I finally managed to lose my treasured RayBans (Model RB 4075 61 black frames, green glass lenses) on Friday and am resigned to forking out a horrific amount for a new pair. Sadly, once you've worn good quality shades for driving, you can never go back.

Does anyone have any inside tips on the best place to buy genuine branded sunglasses? I know they are much cheaper in the US and in theory I have no problem buying from overseas, but it would need to be a trustworthy seller.

The best price I have found so far is £96.98 with free delivery.

Any Forum Powah much appreciated...

Try eyewear outlet.com

I have a natural talent for losing sunglasses. I left a pair in a bar in San Francisco, bought another pair and left them at a wedding in Sweden and another got lost somewhere near the seafront in Southsea.

Luckily they were only a £20 pair from John Lewis.

They won't be as good as your Ray Bans, for sure, but they are excellent quality for the money.

I'd say it would be worth a look in John Lewis if you have one near you as they have a large range of branded and non-branded and they'll price match.

Thanks, chaps.
I too used to have a talent for losing sunglasses; my most accomplished "lose" was in Crete, when I went waterskiing. Just before I set off, I realised I still had my shades on. Phew, I thought, good job I remembered. I took them off and tossed them to the people in the boat. Well, I actually took them off and tossed them neatly over the boat and into the Mediterranean.

I never pay more than £6 for sunglasses. It's true that they keep breaking, but optically I can't tell the difference. When I do lose them (as two years ago they got washed away in the sea when I forgot I had them on my head), they need not to have been expensive.

MrsC is firmly of the buy cheap, buy often persuasion and cannot conceive how a pair of easily-lost-or-broken glasses can be worth so much.

All I can say is that after wearing RayBans on a long drive in the south of France in summer, I was converted. The comfort and clarity - for me - is worth it.

Plus, I bought my latest pair in 2010, at a cost of £65. That means that they have cost me less than £15 per year. As long as I look after them properly (ok, it's a gamble) then the cost is not outrageous.

If your local Tesco has an opticians inside.They have Ray bans at £90...Aviators,wayfarers,all sorts...

Best pair of shades I ever had was an adidas set, which I found on a golf course.

When I looked them up they were some ridiculous amount of money.

I lost them 1 week later...on the very same golf course. I'd have been mightily pissed had I forked out for them.

£94 for 4175s here...

http://www.sunglasses-direct.co.uk/c/sunglasses/ray-ban/clubmaster/rb4175-oversized-clubmaster/

I'm with Jim on quality sunglasses. definitely worth the cost.

Buy right and they will last. They should be covered by house insurance should the worst happen.

Cheap sunglasses are worse than useless.

The eye has its own protection from UV rays causing damage; the iris gets smaller letting less light into the eye.

Cheap glasses without UV resistant lenses simply make the iris open wider to compensate for the reduced light available at the eye due to the dark tint of the glass.

The result is more UV gets in to cook the retina.

I bought a pair of sunglasses last week - Oliver Peoples with prescription polarised lenses, high-density too - I should be picking them up end of the week and they cost a ...a lot. Really a lot.

But they will last a very long time and as Hyper says all covered by the insurance. That's what I keep telling myself.

That's all correct, Pete, but what do you think it takes for glasses to be UV resistant?

Ended up biting the bullet and ordering from Amazon. £91 +£5 P&P.

The only difference is that these ones are polarised; the last pair weren't (but were still fab...)

And it's served life well for billions of years!
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