"Marking ten years since its debut, the Oakley Tailend returns in a 10th Anniversary edition crafted from premium titanium. Its ultra-lightweight frame ensures lasting comfort, while the faux-rimless design delivers a clean, contemporary edge. A matte finish on the outer orbitals adds subtle texture, balancing modern refinement with the original’s distinctive character. The result is a statement piece that merges Oakley’s design heritage with precision engineering for everyday wear."

Ten years!!! H01B3RG and I did a review of them, and it certain wasn't that long ago. Guess we're old.

Premium titanium? Wonder what that is going to be now. More marketing foo like "X-Metal" which basically meant any old Ti alloy we could get our hands on: https://www.oakleyforum.com/threads/xmetal-what-is-it.119152/page-7#post-1968719

Ten years!!! H01B3RG and I did a review of them, and it certain wasn't that long ago. Guess we're old. - Dann

I remember that review and trip like it was yesterday… not 10yrs ago. Damn, we are old!

That was the 100th O Store Visit trip.

Premium titanium? Wonder what that is going to be now. More marketing foo like "X-Metal" which basically meant any old Ti alloy we could get our hands on: https://www.oakleyforum.com/threads/xmetal-what-is-it.119152/page-7#post-1968719 - andr3

I assume it’s because the Tailend Ti is made in Japan. That type of branding carries a “premium” tag. Japanese-made titanium in the eyewear industry is like “Swiss Made” for the horological industry.

Oakley bought a golf club factory for its X-metals in the mid ‘90’s. It was always gonna be made of consumer-grade materials, especially since eyewear made of titanium was a relatively newer thing back in the day; they certainly weren't gonna invent a new grade of Ti. While the industry has advanced enough these days where some brands use purer titanium (such as Leisure Society’s Pure Block Titanium), most of the high pricing these days is attributed to relatively expensive small batch manufacturing techniques (such as cold rolled titanium in some of Massada’s eyewear) or DMLS printing (such as what Oakley did with the Plantaris Ti and the MUZM X-metals).

Or at least that’s the spin marketing gives you so you pay more.

Yupp, that is another marketing spin. Pure Ti might sound good when you're not a metallurgist. But when you are, you're rolling your eyes because that is the relatively cheap stuff. The alloying elements give it its strength.

There's not a mill on the planet that will make you little quantities you need for making some eyewear frames. Its made in ingots which come upwards of 8t. So of course eyewear makers have to buy the common, commercially available grades from stockists in sheet, plate or bar form (or powder for additive layer manufacturing). Their demand is way too little for approaching a mill directly, much less customizing their own alloys.

As for Japan, Nippon Steel Sumitomo makes Ti over there. Of course, like any other, they make the common grades in the same quality as their competition. Nothing special there.