Just got back from the local retailer after ordering some replacement parts and happened to overhear a guy and his buddy talking to the clerk. He is talking about his "$600, no wait $800 Oakley sunglasses (apparently he got them when they first came out!!!) with red, no wait, I mean ruby lenses". He then pulls them out of his shoulder bag, shudder, with no bag or case on them.

It got me thinking about Oakley owners in general and it seems to me the folks that are true collectors of the brand, like forum folks, tend to have a more understated appreciation and don't seem to flaunt it. It seems that people who buy them so they can brag about their $800 glasses just don't seem to grasp the concept of less is more.

Thoughts, feedback, comments???

It depends, I certainly seen both mentality here and elsewhere.

I mean, theres people who will buy an expensive pair just to impressed others but stil take care of it but the contrary is also true.

And the same for collectors.

You should have told the guy his ruby was 3rd gen hahaha

Only joking, Generations are a myth, only batches there is.

He then pulls them out of his shoulder bag, shudder, with no bag or case on them.

$800?

As someone once said, it seems like some people have more money than brains - that is, to pay that kind of ca$h for a pair of Oakleys and carry them unprotected like that. But better him than me.

That story was supposed to end with the dude pulling out a pair of fake Scars or something! Either way, I have come to fully realize that very few take very good care of their eyewear. Hardly ever in a hard case ... and sometimes in a microfiber bag. Maybe cleaning with whatever they might be wearing.

I would agree, though, that there are many braggarts out there about their fancy Oakleys - while I like to think that many of us fall more under the 'protector' role more than anything else.

$800?

As someone once said, it seems like some people have more money than brains - that is, to pay that kind of ca$h for a pair of Oakleys and carry them unprotected like that. But better him than me.

These are the folks that like to embellish to impress whomever they're talking to. I have come across it way too many times in my 10 years of selling Oakleys. What, they think we don't know how much they really cost?

That seems so true what it was like. I guess what surprised me the most is that you would think, man, if you spend that much on them, take care of them.

Then again, could be a case of: mommy pay it!!!

Heh, as someone who has compulsively cleaned other people's 10 dollar replica shades, I can say that A) if I ever do something that stupid with my shades, it means I've gone crazy and my collection is to be confiscated and sent to Rick, and B) if I saw someone abusing 800 dollar shades (y'know, actual 800 dollar shades, like something from Chrome Hearts or Louis Vuitton), I would cry.

For perspective, to this day the most choked-up I've ever gotten was over seeing a Ferrari Enzo get lunched on Youtube.

I can afford it, but I still can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on sunglasses. Even the rare juliets that I want

do you guyes treat your serialed glasses different than say the glasses you have custom built from the OCE program? cuz i totally do.

i take care of my serialed glasses with matching boxes but the juliet i got from OCE, i'm usually like "meh." for example, i dropped my juliets onto the concrete floor and surprisingly, i just shrugged it off. if it had been my other serialized juliets, i probably would have cried.

There's always a beater pair that I use daily. But even those never get really ruined, just a little dirty from time to time. But a good clean and no one's the wiser.

We've heard stories like these before, but it usually ends up being a pair of XX's that cost $500 or something. I guess most people don't truely now and won't call their bluff.

I tend to treat all of my possessions with great respect. I figure that they are all a real blessing compared to what most people have in this world, and if I'm that lucky to have that stuff I have to take decent care of it. I honestly don''t think that attitude would be even different if I was a billionaire.

My oakleys are always put away in the case, and if they aren't on my head they are in a bag or box that will protect them. Just seems to me like there's no other way to do it.

I think it relates to that if you earned the money and bought it, you take care of it. Almost like the first pedal bike you owned - bet you keep it clean and looked after it.

And as I say to my wife: if they're not on your face, they're in the case!!!

Ironically, when Ruby Juliets FIRST came out they were $275, just like the rest. After a while they went up to $400. I'm remembering these facts from the Oakley website at the time. They also had a cool pop up window with the Juliets and Cyclops visor featured.

To many people there just Sunglasses no matter how much they pay.

The more they pay the bigger the bragging rights.

This reminds me of guys bragging about how fast they go on motorcycles. I work at a motorcycle shop on the weekends (shameless plug: [url http://www.martinmoto.com[/url]) and you will not believe some of the stories these braggarts come in with. Some or true... 99% are not. Unless there is more than 1 witness, I don't believe it. You won't believe how many times I hear "I was doing 150mph....". Dude... maybe you were asleep when you were doing it.

Anyway, becuase I pay so much for these, I am OCD about taking care of them. I don't have "Beater" pairs anymore. I brag about my TimeTank and my Omega and my Rado. But only about the actual price (almost half off, 30% off, and free as a gift, respectively). I don't ever over-inflate what I paid for something to "impress" people. That's "putting on airs". Smart people see through that right away.

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