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Grey Smoke Or Polished Black?

SimpsonsFan

Oakley Beginner
4
51
I'm looking to purchase a pair of Pit Bulls, but I'm not sure how well the color will stand out. I'm deciding between grey smoke/slate iridium or polished black/black iridium. They both have the silver Oakley logo. Will the grey be a shiny grey or a dull grey? I like the polished black because it shines more, but I have to pay a lot more for polarized lenses. Which color stands out more in your opinion?
 
The grey smoke is a translucent frame. And it also has a gloss finish. Not really polished, but it does have a shine to it.

It's a great color, but it lets in light. Which makes sense paired with a slate lens. I hope you're aware slate is a VERY light transmission lens. Basically a "light grey iridium"

So the polished black would be the better of the two to handle a bright day. The grey smoke would be for an overcast or indirect light situation.
 
Oh, good to know. Almost bought the wrong pair! How about Matte Black/Warm grey lens and Crystal Black/Black iridium? The polished black/black iridium comes only in polarized, so I imagine that will make things very dark?
 
There are basically 4 levels to Oakley lenses.

Standard
Iridium
Polarized
Iridium Polarized

A standard lens is just that, standard. No mirror coating, no polarized filter. The color of the plastic is the color of the lens.

Iridium is a metallic mirror coating. It darkens the lens and adds a reflective surface that helps cut down glare. The color of the iridium is the outward appearance and not dependent on the tint of the lens.

Polarized is a standard lens with a linear polarizing filter. This adds a little darkness, and handles glare well, but specifically targets glare reflecting off horizontal surfaces, such as roads, or water.

Polarized Iridium has both of these features. They're generally darker lenses, as well.

Onto your specific questions;

Matte black is, in my opinion, the best frame color for an every day pair. The matte color is soft, subdued to a degree, and is solid.

Crystal black is similar to grey smoke. It's a translucent frame with a gloss finish. Except it's mostly black, where grey smoke is more of a cloudy grey color.

Warm grey is a love it or hate it lens. It's got a low transmission number at 12%, but has neither iridium nor polarization. So if you want a dark, non-flashy lens, this is good. Warm grey also has a subtle coloring to the tint, hence the "warm" name. Personally I'm not a fan, when I wear dark lenses I'm highly concerned with glare as that is what kills me and fatigues my eyes the most.

Black iridium is like matte black: the standard. It works well, it's nice and dark without being blackout, it handles glare with the iridium coating, and it's black. For an every day pair of sunglasses it's hard to beat. Some people prefer a certain tint, or want a certain look, but pretty much everyone has a pair of black frames with black iridium lenses. Ubiquitous? Yes. Overdone? Never.

In my mind for the Pit Bull the most interesting frame is the FMJ one. It's a dark bronze metal finish. Very cool.

And the Asian-exclusive pairs have some wicked options, too.
 
Very informative, Rust! Thank you!

Yes, I'm looking for the Asian Fit variety of Pit Bulls. On the website, there are only 3 colors for the regular iridium lenses (crystal black/black iridium, matte black/warm grey, and grey smoke/slate iridium) and 2 colors for the polarized Asian Fit (polished black/polarized black iridium and polished rootbeer/bronze polarized ((non-iridium)). Root beer looks pretty nice, but I think the polished black will match more colors.

I think I'm leaning more towards the polished black ones. I'll pay a little bit more, but they should last me for some time.
 
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I'm personally a fan of the crystal black frame. I think it's a great looking color. Add to that the black iridium lens, and you'd have one of my favorite combinations. I saw a crystal black Twenty yesterday with black iridium polarized lenses that looked awesome (which I had never seen before)! If I hadn't bought two pairs of sunglasses already this week, I may have picked them up. Until yesterday, I couldn't find a style in that color that worked for me and my tastes. The Twenty... Well, the Twenty may end up being my next pair.
 
Personally, I like a solid color in sunglasses at least. I have a pair of translucent-frame glasses which basically look black in the sun anyway. Going to place my order soon. I think my next pair will be Style Switch. I like how they come with different color lenses.
 
I love the translucent grey smoke frames. That being said one thing of importance to note is that in extremely sunny environments the grey smoke frames let sun bleed in through the frames. It's generally not a huge issue but if you're in direct sunlight it's something I've found to be a bit of a pain.
 
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