Ray-ban rb3026 (Aviator)

Ray-ban Aviators were originally created for pilots. These became an iconic look shortly after and are now worn by a lot of police officers as well. These are on of the more popular sunglasses of today worn by very many people.

Philosophy
Why do many cops wear these glasses? That I don't know, but they aren't especially well designed for that kind of use. To me these glasses are more about style and making an impression for yourself. Also, anyone who likes that classic, vintage kind of look is probably going to be in the market for a pair of these. Don't get me wrong though, they are made for sun protection and do serve well for that purpose.

Style
These have perhaps the most iconic look to them in the sunglass industry and are worn by people of all age groups and genders. These come in a few different color options for the lenses and the frames. Also, there are smaller sizes because they are actually pretty large glasses, so they might be too large for people with smaller face structures, so make sure you get the size that's right for you. The color scheme in the picture above is the classic, original Aviator and my personal favorite. Something about those green Ray-Ban lenses on the gold frame is just very appealing. Something to watch out for with the styling on any Aviator frame is the shape of the lens interfering with your face movement. What I mean by that is because it the lenses swoop so low, some people's cheeks hit them when the smile and force them to move up. This can be an annoyance to some, so just take that into account, especially if you have a fuller face.

Quality/Durability
The quality is pretty typical Ray-Ban quality. It's good, but not the best. The temples of this frame are made out of pretty thin metal, so that can be something to watch out for because they can bend, without much force. Although the frame is relatively thin, the lenses are made out of glass, which has been polarized and coated with anti-reflective coating on the backside to reduce glare coming from the rear. This being said, the glasses are going to be a little heavier than you might think, but the optical clarity from glass is unrivaled by any other material. Just know that glass does chip and crack, but is harder to scratch than other materials.

Price/Value
You will pay around 150 dollars for these Aviators. I think that in this situation, you are paying for something classic. A design that has stayed in style for many years and will be in style for a very long time. You are getting quality lenses and a decent quality frame, but what you're getting here has a bit of specialty to it. There will be other aviator style frames out there mimicking these, for considerably less money, so why should you spend your hard earned cash on these. I think that simply put, its because they are special. There will only be one original aviator sunglass and I think these will have a certain pride of ownership that is hard to put a price on.