Blade Style Sunglasses, Black Frame/Smoke Lens

Product Information

The first was a pretty standard earstem similar to what you’d find on most modern sunglasses with a straight-line design that curves around your ear. The Blades and Razor Blades forever have a place in our history. They catapulted Oakley to global recognition, became an icon of the 1980s, and laid the groundwork for decades of Oakleys to come. Oakley Stretchline Razor Blades also featured slightly different lenses than the original design. Mainly increasing curvature of the lens compared to the originals, which were a flatter design. You can see this demonstrated in the image above and description below: Of all three, the Razor Blade was the most common lens, while the Slit was the least. Unfortunately, that means today, it can be very difficult to find original Slit Blade lenses. Oakley Blade Sunglasses with Slit lenses – Photo by bandit.sunglasses Original Colorways Just 2 years after the successful launch of the goggle-like Eyeshade by Jim Jannard, Oakley recognized the need for a less sporty version of the sunglasses. So, in 1986, Oakley Blade sunglasses debuted along with the Razor Blade Sunglasses in 1987.

Vuzix has clearly designed the Blade to be as accessible and comfortable as possible, but it still has a ways to go before this editor would readily wear the Blade regularly. And, no, it has nothing to do with the fact that I already wear glasses.

Finally, building on this popular feature of the Eyeshade, Oakley reintroduced variations in Earstems. Each pair of Blades and Razor Blade sunglasses came with two options of earpieces that could be swapped relatively easily. Then in 2010, similar to the Eyeshade, Oakley began re-releasing limited collector edition Razor Blade sunglasses, followed by the larger release of the Heritage Collection in 2014. Between 2010 and 2018, as a part of the Collectors and Heritage Collection, Oakley released 17 colorways we’ve listed below for reference: Unfortunately, these slight differences once again mean you can’t swap parts or lenses across generations. Lenses While the Eyeshade got the sports world to look at Oakley, the Blade and Razor Blade sunglasses got the mainstream public’s attention.

These frames appealed to the young 1980’s crowd with a modern and “hip design.” Today if you looked up a definition of the ’80s, you’d probably see the Oakley Blade, with its shield lens and bright colors. Overall these three generations of Razors Blades are very similar. And if you’re looking for an everyday pair to wear, you’ll want to go with the Stretchline or latest re-releases. Otherwise if you’re looking for the most collectible pairs, it is the original Razor Blades. Whether you like this change or not, it did result in one consequence. Unfortunately, lenses cannot be swapped between the original Razor Blades and the Stretchline Razor Blade sunglasses. Colorways In fact, Vuzix will offer prescription options when the product is available for all to buy – a massive plus. The frame design also makes it easy to swap lenses. This particular style comes with a clear replacement lens. Some of the other, cheaper models just come with a single lens.The Oakley Blade and Razor Blade sunglasses feature a half-rimmed design, replaceable earstems, and a wild amount of customization! Of course, the Vuzix Blade gets its information from a Bluetooth connection to your phone, mediated by a free remote-control app, and has a Wi-Fi radio as well as a microUSB port for charging and a microSD card slot for storage. The one downside to the half-frame construction is that it can make it easier to scratch the lens should you drop the sunglasses. I did both. What we found a bit uncomfortable were the nose pads in use on the developer kit: they were a bit too sharp for our liking, though we generally prefer glasses (and sunglasses) that just have the bridge rest on our nose. The Stretchline Oakley Razor Blade sunglasses were available in 6 colorways we’ve listed below for reference:

The Stretchline and later Re-releases (Collectors, Heritage Collection and Kith) had the same general design as the original. Bu,t there are still key differences if you review each of the pairs.

The glasses also house motion sensors to maintain the image properly and haptic motors for vibrating alerts. Finally, noise-cancelling microphones allow for voice control as well. Now let’s review each generation of the Blades and Razor Blades. Oakley Heritage Collection Razor Blade Sunglasses Blue w/ Ice Iridium Original Oakley Blade and Razor Blade Sunglasses Frame and Design The Blade system comes in 3 lenses – the Blade, Razor Blade, and Slit Lenses, which offer distinctly different sizes/shapes. Additionally, with the Blade, Oakley began marketing the idea of customizations. The Blade and Razor Blade offered replaceable lenses, earstems, top brow plastic, and nose pieces in varying mix and match colors which let you create over 22 million different combinations of customization! The frame builds on the goggle-inspired design of the Eyeshade by removing the bottom half of the frame, which offers increased downward visibility.

The Original Razor Bladehas a cylindrical lens (L/R curvature only) making for a flatter lens curve, where as the Stretchline Razor Blade utilizes a toric lens which allows the bridge to retain a tighter wrap shape. If you were to overlay the two frames on top of one another you’d notice the Original Razor Bladeis flatter in comparison. Member BoostBear (Resident Razor Blade expert) Oakley marketed the line as the “Blade system”, with the same frame being used across the 3 available lenses – the Blade, Razor Blade, and Slit. This Blade system offered over 22 million frame color combinations and a world of customization available to consumers – something never before seen in sunglasses. The second is the trigger earstem which features a unique design reminiscent of – you guessed it – a rifle trigger. This trigger ear stems profile features a sharp angle downward then a curved design over the ear for a pretty funky 80’s design. Trigger (top) and Standard (bottom) ear stems for Oakley Blade System LensesThe Collectors and Heritage Collection Razor Blades are similar to the Stretchline design, with some minor enhancements. But they didn’t just stop with the frame. These Stretchline Oakleys also got upgraded lenses. Original Razor Blade (Red) compared to the Stretchline Razor Blade (Pink) – Photo by BoostBear Lenses