🦘Ruby Lenses 101

[cacatman]

Last updated 23rd October, 2018 by cacatman.

I'm interested to know about Ruby Lenses. If you have any information about them, please post below.

Please note that certain aftermarket lenses replicate the base blue hue that is seen with OEM ruby lenses.

What's the big fuss about Ruby lenses? Why are they so desired?
- For some, it re-ignites their attraction to the X-Men hero Cyclops's visor and blinkered sunglasses he wears, to prevent the rays from his eyes burning through all they cast their gaze on. Others, just love the deep, rich red (aided by blue.....) and it's almost mesmerising 'shimmer' of different elements of colour........one minute it appears to be red, then a purple....then a deeper red, a pink and so on.... (@Funky-Trixtar)

Spectrum of Ruby Lenses (in Order)
+Red, early Ruby, OO RIP, Prizm Baseball, Ruby, early Fire, Fruby, late Fire, 24k (thanks @Carrera1963)

What are the difference between colours, Ruby, Fruby, +ive Red, OO Red, Torch, Baseball Prizm, New Prizm Ruby?
@Funky-Trixtar - You wrote, "as far I know the Ruby only has a blue inner coating". Vision through the lens will look bluish when looking at a bright light source.
@kronin323 explains it this way - The base coat without the iridium is actually grey but it is the iridium coating that makes it look blue when looking through the lens.
- Earliest generation Fire has a brutal red with deep brown tones (@Funky-Trixtar)
- Some fire lenses can sometimes look like ruby, but without the blue hue. See @Tidezealot's post here.
- Take lens outside and hold up in sunlight. Look through the lens. If it's Blue then definitely Ruby, if they're a light brown/goldish (@htrap2294) then they're Prizm Ruby, if Grey then they'lll be +Reds and if a Brown then they will be Fire (@Funky-Trixtar)

Variations Are Expected
- a true Ruby lens, should never consist of yellow or orange, within the centre or the mid lens, possibly on the periphery (the very edges of the lens). (@Funky-Trixtar)
- Some fire look almost like 24k, some like rubies and others like, well, fire (@Carrera1963)
- That the early lenses were all good is a bit of a myth, there was variability even back then. The chances of them being a better hue were higher but some later batches are very good ruby too - I have some OEM replacement lenses made in 2015 that are a strong red. I have seen speculation here that the process was shortened for ruby, which led to them becoming more inconsistent. (@Carrera1963)
- Many Oakley lenses can vary from batch to batch, but this does seem to plague ruby more than any other. (@Carrera1963)
- You can’t really discuss early ruby without mentioning early fire either. Those lenses tended to be more orange than today, but sometimes with a lot of red in too and less yellow than today. The strongest fires can be redder than the worst of today’s rubies. The blues, on the other hand, seemed to be consistent right from the word go, with the exception of the green/blue and purple/blue Ichiro lenses off the top of my head. (@Carrera1963)
- Almost every ruby pair looks different. Under some lighting some pairs have a violet purple hue in the middle but I think the ultimate ruby is solid red throughout....of course lighting can affect this (@"TRUMP")
- Fruby refers to Ruby that looks like Fire, not Fire that looks like Ruby (@kronin323)
- Here's some variation in the latest Madman lenses side by side (photo from @Walter Langkowski)

X-Men Juliets
What is so special about the ruby lenses in the X-man released X-metal coloured Juliets serialled 1-4,999?

Were the "good" ruby lenses only found in those numbers? Or can you "get lucky"?

Availability as Aftermarket OEM Lens Kits?
Juliet replacement Ruby lenses were only available non-polar. My Ruby polar in my Mars were cut from Big Taco (@kronin323). There were others also.

Other OEM Fruby Lenses
I know there were OTT Ruby lenses but were ruby lenses released in other (cuttable) lens shapes?
Ruby OTT lens from @Funky-Trixtar's collection

How can I tell a genuine Ruby lens when I see one in the wild?
- Go OUT in the sunlight with no or as few objects surrounding the lens as possible. You really don't want any obstructions to change/hinder the final colours reflected by the lenses (@Funky-Trixtar)

Different Other Ruby-ish Lenses and How to Tell the Difference
- Ikon lenses that are ruby have a grey base tint (@NuttyOAK13Y, @Jon the Don)
- OEM Fire lenses have a contrast base; some describe it a greenish but it's more brownish IMO (@kronin323)
- OEM Torch lenses have a lighter blue base tint (@kronin323) and have a grey base (@NoFair)
- Fuse Lenses are thinner (@SolarOracle)
- Premium red linegear lenses have an etch on the edge of the lens (@Linegear Japan)
- OEM Fruby also has a blue base tint but looks like fire from the outside (@Funky-Trixtar)
- The difference between old Ruby and old Fire lenses are the tones of colour used. For Fire, mainly Red with a minor Brown base tint and for Ruby, mainly Red with a minor Blue base.
- Prizm Ruby has more purple in the lens like the older Ruby lenses everyone likes. The Ruby Polarized has more orange in it or as we call it "Fruby" because it looks like a mix of Fire and Ruby lenses with less purple and more orange (@Jontoad) (see his picture below)

Picture stolen from @jdd32

Iridium Coating - Can it Affect the Base Tint? (@kronin323)
Can the iridium coating affect the base tint appearance?

Ruby Lenses in Films
- X-Men
- Black Hawk Down - Eric Bana's character, Hoot (@Funky-Trixtar)

Best Way To Photograph Ruby Lenses (When Buying/Selling) (@Funky-Trixtar)
When looking to buy a Ruby pair, always, always insist on seeing them out in natural light. Because electric light(no matter how much daylight simulation they're claimed to be)can and will hide tones/distort the end perception. When they are taken, ask to have them free of as much surrounding matter as possible: have them photograph them on a white or grey neutral back ground, probably best with grey, there'll be less glare.
The shape of the frame can dictate the tone of Ruby which is seen also. The larger the size of the lens, the less likely the end colours will be like Ruby.

Indoor Appearance of Ruby Lenses (@Funky-Trixtar)
When taking pics at night, of my Pennys, it revealed the true nature of the OEM Ruby Iridium by clarity.

Epilogue
There's really only one guy that this page could possibly be dedicated to. He's the connoisseur of Ruby's and I call him...

"Ruby Wan Kenobi"

for short.

If you don't believe me, check out his collection here where 1/6th are ruby or ruby-esque derivatives.

It's of course, the one, the only...



(ruby emoji)

@Funky-Trixtar ​

 

[cacatman]

.

 

[Funky-Trixtar]

Ruby as defined by Wikipedia:

A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum (aluminium oxide). Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires. Ruby is one of the traditional cardinal gems, together with amethyst, sapphire, emerald, and diamond.[3] The word ruby comes from ruber, Latin for red. The color of a ruby is due to the element chromium.


The quality of a ruby is determined by its color, cut, and clarity, which, along with carat weight, affect its value. The brightest and most valuable shade of red called blood-red or pigeon blood, commands a large premium over other rubies of similar quality. After color follows clarity: similar to diamonds, a clear stone will command a premium, but a ruby without any needle-like rutile inclusions may indicate that the stone has been treated. Ruby is the traditional birthstone for July and is usually more pink than garnet, although some rhodolite garnets have a similar pinkish hue to most rubies. The world's most valuable ruby is the Sunrise Ruby.

 

[ShortChangeHero]

I believe because it’s the most inconsistent color lens to have. Everyone wants deep deep ruby ( so deep it echoes) but they are very uncommon. Once you find one it commands a high price.

 

[kronin323]

Iridium Coating - Can it Affect the Base Tint? (@kronin323)
Can the iridium coating affect the base tint appearance?

So the link you posted there, it proves that ruby isn't blue as a base tint, it's a grey base tint and the blue appearance is an effect of the Ruby iridium coating.

Availability as Aftermarket OEM Lens Kits?
Did the ruby lenses come out as separate lens kits?

Yes they came in in all sorts of replacement lens kits, IDK them all. Of note is Juliet replacement Ruby lenses were only available non-polar. My Ruby polar in my Mars were cut from Big Taco.

 

[cacatman]

So the link you posted there, it proves that ruby isn't blue as a base tint, it's a grey base tint and the blue appearance is an effect of the Ruby iridium coating.



Yes they came in in all sorts of replacement lens kits, IDK them all. Of note is Juliet replacement Ruby lenses were only available non-polar. My Ruby polar in my Mars were cut from Big Taco.

Thanks! Will correct

 

[Chris515000]

This is a pair of pennys I picked up a while back. These lens were cut by Chris hardaway and are in my opinion close to original ruby! Pics can't capture the blue I see with my eye. But I've had some that look yes more firey in comparison!

 

[Carrera1963]

That the early lenses were all good is a bit of a myth, there was variability even back then. The chances of them being a better hue were higher but some later batches are very good ruby too - I have some OEM replacement lenses made in 2015 that are a strong red. I have seen speculation here that the process was shortened for ruby, which led to them becoming more inconsistent.

Many Oakley lenses can vary from batch to batch, but this does seem to plague ruby more than any other.

I’ve always liked a red lens (note not reddish-purple, that’s the role of +red for me, so the purple toned rubies don’t do it for me). The purest I have found to date is Prizm Baseball (I think mine are Outfield but might be wrong on that, they keep changing the names of the Baseball lenses). Also have ruby (more than one pair, but I think only one mounted), +red and OO red polar in Juliets.

You can’t really discuss early ruby without mentioning early fire either. Those lenses tended to be more orange than today, but sometimes with a lot of red in too and less yellow than today. The strongest fires can be redder than the worst of today’s rubies. The blues, on the other hand, seemed to be consistent right from the word go, with the exception of the green/blue and purple/blue Ichiro lenses off the top of my head.

To sum up, it’s all down to the batch with these two lenses, but it is generally true that the further back you go, the more likely you are to get a stronger colour.

 

[Carrera1963]

As a spectrum it would go something like:

+red, early ruby, OO RIP, Prizm Baseball, ruby, early fire, fruby, fire, 24k.

Allowing for outliers all along the way - some more recent +reds are more yellow and orange-tinged than the classic purple/blue for instance.

 

[kronin323]

I have a sneaking suspicion that cacatman didn't create this thread out of purely personal curiosity. He's not a novice Oakley aficionado; surely he already knows about Ruby.

Instead, he's taking a new strategy to build on his library of reference threads. By framing the inquiry as a personal plea for help, he hopes to get better and broader responses than he'd get by merely saying "post what you know about Ruby here so future newbies can learn from it."

And it's a good tactic, playing on the forum's strengths. Altruistic trolling...