Where To Buy American Optical AO Original Pilot Aviator Sunglasses 55 mm Matte Chrome Bayonet True Color 30187

Over All Rating Reviews :

I had been looking to buy new sunglasses for a while to replace some cheaper 'designer' ones that I had. The two pairs of designer ones both had plastic lenses, and one even had a chrome covered plastic frame. Most of the cost of them was clearly going into the name on the side.

I saw these sunglasses mentioned in a GQ magazine article. After reading up on the company I realized they were probably pretty decent quality if the military and NASA had been using them. I found it hard to decide between the 'Randolph Engineering' made version and the American Optical ones. Randolph seem to have done a very good job with their PR, getting famous people wearing their brand. In the end it came down to justifying the extra cost, and I decided I would start out with the AO ones and see whether I thought it necessary to upgrade to the RE ones in the future.

When they arrived I was really pleased with them. Just taking them out of the packaging you could tell that they were sturdy and had high quality glass in them. The frames themselves feel stronger than my 'ray ban' eye glasses (which are regular glasses and so are designed to be worn every day). They have some weight to them which I like. The case isn't a full hard case, but it also isn't totally soft. There is a folded piece of hard plastic in it, and this gives some protection to the glasses without the bulk of a full hard case.

Outside I found that they give good light reduction. They're not overly dark compared to some other sunglasses, but I find the level of light reduction about right. The quality of the glass shows again here though - it is like you're not really wearing them they are so clear and undistorted.

When I was ordering these I didn't really know what size to pick or what color. The size seemed important because I've had 'aviator' glasses before that have seemed large on my face (I don't have that round a face, but I am a 6' tall male so I didn't want tiny glasses either). You've probably seems some people wearing rayban style aviators that look large on them - that was what I was concerned about. Well in the end I decided to go with the 55mm ones and I definitely made the right choice. I think this size would suit most people (apart from people with a very small face, or people with a very large round face). If you're unsure then I would order these ones as a first choice.

The color was also difficult to decide. The gold ones seem like the original and therefor 'retro' look. However I never really wear gold because it looks a bit out of date nowadays. In the end I went for silver and again I'm pretty pleased I did. This means that the sunglasses go with everything you could wear rather than just some retro look. In particular I were them when outside at work, and I just don't think the retro gold ones would be appropriate there.

I've had these for a few months now and they were a very good buy. If I ever lost them then I would replace them with exactly the same pair in an instant.

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