Thunderball Wayfarer : best alternative

christotheman · November 2009

J.Crew sell a pair of wayfarer style glasses and they look alot like the Thunderball Wayfarer. I know that I will buy one.

http://www.jcrew.com/AST/Browse/MensBrowse/Men_Shop_By_Category/accessories/necessaryluxuries/PRDOVR~98387/98387.jsp

christotheman · November 2009

Guys I think that the actual people who made the real wayfarer's were moscot:

http://www.moscot.com/products.asp?id=1

Higgins · November 2009

Recent Ray Ban Wayfarers come so cheap that I don't see a reason to find a budget alternative.
And a US$ 325,-- alternative for a US$ 100,-- Ray Ban ?? ?:)
Even though the actual Wayfarers are not 100% like they have been in Thunderball.

Kittlemeier · November 2009

Except that RB Wayfarers don't look much like the glasses from the movie. The Thunderball frame has a lot more character than the RBW, which gets mistaken for tons of frames(Jake wore it but Elwood didn't, not in the original anyway). Best bet is to check for vintage frames on ebay, etc. You can pick them up usually for less than fifty dollars. Try American Optical, vintage NHS frames, etc.

Check out this one, it's available in black and it's much closer in shape than the Ray Ban. Lower bridge, squared corners, etc. Those are the details that pop for me anyway. Not perfect but closer than many. I haven't found a pic that definitively shows whether it's a vertical button or two pins at the corner of the frame. Anyone?

http://www.eyeglass.com/egm08.html

Higgins · November 2009

Kittlemeier wrote:

Except that RB Wayfarers don't look much like the glasses from the movie.

Bondtoys wrote:

Even though the actual Wayfarers are not 100% like they have been in Thunderball.

Kittlemeier · November 2009

I didn't miss that part. I'm just saying, that in my opinion, the RB Wayfarers are not even a good substitute.

But then again, silly me, I'm happy with my Oliver Peoples Airmans, so what do I know? B-)

Higgins · November 2009

... the Airman are without any doubt great sunglasses, much better than the TF ones which are imho not extremely well made.
And I never said something else, the only thing which bothered me where Adam Simmonds attempts to mislead us with the QoS screen appearance and the limitation of quantities B-).

Enjoy them!

Kittlemeier · November 2009

Just pickin' at you a bit. Screen accurate is screen accurate, though, right? It just irks me that they're the go to frame for every chunky black glass from the fifties on. They weren't worn by Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Sean Connery, Elwood Blues, Elvis Costello, Larry Bud Melman, Johnny Depp, etc.

I don't have a problem with Wayfarers per se, I actually like Wayfarers that were produced from the nineties on back, by Bausch and Lomb. The new Luxottica owned Ray Ban versions don't fit or feel nearly as nice, plus they have Ray Ban logos all over them. The old regular size had no outside logos save for a VERY small BL etched into the outside edge of the lens. The larger version had the RayBan logo on the temple. The new ones, any size, have RayBan on the temples, the lens and RB etched into the lens. Just a bit too much branding for my tastes.

I was so afraid Oliver Peoples would be "watered down" by the Luxottica purchase but thankfully they seem to have stayed somewhat independent.

Christotheman, you might check with www.oldfocals.com , or www.allynscura.com . If you send them some pics, they might be able to narrow down the search. There are many other companies that deal with vintage frames, just do some searching. As they've had many manufacturers frames pass through, they might be able to identify the glasses on the spot.

Thunderball Wayfarer : best alternative

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