• Take 30 seconds to register your free account to access deals, post topics, and view exclusive content!

    Register Today

    Join the largest Oakley Forum on the web!

OEM Lens Etching Over The Years

Hed568

I should Work at Oakley
3,512
1,773
Daly City, CA
Got bored today and started going through my collection and thought about posting the various non-custom, non-one-off etched lenses that were available to the general public either via Brick and Mortar (Including OPDs), Online or Catalog over the years that are in my collection. With O-Review as reference for the product release time line, let us begin!

Here is what I have from Oldest to Newest:

zero p2 point 2 1993.JPG
zero p3 point 3 1993.JPG


Zero 0.2p and Zero 0.3p circa 1993

The lens on the 0.2p is pretty scratched up but the 0.3p is close to mint. I love the stretched font styling and the effort Oakley put into having the text follow the curve of the lens.

romeo old etching x metal 1997.JPG
Romeo refined X metal 1997.JPG


Romeo circa 1997

With the opportunity to add a low serial Romeo MJ LE to my collection, I could finally compare the difference between "older" (top) & "newer" (bottom) X METAL etching. Personally, I prefer the newer, cleaner version. This goes to show improvements in laser etching technology with the finer resolution that Oakley has achieved on their later products.

T Wire Titanium August 1998.JPG


T Wire Gen 2 circa 1998

My first pair of Oakley sunglass was the E Wire. Couldn't afford the T Wire back then but always liked how cool the word "Titanium" was etched not only on the lens but also on the back of the nose bridge. Fast forward many years later, I was finally able to add one to the collection.

OO O 1999.JPG


OO Wire - circa 1999

The OO came in a handful of lens shapes and had an awesome box art featuring Michael Jordan himself. I like how the frame is subtle and the subtleness is also transposed to the barely visible ellipse "O" etched on the bottom left lens.

Mag M Frame Magnesium April 2002.JPG


Mag M Frame circa 2002

The Magnesium M Frame was a breath of fresh air as far as frame materials go. After years of seeing C5 and X Metal alloys in Oakley's promotional materials, a new frame material was finally introduced. The yellow box it came in even has "WARNING: MAGNESIUM" printed on it which I thought was pretty badass. Too bad there were so much coating issues with this material that it got discontinued fairly quick.

Hatchet O-luminum 2004.JPG


Hatchet circa 2004

While we are talking about new frame materials, Oakley introduced aluminum as a new frame material. Aptly marketed as "O-Luminum" the hatchet wire became one of my favorite pair to wear, specially in the office. Co-workers thought I had RX glasses on thanks to the Titanium Clear lens.

Gascan Foose 2007.JPG


Gascan Chip Foose Signature Series circa 2007

Hot Rod Guru Chip Foose found his way into a collaboration with Oakley. Inspired from his P32 rendition, the Gascan with Brushed Aluminum finish was born. This pair featured his signature etched on the left lens. The box art is display-worthy, at least for me. Love the matching micro bag as well.

Jupiter Foose 2009.JPG


Jupiter Chip Foose Signature Series circa 2009

As a follow up to the Gascan, the frame of choice this time around was the Jupiter. Drawing inspiration from his FD100 truck design, this pair features the FD100 truck itself etched on the top portion of the left lens. The placing of the etching was pretty unusual at the time which made this pair standout. I had asked a huge favor from my cousin attending the SEMA Show in Las Vegas and have him line up for me to have this pair signed.

Csix Polarized aug 2009.JPG


C Six Aluminum circa 2009

Purchasd in December 2009 at the San Francisco Market Street O-Store, the POLARIZED is perhaps the most common lens etching in anyone's collection. Back then, most polarized lens were also iridium coated so having the aluminum c-six come with a boring non-iridium grey lens was a disappointment. Every other pair in the Elite Line had Iridium.

Tron Gascan HDO 2010.JPG


3D Gascan circa 2010

Back when 3D TVs was getting popular, Oakley came out with a total of 6 production version of Gascans equipped with their proprietary passive 3D lens and marketed the lens technology as HDO-3D. I did see Tron and Transformers with both the Tron and Transformers glasses and both times I went home with a headache. LOL.

Juliet Ducati 2011.JPG


Juliet Ducati circa 2011

The collaboration between Ducati and Oakley brought forth the popularity of the black and red color combination. This pair of Juliet is only one of two Ducati collaborative pairs in my collection. The other is a Ducati Hatchet.

Jawbone SOLFX Transitions 2011.JPG


Jawbone Echelon circa 2011

Conceived to commemorate 2011's Tour De France, the Echelon Jawbone's ballistic case has a 2011 plate attached to it. What makes the pair cool is the unusual VR50 Ruby Photochromic lens. This lens also features the SOLFX / Transitions Logo.

RAZRwire Oakley June 2011.JPG


RAZRwire circa 2011

Trying to rekindle interest in wearable electronics, Oakley and Motorola collaborated on this pair. With Motorola's highly successful RAZR flip phone, an iteration of the moniker found its way to one of Oakley's eyewear. My set featured the bluetooth module developed by Motorola has both Oakley and Motorola's branding. The aluminum pill case is also co-branded with Oakley's ellipse one one side and Motorola's logo on the other half. For me, the most notable feature of this pair is the entire word OAKLEY being etched to the lens. This normally happens on the nose bridge using the thin stretch line font but in this pair's case, the font resembles the one used on the foundation logo. Very unusual.


I can only post 15 pics max. To be continued...
 
Infinite Hero Juliet November 2011.JPG


Juliet Infinite Hero circa 2011

One of the more meaningful and charitable Oakley collaborations, the Infinite Hero line features a cross etched on the left lens and mostly has some shade purple in its color way. I love how a percentage of every Oakley Infinite Hero product goes to the foundation. To the brave men and women of the armed forces both past and present, we thank you for your service.

RazorBlade 3oth October 2014.JPG


Razorblade Heritage Edition circa 2014

Paying homage to the original Blades /Razorblades, the Heritage Collection was launched around October of 2014 to commemorate 30 years of Oakley history. A matching number 30 etched on the lens of each eyewear that is part of the Heritage Collection. As a cool bonus, Heritage Collection eyewear contained a cool looking pin, a retro looking guitar pick and sticker.

Ferrari Madman March 2015.JPG


Madman Ferrari circa 2015

When the collaboration with Ducati ended, Oakley partnered with Ferrari to continue the performance motorsport inspired eyewear line. With this partnership came the Scuderia Ferrari logo etched on eyewear under this collection. Most of the eyewear sported the black/red color way that gained popularity during the Ducati era.

Jawbreaker Cavendish April 2015.JPG


Jawbreaker Mark Cavendish Edition circa 2015

This Signature collaboration between Oakley and Pro cyclist Mark Cavendish resulted in this Jawbreaker that features Cavendish's branding etched on the lens. The eyewear also came with a matching Cavendish microbag.

EVZero Swift Photochromic April 2017.JPG


EVZero Swift Photochromic circa 2017

Looks like Oakley has their own photochromic technology mastered, especially after being acquired by Lux. Unlike the older photochromic lenses of the older Jawbones and older generation Racing Jackets that sports the SOLFX / Transitions logo, the newer Oakley photochromic lens simply has the word "PHOTOCHROMIC" etched on them.

Latch Alpha Valentino Rossi 2019.JPG


Latch Alpha Valentino Rossi Edition circa 2019

In a break away from tradition, etchings are now starting to appear on the right lens, and on the upper portion too; almost like a complete opposite from how traditional etching placement was. This is observed in this Latch Alpha I have which features Rossi's branding.

Holbrook SF LIV 2020.JPG


Holbrook NFC Championship Edition circa 2020

Laser etching may become a thing of the past with the introduction of TampoPrinting as seen in this Holbrook that features the San Francisco 49ers logo "printed" across he entirety if the right lens and then a small logo of Super Bowl LIV and 49ers on the bottom right. More of a novelty, I am not sure how long the print will stay on the lens. Will it fade over time? Who knows... I guess time will tell. There is also a Kansas City Cheifs version and both are still available on Oakley.com at the time of this post with and extra 30%.

Sutro Eyeshade PRIZM 2020.JPG


Sutro Eyeshade Concept Studio circa 2020

Perhaps the most common etching on all recent eyewear is the Prizm etching. With very few exceptions, almost all sunglass made now bear the PRIZM etching. The placement is so random now but it will be somewhere.

Now that I have shown you what I have in my collection, let us see yours. There is a million signature frames out there. Finitos, Ichiros, Montoyas... frames that do not have in my collection that will be nice to see and be shared here.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
It's a weird set. I never knew it had an etching until I saw your picture. Btw if anyone has the matching microfiber bag I would like to buy it

20200415_020558.jpg
 
Here are some Honorable Mentions in my collection:

Radar Pace TDF 2017.JPG


Radar Pace Tour De France circa 2017

Oakley celebrated TDF 2017 with a Radar Pace that featured a groovy lens depicting the map of France. Perhaps a precursor of the TampoPrinting technology we have seen on the NFL AFC and NFC championship Holbrooks, it is nice to look at and when looking through, one will not even notice the lines and curves. Lastly, the TDF logo is etched on the bottom left corner.

EV Zero Path TDF 2018.JPG


EVZero Path Tour De France circa 2018

Another TDF exclusive, this year's iteration features laser etching on the "frame" itself. The shield design of the EVZero makes the frame a blank canvass for stuff like this. Hopefully we will see more creativity in the future. Again, the TDF logo is etched on the bottom left side of the lens.
 
Are you referring to the Jordan OO wires? If so, then Yeah, it's pretty unusual which makes this line quite unique. Here is an example of each lens shape all brandishing the tiny ellipse etched on the left lens front to back
(OO, OO A, OO E and OO Square)
View attachment 723827
yes, actually you would think oakley would have put the O on all thier lenses from the start up until now, like other brands put their logo on things, i mean, who could imagine a Nike item without the swoosh .......

but oakley went the exact opposite way and removed the O very quickly, only very few models/lenses have the O, right?
 
Back
Top