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Ask HN: Recommend sunglasses made in the west and independent of Luxotica
Luxotica is a monopoly [0] that uses its market power to control the market price and force suppliers and other manufactuerers to joining their empire. For example Oakley was forced to sell-out to Luxotica when they were shutout out of retail outlets in a time before internet allowed them to go direct to consumer [1].
Question is what multi-sport sunglasses do you use that aren't Luxotica or made in Asia?
[0] https://www.latimes.com/business/lazarus/la-fi-lazarus-glasses-lenscrafters-luxottica-monopoly-20190305-story.html
[1] https://www.oakleyforum.com/guides/oakley-luxottica-sunglasses-history/
- nextos 5y agoMaui Jim maybe. Or Randolph Engineering.
- thrownintospace 5y agoTry www.zerouv.com, the quality is good-ok. They are cheap so its no sweat of you lose or break a pair.
- tssva 5y agoMaui Jim manufacturers their glasses in Italy and Japan so not guaranteed to have a western made pair.
- dxf 5y agoAccording to their website, Maui Jim frames and lenses are manufactured in either Italy or Japan. I own both Maui Jim and Randolph Engineering sunglasses and I would not hesitate to buy either again, though they are pricy.
- QuizzicalCarbon 5y agoI’m a fan of Maui Jim for their variety of frames and lenses, build quality, and especially their repair service. Their high price is worth it for the repair service alone. I recommend them.
- OkayPhysicist 5y agoAmerican Optical is pretty good
- notjulianjaynes 5y agoFormer Sunglass Hut employee. Maui Jims and Oakleys were, at the time, non-Luxottica brands. I told customers that Maui Jims were very high quality but I have no clue if this is true. They were exempt from my 50% employee discount though.
- gnabgib 5y agoBoth Sunglass Hut and Oakley are now owned by Luxottica, but according to wikipedia [0] (and a support question[1]), Maui Jim is indeed still independent. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maui_Jim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maui_Jim [1]: https://support.mauijim.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019017133-Does-Luxottica-own-Maui-Jim https://support.mauijim.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019017133-D...
- joezydeco 5y agoMy wife has a pair of Maui Jim's that have lasted her a decade. They're solidly built.
- xenocyon 5y agoShuron frames are made in the USA, have an iconic style, and in my experience have been more durable than any other frame I've had. https://shop.shuron.com/ https://shop.shuron.com/
- cratermoon 5y agoWhat's wrong with 'made in Asia'?
- cauliflower2718 5y agoSeconding this question. I have had great experiences getting glasses from Jins, which has locations in the US and in Asia.
- johnwalkr 5y agoI don’t know about Jins, but I’ve owners many paid of of Zoff (the other big Japanese maker) and they’ve all been made in Japan or Korea. There’s also a ton of small brands in Japan still. And it’s kind of interesting that virtually all Japanese eyeglasses are made in one city (Sabae).
- erklik 5y agoLikely to be a case of ethical concerns. It's too often that these companies are using un-ethical labor sourcing in third-world countries, and I am guessing OP isn't interested in supporting them.
- cratermoon 5y agoHave you looked into labor conditions in the US recently?
- greazy 5y agoI really like knockaround for its affordability. https://knockaround.com/ https://knockaround.com/
- ev1 5y agoWow, this is one of the worst sites I've ever seen. I was wondering why it was taking several minutes to load on a fast mobile connection: it contacts hundreds of subdomains, sends identifying data and drops marketing cookies everywhere. A single visit dropped over a hundred cookies. It's not even just analytics, it's full blown in your face crap. It's loading several dozen chains of scripts that load more scripts. The screen is packed full of popups, modals, endless spam. Moving your mouse anywhere causes more modals to appear. Moving your mouse toward the top of the screen pops up fullscreen ads telling you to STOP, COME BACK!! Half of the bottom is covered in product ads and hover buttons. https://i.imgur.com/PLVaOLf.png https://i.imgur.com/PLVaOLf.png Holy shit.
- tcbasche 5y agoThe irony of having to accept cookies and click on “continue in browser” when going to that imgur link on mobile...
- ulchabhanrua 5y agoOmbraz are non-luxotica, multi-sport, and check off some sustainability boxes, which may counter your "made in Asia" issue. https://ombraz.com/ https://ombraz.com/ I've been a big fan of Randolf Engineering glasses but they are costly. I wouldn't call them multi-sport, but it depends on what you're doing. https://www.randolphusa.com/ https://www.randolphusa.com/
- gnicholas 5y agoCheck out Bureo, [1] which is partnered with Costa to make sunglasses out of up-cycled fishing nets. I don't know where they're manufactured, but I believe the fishing nets come from Chile. I personally like my Maui Jims, which have some bits from Italy and some from elsewhere. They have a great repair policy that lets you get spare parts and fixes many years later, which is pretty unique. 1: https://www.costadelmar.com/en-us/inside-costa/protect/untangle-our-oceans https://www.costadelmar.com/en-us/inside-costa/protect/untan...
- hprotagonist 5y agoRandolph: https://www.randolphusa.com/collections/aviator-best-sellers https://www.randolphusa.com/collections/aviator-best-sellers Rudy Project: https://www.rudyproject.com/ww/en/ https://www.rudyproject.com/ww/en/
- bbellini 5y agoI've had a pair of Electric Sunglasses for nearly 6 years and would recommend them. Made in Italy. https://www.electriccalifornia.com/ https://www.electriccalifornia.com/
- 8jef 5y agoMoscot glasses, NYC, family owned. https://moscot.com/ https://moscot.com/
- sathomasga 5y ago[Roka](https://www.roka.com https://www.roka.com)
- jet_32951 5y agoMy old Bollé sunglasses are very comfortable and protective, if tatty. Not owned by Luxottica: agreed, near-monopoly
- NonEUCitizen 5y agoWhy does it have to be made in the west? Imagine insisting on CPUs fabricated in the west...
- eurasiantiger 5y agoBecause it does not feel good to give your money to people who use that money for oppression and genocide.
- tssva 5y agoThen specific countries should have been specified. Many/Most Asian countries don't do so and many Western countries do.
- secrecymatrix 5y agoSilhouette (both sunglasses and frames for prescription lenses, made in Austria) https://www.silhouette.com/us/us/sunglasses https://www.silhouette.com/us/us/sunglasses
- caterama 5y agoZeal Optics based in Colorado: https://www.zealoptics.com https://www.zealoptics.com
- alexaholic 5y agoPolaroid
- happy_path 5y agoDon't know if Luxotica is among the makers of these two online shops, but the glasses are really cheap: - https://www.polette.com/en https://www.polette.com/en - https://www.zennioptical.com/ https://www.zennioptical.com/
- mosermint 5y agoAO has classic styles and is actually made in usa and not just a usa brand.
- the__alchemist 5y agohttps://www.pitviper.com https://www.pitviper.com https://heatwavevisual.com/collections/sunglasses https://heatwavevisual.com/collections/sunglasses Pit Viper also is the only company whose marketing emails I read.
- utucuro 5y agoLunor A5 [1], handmade glasses from Germany. They also have clip-on attachments [2] for a bunch of their other glasses. The classic version was worn by Steve Jobs; having worn the same frame with different lens shape, I can only recommend the brand, it was the most comfortable pair of glasses I used in my life so far (not wearing glasses daily anymore due to reduced myopia & fogging from masks) Lunor is, as far as I can tell, not part of Luxotica or LVMH. [1] https://lunor.com/en/product-category/a5-sun-en/ https://lunor.com/en/product-category/a5-sun-en/ [2] https://lunor.com/en/product-category/clip-on-en/ https://lunor.com/en/product-category/clip-on-en/