My friend was really excited about showing me his new $200 pair of Ray Bans. Sure, they’re polarized, but so are my $40 Iron Man sunglasses. In fact, his look about the same as mine. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were just the same thing with different logos. Why are they so much more expensive? Are they going to last 5 times longer? Or did he just throw away $160?
As far as I’m concerned, it’s the performance of the lenses. Optical clarity, distortion of colors, that sort of thing.
Almost all of my jobs had been driving (courier, beverage delivery) but I could never afford decent sunglasses. Always drugstore clipons or cheap fitovers. The view was always not quite foggy but not crystal clear and scenery would take on the hue of the lens I was looking through.
This year, I used part of my coaching stipend for some cycling glasses. Tifosi Mast with Drivewear lenses from Sport Rx, a San Diego optical shop that specializes in producing full wrap sport glasses with the prescription ground into the entire lens.
The base frame was $50. The Rx and Drivewear option were $100 and $135 respectively.
There’s no feeling of looking through a dark lens and color alteration is almost non-existent.
Yep, been wearing good high quality sun glasses for years. Living in the mountains, with lots of snow and VERY bright sunshine, I practically live in them. I NEVER leave home with out them unless it’s night, and I’ll be back that same night.
It’s such a habit to wear them, that I usually have them on when it’s a bit dreary out. I seem to get better contrast. Anyway, my relatives back east think I’m a bit weird for always wearing sunglasses. That’s just not the case in Colorado.
I’ve always had high-quality sunglasses, until I left my last pair in an airport a few months ago. I wasn’t excited about spending another $100+ for a new pair, so I’ve been buying cheap ($10-$20) pairs at TJ Maxx and Target since then.
I thought at first that I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, but boy-oh-boy can I ever. They are not as comfortable, they scratch easily, and the lens itself doesn’t block as much light nor does it have very good clarity.
I’m ready for another good pair, but I don’t have the time to shop right now, nor is there a good place to buy them locally. Next time I go out of town, I’m definitely buying a decent pair.
I got a pair of prescription wraps with a frame by some designer or other. Within six months, with no abuse whatsoever, the frame broke, apparently from the unimaginable stress of having to cling to my head. I’ve flirted with getting a pair of Maui Jim frames, but that’s a lot of jingle for something that might break.
Blu-blockers were worth it, and the designer held the patent to the lens color. Knock-offs weren’t too bad, but the actual difference one perceived in Blu-blockers was amazing.
I specified that I wanted a pair or Rx glasses in Blu-blocker, I was told they couldn’t do it, because of patent rights, but they could come pretty close.
Quality and fit of the frames is important, too.
But the brand name and price tag aren’t.
I have a prescription pair in a Ray-Ban large aviator frame that were quite expensive, but they’re polarized, driver-photochromic, scratch-coated, anti-reflection coated, and seamless bifocal. The main correction is minimal - about 0.25 diopter and some slight astigmatism remaining from my PRK - but they help in reducing eye fatigue while driving, and I can read signs perhaps 50% further overall. The reading panels make it easy to read the dashboard, nav system and my phone while I’m texting. (Just kidding on the last.) They’re just the most amazing glasses I’ve ever owned, and it’s been over six years.
I need a new pair but at $500+ I am trying to wring another year out of these battered warriors.
Sport Rx will re-lens your frames. Worth a call.
I have a pair of Ray Ban Ambermatic Aviators I bought in the '80s. The price on the hang tag says $48. I thought that was expensive then!
I’ve got a pair of Oakley glasses that cost a startling $200 when I got them, but twelve years later, I still have them.
So, in addition to better quality of the optics where the world is just dimmer, rather than tinted some color, and not warped, they last well. They’ve endured being sat on, dropped, etc. About all they can’t handle is being smacked with rocks kicked up by a lawn mower. Some scuffs on the sunglasses are preferable to scuffs on the corneas!
Basically all mid- to high-end sunglasses are made by Luxotica, an Italian manufacture that dominates the eyewear industry-- seriously, they own everything.
So you are going to see a big difference between a $10 and a $50 pair, but not much of a difference between a $50 and a $200 pair except the branding. Choose glasses that feel sturdy and are attractive and in your price range. There is no hidden advantage to the ultra-expensive ones beyond that.
I kind of agree with sven, but I would raise the threshold to around $100 to $150. We are talking about optical equipment here, after all, even if there is no “correction” involved. That costs a bit to do well. But anything much over $150 or so, and I believe you are paying for the name rather than the quality.
Well, for one thing I’ll go with the heavier Serengeti frames next time. I’ve spent 6 years popping one lens or the other back into the thin RB ones. 
But if they have this combination of lens characteristics, I’d certainly go for a break on the price…
The up side to that is that you can apparently walk in to any LensCrafters or Pearle Vision with your Ray-Bans and they’ll clean them for you, for free. Because Luxotica also owns Pearle and LensCrafters. I learned this while standing around with a dirty pair of Wayfarers tucked in my shirt while my wife was trying on frames.
I’ve never figured out why some companies, especially the high-end ones, brag about having polarized lenses. I know why they work; did the math back in college. But making a polarized film is not exactly rocket science. I always kinda figured that polarizing lenses was a cheap way to accomplish what they should be doing with better glass and coatings.
Does Serengeti still make glasses (or brand them)? I’ve got a pair of theirs I bought 20 years ago, but I haven’t seen them in a store for ages.
I’m not sure how “better glass” factors in there, but polarizing and coatings do different jobs that overlap. Used together they do things neither can do alone. It’s hardly a cheap gimmick.
I wore nothing but Serengeti when I wore contacts; loved the heft and solid build and the driver-chromatic gradient lenses. They’re still around AFAIK but like Ray-Ban, they’ve gone through ups and downs in the market.
Here’s Serengeti’s website.
They have an online shop.
Well, the polarizing cuts out the glare that’s reflected off the ground. Seems like if you’ve got really good lenses, dark enough to work well in direct sunlight (but not too dark), they’d already block the glare without the extra step of making them polarized.
No, the deal is that reflections are generally polarized at (I think) right angles to the direct light for reasons I have no idea. So by choosing the right lens orientation, you can eliminate glare while not eliminating the light you’re actually trying to see by.
They’re also good for eliminating glare off the water while fishing or sailing.