Ray-Ban Rb8301 Aviator Sunglasses

I am male and pushing 50 year old. I am no fashion expert but also acknowledge that sunglasses are a personal choice - much like shoes or watches. These glasses are part of the Ray-Ban Tech series and come with composite temples that are wrapped in carbon fiber. The front of the frame that surrounds the lenses is made of metal and the width of the lens is 56mm. Mine say made in China. The more traditional classic (Ray-Ban RB3025) sunglasses are made of all-metal frames and are manufactured in Italy. The aviator style is not for everyone. I can certainly appreciate that these are fashionable right now so they command a premium price, close to $200 at the retail/mall stores. I also own the RB3025 gold framed 55mm classic aviators with polarized lenses and spatula temples. My classic aviators have taller lenses despite the 55mm designation and the lenses are shaped to cover a larger area of the face. Be warned that most Ray Ban aviators also come in 58mm lenses. With either the classic RB3025 or Tech series, the 58mm lenses appear huge and in my opinion look better suited to a woman's face. Especially those looking for that fashionable over-sized look. These 56mm smaller lenses are perfect for a middle aged, middle of the road kind of guy. I am 6 feet tall and weight 175lbs with a thin build. The frames are light but the composite/carbon fiber temples do not wrap behind your ears like the classic aviator spatula temples. The spatula temples are the ones that have a downward bend behind the ears. My teenage son stole my gold classic aviators (circa 1980s) with the comfort cable temples that flex and wrap around the back of your ears; I don't believe that Ray-Ban makes comfort cables any more but they were great at keeping the glasses from sliding off and could be worn under a headset or over the ear head phones. So here is the problem with these Tech series glasses. Be careful, if your face is wet or if you have sunscreen on your nose, you might find these sliding off your face and onto the floor. Unlike classic aviators, they don't have spatula temples or comfort cables to hold on to the back of your ears. Look at the picture and you will notice that the temples are almost straight. The weight of the frames is over your nose pads. I use Maui Jim composite sunglasses for sports and outdoor activities because I worry that the Ray Bans will slide off my face. Remember that these Ray-Bans are fashion frames and not the best choice if you plan to go on a Jet-Ski or jumping into the surf. Trust me on this one. The lens quality is great. Optical quality is just as good as my Maui Jim glasses. Mine come with Black frames and subtle grey mirror lenses. They are cool but don't scream"look at me" like some of the mirrored green, orange, or blue lenses. Understated yet fashionable. The lens has an embossed white logo that says, "Ray Ban P" and the temples also have a riveted "Ray-Ban" logo on each side. I think it is really overkill to have the words Ray-Bay on three sides but I guess it is the price you pay for vanity. I bought mine on sale at Amazon and saved a few bucks. Cheaper than the retail stores. I love them. It is best to try them on at a retail store and see if you agree. Read more

Love these sunnies, so light weight yet strong top quality construction. Lenses perfect as you expect from Ray-Ban and LOVE the shape, almost ( but not over the top and/or masculine) the classic Aviator but not as harsh, allowing them to truly be a unisex style. Only negative is that the rubber? ear piece, catches and pulls out at least one hair (I have long hair) every time I take them off... Might think about removing or replacing those Read more

This is my second pair of Ray-Ban's - both from the "Tech" series, and I love this pair even more than the original ones, which were Aviators with the silver "Carbon Fiber" (C.F.) temples/earpieces (model # RB8307 004/N8 58-14). Notice I put "Carbon Fiber" in double-quotes (""), as being a mechanical engineer with a long history in advanced composites, I am 99% sure that they aren't actual carbon fiber, so much as a sister composite such as "Texalium" which uses thin aluminum threads rather than carbon nanotubes. This is quite obvious from the fact that NO C.F. is anything other than a dull matte-black, and both of these shades use a shiny silver woven composite matrix. And yes, I am aware there are specialised aesthetic version of C.F. (e.g. "lightning strike" which weave colored threads or wires in-between the carbon ones), but this is not the case with these products. However, for all practical intents & purposes (other than pure aesthetics), the performance/durability of these materials in this application is identical (and once could argue the silvery color is more flashy/appealing over a dull black). So... now onto the good stuff. I got these recently as a replacement for my venerable Aviator-style Tech-series shades, because after 3+ years of hard abuse, they were ready for retirement. Many years of dropping, hard impacts, & etc... had finally taken their toll on my old shades, and they couldn't sit on my head straight anymore. Plus, the very tough lenses were fairly scratched up. Also, after bending the temple/earpiece bars excessively (to show a friend how indestructible they were), the little black TPE (rubber) pads on the tips started de-laminating. The final straw was when both opposite earpiece bars became so out-of-alignment, that they wouldn't sit on my face let alone sit flat on a tabletop. I think this was due to the very impressively tough "monoblock" hinges finally getting bent out of alignment (yes, with some careful attention, I may have been able to bend things back into a more nominal alignment, but it was just time to treat myself to a nice new pair...). So now, enter the actual sunglasses being reviewed. It took me a while to decide on the actual model, but I wanted it to be Ray-Ban's (again), and they had to be polarized (once you go down the +P road, you can't go back). I finally settled on this "oval" shape and chose the best lens/frame/temple color combination for my tastes (grey-silver mirror/silver/white + red). As soon as they arrived, I loved them even more than the venerable aviators for the following reasons: 1) Better style (for my face at least) - having the same general aviator shape, but slightly thinner they just look/feel better 2) No adjustments out-of-the-box - they just fit perfectly, unlike the Aviators, which I had to bend the nosepieces back and forth and the monoblock hinges slightly to get them to sit level on my face 3) Better temple/earpiece construction - unlike the Aviators, which were hard "C.F" surrounded by a bulky TPE (rubber) over-molding throughout the whole piece, these are simple, hard-yet-flexible solid composite. Much thinner + lower-profile, and a better look + fit I'm in love with these puppies, but have to concede that my initial impressions lead me to believe that the smaller/slimmer "monoblock" hinges won't be as robust as the Aviator model. However, I am very happy with these and am sure that as long as I treat them with just a tiny sense of care, they will be around for many years to come. Highly recommended. Read more

I have paid for the Polarized, but the one I received is not. Nice but not what I was waiting for. Read more

I was a little skeptical to purchase a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses online but this purchase made me a believer. I read over a hundred reviews on many different available glasses of the same model number. Talks of being fake and also problems with products being damaged made me very hesitant. However, after receiving the RB8301's I can now say that they are authentic Ray Ban sunglasses. All markings, etchings, and numbers are in the correct places on the sunglasses and they really seem to be durable. I bought these for my wife but could eventually see myself buying a pair for myself from this seller/store in the future. I would definitely recommend them and their eyewear. Thank you! Read more

Everything came timely, just as it should. Quality is there. Mine say "Made in China", a lot of things are... Great glasses. light, snug fit, great color. Get compliments on the frames. Professional looking and awesome! These were $240 at factory outlet store. $140 on Amazon. Cashed in my flyer miles for a whopping $41. Boom! Read more

Love the glasses but, the tips pull on my hair and I lose strands every time I take them off. I guess if you have a shaved head they would be perfect. I still use them even though I lose hair. Read more