Where can I buy sunglasses with red mirrored lenses?

June 25, 2008 1:04 PM

Where can I find these "impossible" red mirrored sunglasses? Not shimmery yellow and red, not shimmery blue and red, RED.

http://s294.photobucket.com/albums/mm86/GodlikeZidane/?action=view&current=Image3.jpg

I bought those for my then-boyfriend (now fiance) four years ago in Canada. They were stolen in Las Vegas, and now I have been told by various sunglass makers that they are impossible, that there is no way to make red mirrored lenses without using yellow or blue, and that the picture must be altered. It's not! They were the coolest glasses ever, and I guess some jerk knew how rare and "impossible" they were, because he didn't take the car stereo or my purse-- just the glasses.

I really want to get him a new pair of shades like this for our anniversary. Help!

posted by Saydrah to clothing, beauty, & fashion (8 comments total)

Ski shop?
posted by rokusan at 1:19 PM on June 25, 2008

Maybe check out Rudy Project sunglasses? I know nothing about them personally, but their technology page suggests they make sunglasses with various colors of mirror coating.
http://www.rudyprojectusa.com/technology/lenstechnology.htm
posted by katillathehun at 1:33 PM on June 25, 2008

Oakley makes a number of frames with the "Ruby" lens, which is patterned after the sunglasses Cyclops wore in the first X-Men movie. Over time, the Ruby color has gone from a deep red to a lighter orangish-red (though nowhere near as orange-colored as the Fire lens), so your best bet would be to try to find an older pair of Oakley Ruby lenses. Alternatively, there are custom lens fabricators that produce lenses to fit Oakley frames, an example of which is CustomXMetal.com (their Ruby offering for Juliet frames). Oakley never produced a lens as dark as the Ruby seen in the X-Men movie for public sale—it is said that the dark tint actually gave actor James Marsden headaches during filming (a dark red reflection means a very blue-tinted transmission). Also worth looking into is the +Red ("positive red") lens, also from Oakley, which has a darker red but also prominent blue highlights in its reflection.
posted by merkuron at 1:35 PM on June 25, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

The Rudy Project red glasses are crap. I thought they were perfect too, but then I saw them in person-- not mirrored at all.
posted by Saydrah at 1:35 PM on June 25, 2008

Merkuron-- I looked at the X-men glasses, but there is still that yellow and blue tint to all of them, and that's just not quite right. Thanks for the detailed answer, though-- the +Red is also too blue.
posted by Saydrah at 1:39 PM on June 25, 2008

Where did you get them originally? Maybe you can have the place you got them from mail you another pair.
posted by doomtop at 2:00 PM on June 25, 2008

I love the Rudy Project Racing Red, but it definitely does have a blue layer and I wouldn't say it's mirrored.
posted by advicepig at 2:34 PM on June 25, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I got them in Tofino, BC at a surf shop. If anyone lives near there and sees some, that'd be rad, but I'm pretty far away and haven't had any luck identifying the brand to ask them to mail a pair.
posted by Saydrah at 2:51 PM on June 25, 2008