Sunglasses of the Month : Ray-Ban 4118

Ray Ban is the king of the premium sunglass market and is by far the bestselling eyewear brand in the world. For over 70 years the house of Ray Ban has maintained its devotion to quality and technology, which has helped to establish the brand's legacy of authenticity. From designing for US army pilots, to mass production, Ray Ban has always offered technologically advanced lenses for protecting eyes from radiation, but today, thanks to their own advancements, Ray Ban lenses can now do so much more!

When it comes to expensive eyewear Sunglasses Shop customers often ask, 'is it really worth it?' A subjective question that's nearly always impossible to answer. One man, or woman, might spend a month's salary on a single pair of sunglasses whereas the next would rather invest it on a season's worth of luxury eyewear. Even arbiters of style can sometimes find it difficult to rationalise similar purchases. Comparison can be a particularly useful economic tool when it comes to our own retail satisfaction, especially in the current climate, but more often than not, if a customer goes into a shop and finds precisely what they're looking for it's likely they won't mind heading for the checkout and reaching into their back pocket.

With a compendium of over 160 different sunglass styles, Sunglasses Shop customers are virtually guaranteed to find precisely what they're looking for with Ray Ban, hence why they're the most popular eyewear brand on the planet. For those with little understanding or misconceptions surrounding the harmful affects of ultraviolet light (UV) and the importance of safeguarding your eyes from the sun, today's modern eyewear market must seem somewhat ridiculous and that you'd have to be a fool to pay good money for sunglasses when you can pick a pair up from the local market trader. But what they don't realise is the ugly and inconvenient truth, which is that a £10 pair of sunnies will not offer the same fundamental levels of UV protection, quality or design as a pair of Ray Ban 4118 shades (£74) and that sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

Amidst the designer vs. the high street debate, consumers often experience quality problems with high street sun-specs. Screws either fall out or come loose. The nose pieces have mysteriously become lost, and due to the lack of a complementary sunglass case, lenses have become scratched. A pair of 4118 Ray Bans on the other hand for example, will still be going strong after 10 years or more, giving you more for your money. Some people might scoff about losing them, but in our experience people generally take better care of items that cost more.

Ray Ban's 4118 shades ironically form part of the brand's High Street collection, a collection of sunglass models that take inspiration from the reinvention of iconic designs and will leave you spoilt for choice. As aforementioned, Ray Ban lenses now do so much more than just protect your eyes from the sun and come with a variety of lens options as well as an indulgent choice of colours. Ray Ban's 4118 gives Sunglasses Shop customers the option of high quality, brown crystal polarised lenses; a top notch lens that's clearer and brighter than anything else out there! Self reflection is good. Surface reflection on the other hand is not so good. Polarised lenses eliminate the distracting polarised light that occurs as a result of light reflecting off of shiny surfaces, like chrome and large bodies of water. So whether you're admiring a freshly waxed Aston Martin DBS on the road, or the sun rising in-between the mountains across the ocean, glare will be a thing of the past and your eyes will finally be able to relax the next time your out on the open road.

But perhaps the only thing better than Ray Ban's polarised lens technology is the G-15 Natural Grey lens (4118 Gradient Grey), which enables you to see colours exactly as they are. A Ray Ban standard for over 70 years, this type of G-15 lens provides an incredibly comfortable and relaxing experience that reduces eyestrain and squinting, creating a safe haven for your eyes. It's often been said that Ray Ban sunglasses say summertime in a universal language and similarly the company's G-15 lens has landed the brand yet another nickname, 'natural vision lens', because they transmit all colours equally and retain their true values. Even the most delusional can now see things just the way they are, clear evidence that Ray Ban shades are capable of so much more than sunglasses made with cheap-ordinary lenses.

If that's not enough to sway you either side in our designer vs. high street sunglasses debate, all Ray Ban products undergo extreme, dedicated testing before they are approved for production. Some of the tests include testing resistance to chemical and physical damage, resistance to temperature, humidity and radiation, and checking the durability of hinges by simulating a lifetimes opening and closing. All lenses are also impacted by a 1.6cm steel ball from a height of 1.3m which measures their resistance against flying debris. The durability of the hinges is also checked by applying a weight of 500 grams to each side.

The 4118 shares a striking resemblance with various models from Ray Ban's Jackie Ohh collection, a genteel range of big, vintage shades based on the style of Jackie Onassis; an a-list socialite who is best remembered as the wife of assassinated US president John F. Kennedy. The first lady's exquisite style inspired books, films and fashion, she was a living catalogue who was vastly copied and widely envied. The pin-ups style took a dramatic turn after she accepted Aristotle Onassis's marriage proposal, complete with a $1.5million diamond ring, and she began sporting big, bug-eyed plastic sunglasses. Whether she intended to or not, Jackie Onassis inspired and influenced fashion tastes, including our Sunglass of the Month. The 4118 catapults the 1960s mood of Jackie Ohh into the 21st century with a contemporary wrap around design. Ray Ban's 4118 plays on the size and shape of various Jackie Ohh frames but clearly favours a predilection for sport-chic. Even if you're not hitting the courts you can still look like a pro with this personable sun-shield that draws attention to the creative and ongoing relationship between the two worlds of fashion and sport. But whatever life throws at you, you'll always look good with these bestsellers by your side.

Shop for Ray-Ban Sunglasses