) have just launched their first sunglasses. Two styles - one white, 1920s style pair, one tortoiseshell 1930s style.

30s:

20s:

As always, they ain't cheap - £125 a pair. To be fair, that's in line with the likes of RayBans and so on, who are probably working with much smaller unit costs given the size of their operations.

Unfortunately Cathcart haven't included any promo photos on their site with these worn with a fedora, though the torty ones I think we can extrapolate would go well when seen here with a wide cap. I rather fancy the earlier vibe of the white pair - though I'll likely waist and look at them if they go on a sale, as I'd most likely be looking to have them relensed with my prescription. Nice to see these coming out, though.

I'm still wearing this aviator style pair that I got in 2017 - my first, and so far only, pair of prescription sunglasses (though I have a fair few pairs of glasses with photochromic lenses that effectively double up as sunnies). Got these on a Specsavers twofer at a time when I didn't much fancy anything else in their regular glasses range, and was pleasantly surprised by how much use I've had out of them. Seen here on the 2023 Chap Flaneur Walk, last May: