How to Identify Fake Ray Ban Sunglasses

Look and feel the seams on the plastic frame. Genuine Ray-Ban products are always made from high quality materials and are very intricately machined. Most notably, the glass body is cut from monolithic acetate and hand-polished. Therefore, there will be no protrusions, roughness and especially the seams on the glass body are very smooth. These faulty glasses are a shoddy product of a cheap manufacturing process and are labeled “Ray-Ban”. ^[1]

• Seams can be anywhere, especially where the plastic closes – like the top edge of your lenses or the side frames where it rests on your ears.

Know if the glasses are too light. Hold Ray-Ban in hand. Slide the glass up and down a few times. Gently toss it up a few centimeters and then snap again. If it is the real thing you will feel the glass seems solid and strong rather than light, flimsy, or weak. If your glasses aren’t heavy enough to keep a few sheets of paper from flying in the wind, it’s most likely a fake.

• To ensure weight, the real Ray-ban has a metal core inside the frame that rests on the ears of the glasses. If there is a transparent frame model (eg Ray-ban Clubmaster Square) ^[2] , you will see the metal bar. If there is nothing in the core, your lenses are definitely fake.

Check lenses. Pick up your Ray-ban and look at the front, tapping the lenses with your fingertips. Judging by the shape and sound it makes, you feel it’s made of real glass, which is a good sign because many Ray-ban lines use this material to make lenses. Lenses with materials other than glass don’t mean they’re fake, unless the glasses look cheap, bland, and low-quality.

• If you feel your lenses aren’t glass, don’t worry – some Ray-Ban models machine the part from another high-quality material. ^[3] . Just to be clear, glass lenses are a sign that your glasses are real, but if it’s made of another material, it’s not necessarily a fake.

Look at the poor quality hinge. Open your glasses and watch from behind. The hinge is a corner where the side frame joins the front frame and it’s made of good metal. People attach the frames with dowels, not glue or join with cheap plastic – as mentioned above, those signs are from low-cost materials and hasty processing.

• Most – not all – Ray-Bans have metal hinges with seven latches. ^[4] . It is a notable identifying feature, however a number of other high-quality metal hinge styles are also commonly used (e.g. the Ray-ban Aviator and Clubmaster series).

Consider if the carving in the corner of the glass is of poor quality. Look at the glasses from the front. If you’ve worn many Wayfarer or Clubmaster models, you’ll see a small diamond-shaped or oval silver stone in the corner of the lens. They are beautifully crafted, sharp and shiny. If you scratch it and it feels loose or the carving doesn’t look good, the glasses are most likely a fake.

Look for the word “RB” engraved on the lens. Many Ray-Ban models have the two letters “RB” in a very small and barely visible proprietary font engraved on the lenses. It’s close to the corner and you can see it if you shine a flashlight diagonally across the lens of your glasses. If it’s a fake Ray-Ban, you won’t always be able to see the “RB” because it’s blurred or because of poor engraving.

• However, some models made before 2000 have the two letters “BL” engraved for “Bausch & Lomb”, the company that owned Ray-Ban at the time. In 1999, Bausch & Lomb sold Ray-Ban to the Italian company Luxottica. ^[5] New owner’s name is printed on current Ray-Ban branding and packaging (see below).

Check the quality of the nose pads. Every part of genuine Ray-Ban glasses is made from high-quality materials – including the tiny nose pads. They are made of rubber so they are very durable and comfortable to wear on the nose. It would be suspicious if these pads seemed flimsy, slippery, and unstable.

• You should look at the “RB” logo imprinted on the metal piece inside the nose pad. That is one (not all) of the hallmarks of the quality of Ray-Ban lenses. ^[6]

Consider the embossment of the temple icon. Put down your glasses and look to the side. On the frames of the glasses where the temples are located, the words “Ray-Ban” in handwritten letters emerge. If you look closely, you’ll see the icon is very clear, elaborately attached. If this inscription is only fixed on the frame with glue or nails, and looks rough and not sharp, it is definitely a fake.

• Of course with some small-frame Ray-Ban models, like the Aviator, there is no such icon.

Find the model number printed on the frame. Look inside the frame that rests on your ear. If it’s a Wayfarer or a Clubmaster line, it will have white text on it. In the left frame is the serial number and manufacturing code of the glasses. On the right frame you’ll see the Ray-Ban logo, the words “Made in Italy” and two capital letters “CE” (meaning the glasses are licensed for sale in Europe). If the text is missing a certain part or is blurred or printed with poor quality, it is probably a fake.

• If you still have your glasses case from when you bought it, check that the serial number on the glasses matches the number printed on the box. If not, then this is definitely a fraudulent commercial product.
• Again, the Aviator’s frames are very small so there won’t be any text as mentioned above with these models.