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Top Gun Maverick, Ray Ban Aviator

Posted on Tuesday, June 7, 2022


Top Gun Maverick, Ray Ban Aviator
Top Gun Maverick, Ray Ban Aviator
Top Gun Maverick, Ray Ban Aviator

Aviator sunglasses are back, well for us they never really left, with the release of Top Gun: Maverick last month, so don’t lose that loving feeling and fall in love with vintage aviator sunglasses all over again.

But what are the frames history and why are they infamous in aviation?

During World War II the military procured glasses for pilots that enhanced vision and reduced glare at altitude. There’s some debate about who was first to design aviator sunglasses. American Optical (AO) supplied essential goggles to US military pilots.
The US Army Air Corps enlisted another eyewear master Bausch & Lomb who developed the iconic Ray-Ban Aviator in the 1930s. They hit the mainstream in 1950s and then had a surge of popularity in the 1970s and 1980s with the release of Top Gun. Since then they have created hundreds of colour and shape variations from the original design.

The frame is a large tear drop shape which is needed to reduce glare getting on over the top and from the sides but the real tech was in the lenses, Glass G15.
Unlike other lenses especially plastic, Glass Rayban G15 sun lenses contain ferrous oxide which absorbs infra-red light, there is an increased amount of IR light at high altitude, so this makes G15 an ideal lens for protection for pilots. G actually means Green, the colour of the tint, many RayBan lenses are Green as standard especially those with glass lenses. 15 means that 15% of light is transmitted through the lens with the other 85% cut out to eliminate glare. 15% light transmission is the legal limit for driving and flying.

Many classic RayBan frames still have glass lenses in today.
At Colin Lee opticians we are Authentic RayBan stockists and can dispense prescription RayBan lenses, so you can get the frames you have seen on the silver screen, in prescription complete with logos and markings so no one will know the difference. Furthermore you can have any frame made to your specifications of size, colour and all the trimmings so you can either get the exact same as worn on film or a completely unique design just for you.

Not just for pilots we love aviator sunglasses as it’s such a classic timeless look that will never date.


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