Hey everyone. Been buying Oakley sunglasses since the late 90’s with a bit of a hiatus as I switched through many brands, Ray-Ban for a bit, Maui Jim , and discovered Randolph which is definitely my favorite brand these days, but they’ve gotten very pricey. Oakley makes more that works for my everyday life than Randolph, though style and availability of parts is a much bigger plus with Randolph. Anyway, my first pair of real sunglasses were the no hinge Oakley Pro M Frames in the 90’s which I saved up as a kid to buy my first pair. I’ve had a few variations of them, then on into the very funky cobalt Zero, E Wires, a few different Twentys, and then drifted off to other brands when my last Twenty’s broke just before the earsock and they didn’t stand behind them cueing a sell off of all the pairs I should have kept.
Anyway when the Gascans and Holbrooks came out, I was back in. These got my attention. I didn’t keep the Gascans long since the wide frame design didn’t fit me well, but the Holbrooks are excellent and now have a couple of pairs and some extra frames around for them from part swapping after scratching lenses and buying even more pairs since unless you’re willing to go aftermarket it seems replacement lenses are hard to come by. I also have two pairs of Z87 M Frames which are the folding design that mimics the original Pro M Frame design that I use for work. I do feel like Oakleys aren’t as tough as they used to be but I’m still a fan of a few designs. I wasn’t even aware of the Luxottica involvement until I tried looking for lenses for my scratched Holbrooks, but I’m not sure I can call it a complete negative because while I have rosy memories of even higher quality feeling frames from back in the early 2000’s I won’t say for sure because it was so long ago and even with the Holbrooks the Dark Ink Fade frames do not feel as nice as the matte black and I ended up putting the Chrome Polarized lenses from the Dark Inks in the matte frame due to this that I can’t say there wasn’t variations that had perceived quality differences even back then and I never purchased any gloss feel frames back then except for the Zeroes.
Anyway I could ramble forever about sunglasses so I’ll cut it off here. Thanks!
Anyway when the Gascans and Holbrooks came out, I was back in. These got my attention. I didn’t keep the Gascans long since the wide frame design didn’t fit me well, but the Holbrooks are excellent and now have a couple of pairs and some extra frames around for them from part swapping after scratching lenses and buying even more pairs since unless you’re willing to go aftermarket it seems replacement lenses are hard to come by. I also have two pairs of Z87 M Frames which are the folding design that mimics the original Pro M Frame design that I use for work. I do feel like Oakleys aren’t as tough as they used to be but I’m still a fan of a few designs. I wasn’t even aware of the Luxottica involvement until I tried looking for lenses for my scratched Holbrooks, but I’m not sure I can call it a complete negative because while I have rosy memories of even higher quality feeling frames from back in the early 2000’s I won’t say for sure because it was so long ago and even with the Holbrooks the Dark Ink Fade frames do not feel as nice as the matte black and I ended up putting the Chrome Polarized lenses from the Dark Inks in the matte frame due to this that I can’t say there wasn’t variations that had perceived quality differences even back then and I never purchased any gloss feel frames back then except for the Zeroes.
Anyway I could ramble forever about sunglasses so I’ll cut it off here. Thanks!