Frame: Dark
Lens: Black Iridium

Have finally splashed out on Rx Whiskers, but in the process have rediscovered my 1st gen 1996 E-Wires! I still remember buying them for the then unholy price of £100 at Heathrow duty-free on the way to Stockholm, carefully opening them on the plane, and the summer that followed. I was so set on getting them that I never considered lens tints, and in retrospect the BI can be a touch dark in some situations. Mine haven't had much use lately because I need prescription, but they are an iconic design with really nice design details, and I'd never part with them, partly because of the memories they encapsulate. I'd dearly love to fit Rx lenses but my dealer says Oakley no longer make lenses for them (rx or plain) - terrible news :(

I bought these brand new in 1994. They held up for a good year before the spider web cracks started in the lenses. Sent them in for repair, was charged about 10 bucks. A year later, more cracks. Gave up on them for a long time and dug them out to look for replacement lenses. One of the nose pieces has fallen off, the metal holding them is bent, and the arms are very loose. The lenses also scratch very easily and the ear socks tear extremely easy. I love these glasses though, so am in the process of getting them "new" again. Let's hope technology has come further to prevent the cracking in the lenses these were well known for.

Frames:Dark, Burnt, Black Chrome, Gold
Lenses:Gold Iridium, VR28, Black Iridium, Titanium iridium

I appreciate the simple lightness of the design, after the "heavier" o-matter offerings I'm used to. The style has aged well in 20 years, and has proven structurally robust in constant rotation.
They work remarkably well as a non-sporting pair, with adequate eye coverage, unlike the A and C wires which allow much more ambient light in around the smaller lens. I find the "hammer-stems" protrude too much in width for use under a motorcycle helmet...
...and that's the only thing limiting the style from 5 full stars!

Frame: Black Chrome
Lens: Black Iridium

It's always nice to have a retro pair. I remember seeing these in high school, and not liking them very much. I grew to love them as time went on, and now I'm stoked to have a pair in my collection.

Frame: Light
Lens: Gray
I just got a pair of these for my birthday at a very cheap price.. than i found out that these are supposed to be rare nowadays? i cant believe how lucky i am.. anyways the frame fits perfectly, it doesn't slide off your face because of the ear socks and the nose bombs... the lens are very clear and comfortable, i could wear this all day ^_^ great pair!

Frame: Polished / Light Black / Gold
Lens: Gold / Black / Gold

The E Wire is a quintessential Oakley classic in my eyes. It is one of the pairs I recognized instantly from my past when I started collecting just recently. They have a kind of timeless quality that still works today.

Functionally, they have good coverage for a wire and are comfortable and light. To me the frames do seem a little fragile though, especially the first gen with the flat stems, they're easily bent.

Overall an enjoyable, kinda old school pair of shades.

Frame: Dark
Lens: Black Iriduim
1992-1993 was the year, I was till living in the Philippines, I got to go to the mall every week to see what is new with fashion and whatever is cool. I remember seeing these on display. multiples of them in different frame/lens colors. I wouldn't dare try them on as I was still in High School and had no money. Also, my dad was into Raybans so he handed me one pair and I pride the RB but deep inside I really wanted one of these Oakleys...moving forward to 1994-1995,I moved to SF. my then ex gave me the RB orbs for my birthday. I was on denial and still never owned one of these E wires because they were competing. Only my bro at the time had one of these and he wore it everyday. I just secretly envy him because the Oakley design was so advanced during its time especially the earstem where is looks flat then had the Oakley stenciled into it. It was so cool and I also like the hammer earstems about it. It was truly a first as that design was never seen before because it wrapped around the cranium instead of the ears. I would only drool at the T-Wire which is completely identical in design but really light because of the titanium material.

Frame: Dark
Lens: Black Iridium

My second pair, this brings back memories.
Bought them when they first came out, I have the original ones with the flat ear stems, the ones before the pic above.
Still comfortable, still a nice design.
Still wear 'm on a weekly basis.
They show some wear, but the lenses are still without a scratch.
Not bad for glasses that are 10+ years old.

Frame: Black Chrome
Lens: Black Irid
My first pair of oakleys =P 1996? Those were the days when oakley was "cheap" ehehe! anyway! the fit was great and its really light.
craftmanship was superb and there good for RX aswell

Frame: light (gen 1 with flat hammer stems)
Lens: black iridium
The pair that I had to have and the first thing I bought when I had a proper job after 3 years of university and 2 years in the VSO (British version of Peace Corps). Seemed like a whole lot of money back in ’95 so I took damn good care of them, wire vault for transporting them and a ballistic case for day-to-day protection. Didn’t even own another pair of sunglasses for all the time I wore these. The only problem is that the lenses are very close to the eye and my eyelashes would leave smudges on the lenses. Until I started to just trim my eyelashes anyway!

After nearly nine years of use they have only one small scratch on the lenses (the only time I ever let anybody else wear them) but the coating on the inside of the left-hand lens started to come off – probably cleaned them too often. So I spent more than a year tracking down a pair of brand-new genuine generation 1 e-wires. Found them and bought them, luckily for me the seller also had a pair of the same but with blue iridium lenses so I doubled my fun. But that’s how the habit started…

Fashion moves in cycles. Right now the late 1980's are in fashion, which means that a year from now the early 90's will be in fashion and the e-wire 1.0 will once again be recognised as arguably the coolest glasses on the planet. Not that they have ever been anything else!

Frame: Gold
Lens: Gold Iridium
I hate to give out 5 Stars for just anything but these deserve it! Very thin & lightweight &, as with most Wires, can be gently conformed for a perfect fit. The Boxy Logo stamped into the top of the flat Hammer Earstems is a nice touch. The Orbitals offer good coverage & fit very close to the eyes. Too close probably for some. The classy, simple (almost elliptical) lens shape is a good crossover for sport & fashion. In this particular pair, the close fit & natural oval lens shape really allow the beautiful Gold lens to shine. These are still my among my regular wearers.

Frame: carbon
Lens: black iridium
my first pair of oakley!!! the one that started it all. thought it was really cool back then. no one had anything like them. on hindsight, made me look like a fly ha ha. frame was thin but strong and didn;t corrode easily. I have only fond memories of my first oakley

Frame: Burnt
Lens: Black Iridium

These were the second ever pair of Oakleys I bought on sale for half price. I got them towards the end of 2000. I wore them occassionally, alternating between my black Eye Jackets.

They are quite small, and by 2000 the style was a bit dated. They are great sunnies if you like the style. The hammer stems were cool and the stretch logo inscribed on the arms was nice. I sold these on ebay and don't really regret it. They'd be nice for the collection but I wouldn't wear them again.

Frame: light
Lens: black iridium

the good; light, flexable, stylish
the bad; too light, too flexable

Frame: Black
Lens: Black

These are ok. I didn't find them all that durable. The shape of the lens is ok. I would rather have A wires. I found that the hinges got very loose after awhile.

Frame: Gold
Lens: Gold
I totally agree with oogie. A classic Oakley frame that has done a good job of standing the test of time. This was Oakley's first attempt at wire frame as I recall and they did a great job. They are still pretty heavy in my rotation of glasses, especially if I need a little classier/dressier pair of shades to wear. I never really liked the long Unobtainium earsocks, although I did like the Burnt color frame, which I don't think was ever offered again. I like my classic flat earstems with the stretch Oakley. The 2.0 was a good update, but the 2.1 seemed like a step back.

Frame: Dark / Light
Lens: Black / Black

The classic wire in so much as the eye jackets are the classic frame. While it's an old style, I think the e wire has done awefully well to stand the test of time. I think the look is still pretty wicked, you can never go wrong.

I will agree with earlier reviews, though, that the frame can be somewhat easily bent. Very difficult to reset the frame once it has been bent out of shape a bit.

Frame: Dark Chrome
Lens: RX Black Iridium

My very first pair of Oakley's! I bought these in 1999 (I believe) and had Oakley RX the lenses in Black iridium. There's a small RX logo on the bottom corner of the left lens. These were the second incarnation of the first version of the E Wire, and featured a revamped ear stem where there was a full length Unobtainium ear sock with a pseudo hammer wing. The lenses are much larger than the current E Wire 2.0 and 2.1 versions, and the shape are closer to the old Eye Jackets (as kingphilbert mentioned) than anything else. The fit is great, at least on me because I have a fairly big head... the ear stems spreads much more outward than current E Wires, and curve back in at the end of the ear socks, giving me a true three point fit with no part of the ear stems touching my temples. Also, the larger lens shape works a bit better for my face than the current E Wires. The build quality could be a little better, as the lens creak when I put the sunglasses on, but have never popped out on me. Also, the frames are fairly easily bendable, so I have to keep them in the Ballistic case when not in use.

Frame: Dark
Lens: Black

The lenses were pretty much the same as Eye Jackets. It made for a good light weight change, I just hated owning them in the winter early spring when they first came out. They were very summer. I liked the arm having the Hammer and how Oakley Stretch was imprinted in it. They bent real easy though. Mine were sat on and it was very hard to get them back in shape.

Frame: Dark
Lens: Gold Iridium

I got these soon after they were released in the late 1990's. At the time, they were the coolest wire framed glasses in my opinion. Very lightweight yet strong. Since then, Oakley has made tremendous improvements to their wire frames. These original e Wires are still cool, but they do not fit as well as the newer wire frames. The ear stems curve outward quite a bit before bending inward at the ear socks, giving them a rather wide profile. The word "Oakley" is imprinted on the flat ear stems.

I really like the Dark frame/Gold Iridium color combination. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, Oakley has never put these two colors together again.