Sunglasses

Jean-F · 15 May 2018 at 15:45

Can any of you well travelled, sophisticated, men of the world recommend me a pair of sunglasses, I’m not aiming to look like a movie star, I just want the best anti glare that I can find.
I have a pair of Bailey Nelson, that I bought in Brisbane maybe 8 or 9 years ago, and a pair of Gatorz Radiator, that I bought in Naples FL a year or two later.
They’ve always been more than adequate, but I don’t know if my eyes are are getting less resistant to glare as I’m getting older, or the sun is getting stronger, or what, but I’m having to narrow my eyes in strong sunlight lately, even when wearing the Aussie Bailey Nelson ones, which had always been good at reducing glare.

Scam · 15 May 2018 at 15:54

Budget? I've had my eye on buying a pair of Tens recently, but that's only because of the marketing. At the end of the day they're only available online and you have to pay to return them so I've moaned at them that that's pretty unreasonable for something like sunglasses that you really need to try on.

In other words; get yourself down the high street into a Boots, M&S or whatever floats your boat and try some on... My pair came from Fat Face for £15 I think

Stringy · 15 May 2018 at 16:04

Really depends on your budget and what style you like; I've got a pair of Ray Ban Tech Aviators which I love, and a pair of Nike SB mirrored Wayfarer-style shades that were only £25 from TK Maxx that I also love equally...try TK Maxx for some surprisingly good value 'designer' shades, Boots are also good.

As above just go try some on! Different styles suit different heads!

Pho · 15 May 2018 at 16:05

I've a pair of Maui Jim Castles (I paid about £100 less than the RRP) which have been great in extremely bright sunlight. Make sure you get polarised lenses to help with the glare.

(Maui Jim's are regarded as having higher quality lenses than Ray Ban's from what I read, but I'd imagine to most of us there's little difference!)

samcat · 15 May 2018 at 16:29

Pho said:
I've a pair of Maui Jim Castles (I paid about £100 less than the RRP) which have been great in extremely bright sunlight. Make sure you get polarised lenses to help with the glare.

Clicked the link, scared myself... Seriously HOW MUCH!!! Thats daft money.

went to Cyprus recently, took a £15 pair of Duco polarised sunnies that I scored on Amazon.. If there was a problem or I didnt like them its an easy return and the price is right. With the money saved over your option I went on Holiday!

MikeTheNative · 15 May 2018 at 16:41

Is there any difference between polarised designer glasses that cost £150 odd and polarised no name brand off Amazon for £20?

dl8860 · 15 May 2018 at 16:43

Like samcat I'm pretty pleased with el cheapo one's from Amazon. I'm no connoisseur but getting polarised lenses at that price is amazing if you aren't too bothered about the brand.

Scam · 15 May 2018 at 16:46

samcat said:
Clicked the link, scared myself... Seriously HOW MUCH!!! Thats daft money.

Agreed. I'd maybe pay up to £100 but nothing more.

I was intrigued to see Fernando Alonso wearing some cool shades last weekend, called Kimoa. Turns out he owns the brand. Turns out they're between £60-£120 which was a lot less than I expected for a multimillionaire to be wearing. If a £70 pair is good enough for someone worth $220m and is going to be seen wearing them on the telly to millions of fans, I can't see why anyone "normal" would want to pay more

Cleisthenes · 15 May 2018 at 16:50

It isn't just about the lenses, it's about the quality of the product and the style/design as well.

You can't just look at a pair that cost X and say they are ridiculously expensive and not worth it to in comparison to Y just because you don't see the value.

Scam said:
Agreed. I'd maybe pay up to £100 but nothing more.

I was intrigued to see Fernando Alonso wearing some cool shades last weekend, called Kimoa. Turns out he owns the brand. Turns out they're between £60-£120 which was a lot less than I expected for a multimillionaire to be wearing. If a £70 pair is good enough for someone worth $220m and is going to be seen wearing them on the telly to millions of fans, I can't see why anyone "normal" would want to pay more

No good when the website doesn't work for me though!

dl8860 · 15 May 2018 at 16:53

Cleisthenes said:
It isn't just about the lenses, it's about the quality of the product and the style/design as well.

You can't just look at a pair that cost X and say they are ridiculously expensive and not worth it to in comparison to Y just because you don't see the value.

No good when the website doesn't work for me though!

Absolutely, people will pay through the nose for fashion, and it brings them great joy no doubt. It just is the case that these days you can get polarised lenses for ~£15, it looks like the cartel of charging £150+ has been truly busted, much to the joy of people who don't want to get shafted by the shifty sunglasses industry.

MikeTheNative · 15 May 2018 at 16:57

So the lenses of the cheapos are just as good as the designer stuff then? I got a pair of Amazon and despite being a 1/10th of the price of my friend's ray bans you would struggle to say where the extra money went.

dl8860 · 15 May 2018 at 17:03

MikeTheNative said:
So the lenses of the cheapos are just as good as the designer stuff then? I got a pair of Amazon and despite being a 1/10th of the price of my friend's ray bans you would struggle to say where the extra money went.

I've no idea if objectively they are as good or not, just that I'm pleased enough with mine. Oh, and the extra money went to these guys https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxottica Total geniuses who have extracted every last penny of value from the sunglasses market worldwide, they design and manufacture sunglasses, as well as owning sunglasses hut.

Minusorange · 15 May 2018 at 17:03

MikeTheNative said:
Is there any difference between polarised designer glasses that cost £150 odd and polarised no name brand off Amazon for £20?

It's not polarised you want to be looking at but the UV protection

https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/pr...ovide-uv-protection-cheaper/story?id=25337330

As long as they block UV doesn't matter if they're £10 or £1,000 they both do the exact job just the £1,000 pair might have slightly better build quality and more expensive material in the frame

Haggisman · 15 May 2018 at 17:04

Scam said:
If a £70 pair is good enough for someone worth $220m and is going to be seen wearing them on the telly to millions of fans, I can't see why anyone "normal" would want to pay more

Scam said:
Turns out he owns the brand.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to marketing 101

terley · 15 May 2018 at 17:05

I'd reccomend these from amazon, great build quality, solid metal and very comfortable.. I've had more than one pair from this brand, they are fantastic.

They are also polarized

The aviator variant is great too.. The brand is ATTCL, these ones are the wayfarers.

peterwalkley · 15 May 2018 at 17:11

samcat said:
went to Cyprus recently, took a £15 pair of Duco polarised sunnies that I scored on Amazon.. If there was a problem or I didnt like them its an easy return and the price is right. With the money saved over your option I went on Holiday!

That's spooky. This thread remind me I needed some new cheap ones for the summer and I just now ordered some Duco ones on a lightning deal for £15. I guess they get discounted frequently.

Pho · 15 May 2018 at 17:13

samcat said:
Clicked the link, scared myself... Seriously HOW MUCH!!! Thats daft money.

went to Cyprus recently, took a £15 pair of Duco polarised sunnies that I scored on Amazon.. If there was a problem or I didnt like them its an easy return and the price is right. With the money saved over your option I went on Holiday!

I only splashed out on them because I plan to keep them for years and years. If they were a commodity item there's no way I'd spend that much money

.

I'm generally rather tight and seldomly buy anything unless it's something for the long haul

Scam · 15 May 2018 at 17:17

Haggisman said:
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to marketing 101

Well, that's obvious. But my point was if a multimillionaire is happy to wear a £70 of sunglasses then why are people so easily fooled that they need to spend a few hundred £££s for whatever reason? :confused:

I find it interesting...

Freakbro · 15 May 2018 at 17:18

I got some Oakley sunglasses recently, but I need prescription lenses, so they cost me over £200 each for the glasses & sunglasses...

(and that was buy 1 get 1 half price)

Oh the joys of being as blind as a bat.

They are good though!

x-st · 15 May 2018 at 17:19

The best sunglasses that I've tried are Maui Jim's. They have incredible polarised lenses and actually feel like they enhance colours rather than just dim everything down. I'd really recommend that you actually try on a range of sunglasses to get some idea of the differences because they can vary a fair amount between brands. Ultimately the most important aspect of any sunglass is UV protection though...polarisation is great but not the be all and end all.