Also, just to clarify. That custom pup giving a headache can't be ours, as we've never made a custom lens for the pup.

Never said they were yours...just stating my experience with custom lenses...and was replying to a previous statement. Just to clarify...

@david: do you have any plans of having custom cut lenses for the pup though?

Hey keystone, do you think you can make a lens that is pure red for the juliet? Something like Cyclops' glasses? I mean... just RED. No blue like +red or orange like ruby iridiums.

some G26 or violet dogs please!!

Sean, keystone is, and has been working on a "Ruby Quartz" lens, but has been having trouble with it, IIRC.


~Yukio

Keystone, if you're still reading this, Can you cut replacement lenses for the original Frogskins? It seems the the frames are easy enough to come by but it's almost impossible to find them without scratched lenses

Tick, hang tight, Froggies are making a comeback, and they are from the ORIGINAL molds, so the lenses should fit, and I hope use the latest technologies they have developed...God I would love to see a crystal/violet pair in mint shape on the new run...Love that colorway!

I know that you make your lenses...but are they the same optical quality as Oakley? Like, protection from the sun-wise as well as clarity.

hey David. can u pm me with a contact number? I wanna walk in one of these days to have u guys cut some lenses for me :-)

Based on the feed back here and on ebay, I went ahead and ordered some titanium iridium lenses. Less flashy than the ruby I'm wearing now, but I want some high contrast lenses for all the driving I do. I'll report back when I get them.

Got them yesterday. Quality work. They went in real easy - much easier than factory replacements. They are cut a bit smaller than factory penny lenses. You can see the edges of the cut from the inside, but the outside looks fine. And when the frame is tightened, it still results in a snug fit.

It's a nice looking combo to boot.

I'll post some pics later when I get a chance.

I was going to ask the same thing as Sean, I'd love to get my hands on ruby quartz for my Juliets, U6ly_Kwans got a cool set-up and even has the prop blinders on the Juliets in his gallery, you dont even see the prop blinders come up on ebay for juliets anymore, but if David can replicate the same ruby effect those lenses would fly off the (virtual) shelves.

I realise the ruby quartz wouldnt be that practical but theyd be awesome for a display model so I'd even be willing to cut corners and sacrifice optical precision, until then I think +red will be the closest we really will come to the ruby you see in x-men, I have an initial batch ruby juliet and that still doesnt come close

Don't know why the links are showing broken, but the pics seem to be there.

So sorry I don't get to come often. o-review is seriously addicting, so I find myself not working for hours every time I visit. :o)

Tick, I also heard about the Frogskin comeback during the hq visit. I hope Oakley would offer replacement lenses for them.

Rob, thanks for the purchase and review. Due to x-metal frame variations, our custom lenses are usually designed and cut to fit the smallest of the frames, yet still not shake around in the larger ones. Even so, we still have too tight issues with some customer frames, and very few but some loose lens issues. We always try to include (with in-house custom lenses) a small piece of double stick foam that can be cut into a 1 mm thick strip and inserted into the track to cure the shake. Recent Custom Eyewear stuff from Oakley commonly have the shaky lens Juliet problem.

Justin, Our in-house produced lenses have the quality and clarity of optical grade polycarbonate. Meaning, if you went to your optometrist/optical-shop and got an Rx glasses with polycarbonate upgrade for thinner, lighter, UV protection, scratch resistance, and impact resistance, you would end up with same quality as our lens. These are not some cheap 7/11 sunglass lenses made of acrylic. Of course, scratch resistance on the front surface is much reduced after the mirror coating, as mirror coating is always more scratch prone than the hard coating on polycarbonates. Tint in the lens is part of the material like Oakley lens, so it won't fade over time like dyed sun lenses that most Rx sunglass lenses are.

Currently, we use 2mm thick lenses, which are slightly thicker than most Oakley lenses, but we plan to reduce the thickness. It's not easy to find pre-tinted high base curve polycarbonate lens in the US under 2mm.

As far as optical clarity, we are always trying our best to improve. Technically, Oakley's HDO is probably still better, although most people couldn't tell the difference. Oakley even claims their lens is better than Maui Jim's, but most of our customers prefer Maui Jim's lens (including myself) as clarity difference is very difficult to detect, but feature difference is very noticible. Most of Maui Jim's sunglasses come with polycarbonate, polarized (laminated, instead of Oakley's fused polarization), back-side anti-reflective coating, bi-gradient mirror, and are rimless (reduced internal stress, which causes slight optical distortion). Of these, two features make the greatest difference: polarization & back-side anti-reflective coating. Oakley has a few lenses, including, grey polarized, that has polarization and back-side anti-reflective coating, but most lenses you and I have on our Oakleys don't have these (both) features, as they are expensive features. I'm not putting down Oakley lens, as I do believe they are great, but I just don't have any customers that say "Wow, now I know why people pay more than $10 for sunglasses" about Oakley lenses, as the difference is less obvious. I do hear that all the time about Maui Jim & RayBan's G15 polarized with backside anti-reflective coating. Polarized G15 (kinda greenish - like Oakley's dark grey) is my personal favorate & I have a custom Square Wire 2.0 Light frame with those lens that I wear for driving. (trader, yes, i know) Yes, I do talk too much, but what can I say, I'm very passionate about what I do. As far as looks, innovation, non-slipness, durability, and cool lens, Oakley knocks the socks off everyone else.

Dorian, Sean, & Yukio, Yes, we have been working hard (approaching 2.5 years now) on Ruby Quartz replica, but sad to say that it's still a way off. I used to complain so much about Oakley's Ruby and +Red variations and why they couldn't just make the Ruby like the movie and make everyone happy. Well, now I'm very humbled and don't complain anymore. I don't know whether I would ever make the money back from all the investments for Ruby Quartz. We were going to call them Ruby Quartz Plus (plus, meaning that you could actually wear them, not just display them for show or pictures), but I'm really not sure if it'll happen anytime soon.

+Red looks pretty good, but it usually takes going through several sets of lens to get the color right, and that's very costly. Also, we get so many +Red defects from Oakley, and when you have to charge so much for lens, not even the slightest blemish is acceptable.

Bok & Donny, We can only cut lenses that make business sense as we are a business, and only frames that have been around for a long time has demand for replacement lenses. Pup is sorta out of questions for some time. G26, is not only very difficult to obtain, it's a color variation nightmare. It's so costly and time consuming, we can pretty much only justify for them for the Juliet & Penny, if they sell high.

Chester, Very sorry, we no longer take walk-in customers, and we also don't make one-offs or cut customer's lens. Too much liability to cut customer's lens. The last time I did that was to cut Cal's Ruby Clear into his X-Metal XX. That's a sweet lens. :o)

I wonder if anyone's even going to read all this. I just talk too much & this is why I have to try to stay away, so I can get some work done. I'm just really glad for o-review as some of the members inspired us and helped us. It was Lee Silver that introduced me to o-review, and I'm very grateful. See you all next time.

Thanks for the information David. You have clarified a lot of questions, and also put to bed the issue of Ruby Quartz and why people can't buy....I just hope those whom beg for it read you explanation and understand where your coming from.

Also you don't talk to much, you just explain in detail....

I'm with Mike. A very informative and much appreciated response from the man behind the lenses. My wife and I have purchased several lenses and love your quality and service.

Thanks so very much for all that great insight. The new products you're rolling out are awesome (Dawn is dead set on getting a pair of Romeo Metallic Purple lenses ASAP!) and as always, your Oakley-cut lenses are fantastic.

Can't wait to see what else you guys come up with soon!


~Yukio

That was very informative, David. You should post more often in this forum and in other threads. I can see that from what you have just shared, you still have a lot more. Your opinion in some threads here could be invaluable. Keep on posting.

Yes, indeed people did read all that! And I found it very informative. Thanks!

Great stuff! I always love to learn more about optics and lenses. Had to swallow hard when I read your comment about Maui Jim and RayBan but I guess it's a fair one. We've seen Oakley make an effort with their new hydrophobic coating and let's hope they won't stop there.

I've been on a quest to get Rx lenses in a +Red, Ruby or G26-like colour and now I understand why I haven't had any success.

Hope work won't keep you from posting again soon.

Great info David. Don't worry about writing a lot, it was all very clear, informative, and interesting.

Oh I read all that. No problem David. I guess now I gotta up my game few more notches when it comes to my own custom cutting :-)

Very cool...I like the info above from David. I wish I had the hardware to cut them cleaner, but most of mine are pretty nice considering they are all Dremeled out. I am going to grab up some of the purple lenses and try out, look pretty cool to me. Top notch guy from what I see. I do have a question though, what is this about "you receive many + red defects from Oakley"? Are you able to buy them? That would be interesting..Either way, informative and cool!!

Keystone, I wish you luck and all the best in your quest to reproduce Ruby Quartz PLUS.

Guys, what I'm doing now is I'm going around optical shops asking them if they are able to reproduce the ruby quartz. So far every shop I went to could do a base red lens, no problem. But when it came to mirror finishings, they couldn't do it. I look around when I'm out... HOPEFULLY I'll be able to source out something at an affordable price.

Dr. Chop, the +Red defects I was referring to are the +Red M Frame lenses. Again, I used to complain more but now I understand much more about the color variations. Oakley is king when it comes to mirror finishes.

they really are. I have seen a lot of variances in color, and continuity in the color transitions across the lens surface. It is really an art to mastering it I would imagine. A few seconds too long or short in the coating chamber and I would imagine it would make a big difference..Maybe not, for me, I don't know anything about the coating process other than the machinery looks cool!! You would certainly understand and be more adapt to explain it. Oh, your Metallic Purple lenses look sweet, I think I am going to grab some soon!