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! 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. 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:

The legendary M Frame and Radar sunglasses you see on the faces of athletes across sports all exist today because of the innovation from the Blades system. And we hope to see Oakley continue with re-releases of this iconic frame for many years to come! Looking For More?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 frame builds on the goggle-inspired design of the Eyeshade by removing the bottom half of the frame, which offers increased downward visibility. 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.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 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) 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. First, the angle of the lens mounting hook is slightly steeper on the Heritage Collection Razor Blades, along with slight differences on the ear stems. However, these features are not noticeable to most average wearers.

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 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. Second, there are slight variations across the lens hook angles on the frames. Unfortunately, this means you cannot use lenses interchangeably across different generations of Razor Blade sunglasses.Related: 10 Facts About Oakley's Headquarters That Will Make You Want to Visit Now Oakley x Kitch Razor Blade Sunglasses Colorways 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.