OEM Lens Etching Over The Years

[mjt42]

I love the unrefined etching on the four digit Romeos. It adds to their 'perfect imperfections' character that sets them apart.

 

[Hed568]

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?

Yes, that is right. Most of the time, the O branding exists on the frames already and their marketing folks may think having too much is overkill. In the case of the OO, and most thin Rx frames, there is no place to put the O logo so the lens was the only option. I’m not sure but I think most of the Rx Lens coming from Oakley also have the O engraved on it.

 

[Hed568]

I love the unrefined etching on the four digit Romeos. It adds to their 'perfect imperfections' character that sets them apart.

It is what sets it apart and help proves authenticity.

 

[cheekymeister]

Great thread. Reminded me of how much I wanted a pair of T wires back in the day.

 

[Hed568]

Great thread. Reminded me of how much I wanted a pair of T wires back in the day.

I hear ya. Feel free to add some odd ball etching that was not mentioned here.

 

[Hed568]

Update:

Plate circa 2003

probably one of the more radical frame design of that time, here is another example of wild designs I love from the Pre-Lux era. The box was pretty cool too taking design cues from this frame.

 

[cacatman]

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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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...

Stealing this for a list. Thanks for sharing @Hed568

 

[sgtsodo]

Very fun thread

 

[SingleservingJoe]

Hi, I had have these, maybe you could use it

 

[cacatman]

I had always associated the "O" insignia lens etching with fakes. I'd seen this post before, but never realised it was officially released on the E-wire.