what's the difference between crown jewel and holy grail?

haven't bought any oakley sunglasses over the two years, but my prized oakley sunglasses are:

Oakley Finito with matching serial to my birthday(month and date), i actually got this as a warranty replacement to another Finito pair with flex coupler faulty, imagine the surprise finding out the serial #

Oakley Ichiro emerald slate, kept the emerald lens and configured it to custom OO blue idirium with matching blue unobtainiums..

both glasses are worn regularly. :D

also, i just pulled the trigger on half x a few days ago from ebay, figured it's a bargain compared to the price in the shops where i live..

here's my tips:

use a simple sewing thread to hold all the washers together..

once you align the arm on the frame
the washers wont be aligned properly
but there should be a little hole where the (unaligned)washers make
use a sewing needle and once u get it thru that little hole, twist the needle around and get the washers aligned
ta-da, screw it in and you're set.

wow, great responses n stories, i especially like the O-rep that customized his hardshell into a DSLR case..

yeah, mountain biking is also a great market for Oakley, pretty much everyone i know who's into mountain biking is into oakley.

maybe someone should PM JJ? i remember he used to post here? is he still around?

hi everyone, haven't posted here for a while now.. so please bear with me for the idea i'm coming up with for Oakley.., for those who cannot wait, jump down to the last 3rd paragraph :

first off, nice to see new x-metal, half-x, definitely getting one with the tungsten iridium..

haven't gotten myself any new oakley sunglasses over the year too.., sold off(sorry) my collection of juliets including the rubies, kept a couple left which i love most(a finito, and an emerald ichiro, plus oo blue lens), and that's it. but no worries, the force(madness) is still strong with me.., yup it is.., from sunglasses i've moved to Oakley apparels.., short sleeve shirts mostly.. :D

anyways, for the past year, i've gotten into photography, amateurish one that is. it serves well as a hobby to fill the gap time between work n sorts.

Oakley's bags and backpacks are notoriously famous. we all know that. the wicked design, high quality materials, and the icon, a little O badge that's so addictive combined with everything else mentioned or not.

so, the DSLR market is growing, not just growing but it's booming over the couple of years, you can read that in every other news channel/newspaper/etc.

as an Oakley fan, and a photographer, i know for sure if there's an Oakley DSLR Camera Backpack, i wouldn't even think twice and get it instantly!

so there, camera backpacks/shoulder bags + oakley = a potentially very good product. hope someone at Oakley HQ reads this..

actually, u can try using one of the camera lens cleaning kit. i bought one for my camera and it worked wonderfully on the oakleys. it's the pen type cleaning kit. :D

forgot to add: use an air blower to remove dust first.

ok this is off topic but since i read about the japanese swords up there, here's a good link that i found a little while back to shop for great quality of japanese swords replicas and iaito's, it's a japanese site but in english.

why replicas/iaito? an original sword just cost way too much(information also on the site), check it out you guys. it made me drool all over when i found the site the 1st time back then..

www.jidai.jp

good luck and Godspeed to Yoko for a safe return from the duty.

if the latest offerings of frame colours and lens are the indication, i'm not optimistic that Oakley would release crazy color combos for the new xmetals. but then again, they might have reserved the crazy colors just for xmetals and let other series have more conventional ones. :D

it's always exciting to wait for a new xmetal family member! :D i remember the fun days before R2..

my top 3 shades that draw loox:

1. juliet xmetal/ruby
2. juliet carbon/oo blue
3. juliet polished/emerald

yeah, i only have xmetals on my collection. they're only 5 though. :D

well i never saw the new version of the SI assault shoes but here's a funny story of the old version one:

last time i bought a pair of the 1st gen SI assault shoes. they were my size when i asked about it on local online classifieds. it was a brand new pair and when the package came i couldn't be happier holding the black shoes in hand, sturdy, high quality stichings, excellent sole material and design, great shoes all the way!

but alas!!! even though it's labeled my foot size, it's too tight for me!!! trying the shoes out next day for the whole day, i decided it's really too small and hurts my toes. in the end, i took the shoes to my mom's and i gave away the shoes to her, she tried it and it fits just right, and was really happy cos it's a pair of very nice shoes!

good thing is, i already fell in love with the quality of the 1st gen SI assault shoes, but cannot agree with the pricetag of $195. so the newer SI assault shoes with $125 pricing is just right!! once they're available here i'm gonna check them out. if it's built as good as the 1st gen assault shoes, then i'm definitely gonna get it!!

that's strange, it was still there yesterday when i checked out the ruby juliet on oakley.com. they must've removed it today.

anyways, about Juliet's quality? yes. it's quite irritating for a $300+ priced sunglass. been there done that. so yeah, i agree with Rick above, i just hope Oakley dicontinue them already since it seems that they don't produce it with any 'heart' anymore. if you know what i mean.

i've been over a few pairs with those kind of defects, interestingly, (not all but)only those newer ones or recent production that has problems. older ones with lower serials# (2004 or before) tends to have better quality, but that doesn't apply to all of them too.

well, for my own collection, i only keep those that are closest to a 'vintage quality'(must be: properly aligned, no stripped screws, balanced flex couplers, tshox earstem extensions fully rest into the tshox holes when rubbers taken out, and proper folding earstems without touching the frame, in short, no problematic frames!)

easiest to cure by DIY method is the common wobbling lens problem, while all other problems can only be fixed by the Oakley warranty dept.

shameless for me to say this, but do check my listings on the classifieds too. there will be a nice reduction for all three items bought together!

i'm gonna list those items on ebay.de by October if it's not sold by then, my sister goes back there later after holiday and she can help me list them with her ebay account, her feedback's only in the range of 20-30+ but i'm in no rush selling, so it'll be only BINs listings. i'm sure the buyer will be very satisfied!

:D

yup. penny and juliet's lenses have the same base curve. i think it's base curve 8? can't remember the exact number but it's on the oakley catalogue in OPDs. :D

Good luck to your listings Jonathan, yeah, school sucks, stay in it! it'll be useful more than you know later. :D

actually, dr.J is correct. Ice is the one that has greenish tint on it while the oo blue is purplish, both the ichiro and the oo blue(newer non contrast enhancing version).

both blue and oo blue lenses for juliets has been discontinued right?

that was in my possesion until i let it go to another member of this forum.

i'm rooting for brazil, but history says that brazil never wins a world cup held in europe continent. so if they really win this time then it'd be a first time!!(european country also never won in north/south american continent)

it took almost a 9 months for indonesian oakley distributor to get me my blue unobtainium kit. ordered them last year october and just got it two weeks ago. lolz.

these are the little good things happening that makes the forum a great place for all of us.

i salute Dr J for his generousity in helping another member.

meanwhile i'd like to testify about another member who also helped me in a similar situation(missing juliet screw n torn gasket), it was smallkid from aussie who helped me by sending me a couple for free! :D

Justin makes good points. Well done. Meh, I figure Oakley will crash and burn one day. It happens to every company that moves away from what made them popular.

on the contrary, i believe Oakley will become a much bigger brand than ever. i don't know much about US market, but in indonesia right now? well, i spoke an oakley dealer refractionist(optic store) yesterday, she told me that nowadays ppl are always looking for Oakleys Rx or sunglasses, that kind of thing doesn't happen everyday in the past(namely this time last year).

despite the fakes flooding the market, the brand awareness has grew like ten-folds compared to last year. seriously. i've posted somewhere that nowadays, 6 out of 10 ppl with rx glasses on the street has oakley rx on them, whether it's fake or not.this is only in context of the oakley public brand awareness, oakley's revenue or profit taking a hit by those fakes is another subject.

one thing i know for sure, it's strange to say this, but fakers/duplicators/replicators always has good eyes on which products to fake. those products are always the high-end type which ppl desire most, i don't need to mention other products(bags, watches, etc2), but for high end rx glasses = oakleys, mont blanc, tag heuer, and maybe more that i'm unaware of. thing is, u don't see ni@! rx glasses being faked, u dont' see arma@# glasses being faked(not that i'm aware of). well, the amazing thing is, oakley sunglass aren't only being faked but being copied too by lesser sunglasses brands!!! i remember a local spex symbol sunglass store selling some kind of lesser branded glasses(can't remember the name) which blantanly copied oakley splice design down to the red lenses(ruby) which original splice never has. it came with just enough little differences(prolly to avoid being sued) and being sold much cheaper than original splice(was around USD 40), this kind of thing generally happens with only truly high end most desirable wristwatches. it's not only being faked but being copied too by lesser brand! i only recently found this out, stumbling upon a copied version of rolex submariner by other unheard of- brands. those are nice alternative if one can't afford an SS submariner, which has a 4k price tag. for comparison, oakleys products aren't that un-affordable but they're being faked and being copied everywhere. that alone shows how big the brand is growing now, and all that only out of Oakley's cool designs on each of their product. :D

so, based on all that, it's fair to say even with the more mainstreamed design, oakleys is becoming one of the most desired products out there in the market. by that alone i don't think oakley will ever crash and burn. if it's anything, yes they might become a diversified company such as N@!# with more and more generally mainstream designed product vs. purist industrial stuff being offered by them. but no, they'll not crash and go out of business just becos they give more attention to the general audience than the loyal purist(us? :D). the fact is, i don't care for how many mainstreamed Oakley products are being released, just as long as Oakley keep making cool stuffs(with industrial/space out of this world designs) every once in a while(understanably cool designs always take good amount of time in process), then i'm loyal to O. can't wait how the new xmetal turns out to be.

note to oakley marketing dept/division, i said this before and i'll repeat it again: oakley should invest and supply their dealers with O-dvds for a display, namely the lens tests videos, imagine: a college girl shopping for sunglass in a optic store which is also an OPD(carries oakley), originally has eyes on Guc@# brand, sees oakleys' demo vids by accident, sees oakley Dart(the new women's line sunglasses), ask OPD store assistant if Dart can perform like those in vids, got confirmed, purchase done, girl happily goes home with new oakley glasses, show them off(maybe for the price) and tell friends/family about how it can perform and how good the lenses are, mention the videos for proof, friends/family got sold, go to store to check it out, repeat process. no media advertising needed!

Nowadays the automatic gearshifting needs the help of...indeed...electronics. So, to answer your question, Fred: MANUAL GEARBOX AND NO ELECTRONICS!!!

some more to add: no traction control, no power steering, and slick ungrooved tyres!!!!(actually, they're gonna use these tyres for 2007)

that would be fun like the old days!! :D

since i live in indonesia and getting a deep red ruby is next to impossible or it'll be very expensive from ebay scalpers, so i'm gonna be honest with all of ya. those newer rubies is orange-y, yes. i do hope oakley release the deep red purply rubies again, yes. but all that doesn't mean that i dont' enjoy the orange-y ruby that's available. and if i hope that oakley will release the purplish rubies again, that's becos i want it for the sake of collection only, not becos it's more beautiful to me. trust me, i've seen lesser brands with redder lenses than current oakley's rubies, but i don't think it looks just as good as oakley's originals.

on a side note, when i joined o-review at it's early days, i remember there were a short batch of purplish rubies released at around the end of 2004. i'm sure some members will remember it. we were all discussing about those batches being less thick on the iridium coating, hence your eyes would be a bit visible thru the lens. but it's real purplish in color. i remember some members here bashing about the thin iridium and some liked it better than the orange ones. my point on mentioning this story is, i'd be getting terrible headache if i were Oakley and trying to meet the market's demand. i'd be thinking: we make the purplish one with less iridium(so that maybe it'll look more deeper in color?) and ppl start bashing us for cutting the iridium thickness down. n then we make it back to thick again, and ppl start to complain again.

call it fruby, orange ruby, lesser ruby, etc. to me it's still an oakley lens, which is famous not for the iridium colors, but for the clarity, quality, and impact protection. now, some of u are just luckier to get the deep red ones, others aren't that lucky(like me). what really bothers me is that those lucky ones bashing the orange-y ruby, for what? for bragging?? but then ofcourse these ppl aren't the worst. the worst kind of member are those who are already lucky to be able to get purplish ruby, and then get some more to deliberately make money out of ebay, all in meanwhile bashing fruby just to jack purple rubies prices up! i mean, hey! we also paid good money for our fruby or whatever u call it. so stop trying to make it less worthwhile just becos u're luckier than us or worse, just for your personal profit! i remember the days when ebay sellers doesn't recognize the term 1st gen 2nd gen blablabla. where did those come from? HERE on our beloved forums!!

for me the orange ruby hues are still beautiful to look at. orange to deep red on different lighting condition on the lenses. ppl still stare at my juliet wondering what lenses are those, but i don't really care bout that. what's important is i'm still happy with the fruby, and that's good enough for me. from now on, i'd rather discuss something else than joining in a debate of fruby vs purluby! sorry to everyone if i sound a bit emotional/harsh, but i really had enough.

edit: i'd like to welcome Diego Benito to the forums and joining us for the o-insanity. congrats to you Diego for getting a pair of xmetal/ruby xmen limited edition, and u don't bitch bout the orange-y ruby. and much respect to you for thinking it's still a ruby and it's still beautiful! i cannot agree more with you! :D

soulseek is pretty good for rare music, but it doesn't work most of the time from where i live. very slow internet connection. lolz.

Some of these parts are very hard to get and take time, so I think that's why some people pay crazy prices.

no question bout that. i ordered my blue unobtainium kits from oakley since last october and got it only recently. and they send the wrong pair of tshox, a 15 and 25. sent back the 25 to have 15 size send to me again. lolz.

yep, better bring it back to the store and try to be friendly with them. you only bought it 3 days ago, so maybe they'll replace them for you. i know a local store where you can upgrade to another oakley and pay only the price tag difference if something like this happen.

on a side note, you might even convince them to use your gascan as a display model with a tag like 'actual proof of impact protection from a small rock at 90 mph'

that's a great idea James!! thanks for sharing

a side note, i agree with carbon frames with fused flex coupler(s), early bathes of juliet carbons limited editions seems to have better quality build. and a better colored black carbon on the frame too.