American Optical Pilot Sunglasses, A Review Of The New Original Pilot by AO!

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The ever classic styling of the American Optical Original Pilot Sunglasses is here to stay, and newly revised these are ready to rock the streets and up your sunglasses game all over again! If you've never heard of American Optical, there just a 200 year young company, so stick around and learn a little about these cool shades!
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[@lloyd2364]

Your videos make me so happy sending love from a sunglasses collecting new Zealanders xxxx

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!!! 😁

[@send4hlp]

AO wasn't military use, but it was NASA use. Flown on Apollo, Mercury, etc. There is a company called Lunar Replicas that will retrofit the AO Pilot with the original NASA serial numbers and such.

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

Hey, very cool info! Thank you for sharing!!

[@caomhan84]

Not strictly true. They did supply sunglasses during World War II, and the original pilot was designed for test pilots before it was adopted by NASA and the astronauts. So they did see military use. This is often a sticking point for me because everyone praises Randolph, when they came along 15 years later. AO was always the original.

[@usmansabir1407]

What exactly have they improved in the new ones ?

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

minor changes to style (temples and logos), improved monoblock hinge and screws are more resistant to backing out over time :)

[@wavey_anthonyb9867]

How can I make my glass screw more bc my glasses arm is wobbles a lot and it won’t screw more

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

This is typically due to 1 of 2 things. Either the hinge barrels are out of alignment (most common) and need realign before it will function properly, or the threads in the hinge are stripped out. Not a bad idea for a future video! 😁

[@김규동-w2p]

Thank you for such a detailed review. Are those original pilot sunglasses RX capable? I mean, is it flat enough? I have read the comments below, so bad that they don't sell frame only, but I just want to make sure before actually ordering one. And I see your nice shop in the back ground - Do you do Rx sunglasses? Chattanooga is just a couple hours drive from my place here Thank you in advance :)

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

Yes we've done many custom rx in these, in glass and other materials. Really with the price point on these and lens cost these days the maybe $10 savings of frame only doesn't come out as worthwhile. I'm sure we'll get to a place it's orderable from AO eventually, just too high of demand at this time 🙂.I keep all sizes on hand in those pilots and usually all other styles with the full collection of saratogas 😁 I would love to meet you and get you taken care of!! 💖

[@kabuKkKkaakl]

Do you know the name of the glasses that have just little dark lins not the ones that become dark from. The sun

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

Typically referred to as a category 1 lens or fashion tint :)

[@kabuKkKkaakl]

@@ThatGlassesGuy03 do you recommend them?

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

From a wear for fun/style aspect, absolutely. I make quite a lot of them 😁

[@kabuKkKkaakl]

@@ThatGlassesGuy03 ok maybe I will try them later thanks

[@wallacerickmanii]

Where would you put AO’s gray lens on the spectrum? It seems like many manufacturers err on the side of slightly cool. Or, at least, that’s how I perceive most of them. Randolph’s gray is the only one in my collection that comes to mind that is actually neutral to slightly warm. (Excluding mirrored lenses of course). I can live with either unless it is too cool. Costa’s bare grey lens comes to mind as being overly cool. I suspect they did that so that their more popular blue mirrored-grey lens wouldn’t end up too warm.

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

AO is pretty darn neutral as far as greys..with having the green to fall back on they don't have to worry about a cool lens. I should really throw it on a spectrophotometer just to see 🤔... in terms of costa, here it gets dicey, and I was actually in thought over this on the way home today as I was wondering why blue or cool gray lenses are even a thing. I SUSPECT that for collections aimed at an older demographic, as the natural crystalline lens in the eye has aged and gradually yellowed on its own, this cooler lens appears more like their vision when younger.... purely speculative at this point, but it was something that crossed my mind considering how anyone could enjoy a cooler shifted lens. More than you asked, sure, but a musing today no less. 🤣 I've recently added revo in store, and their Grey's lean green-warm too, particularly with the blue mirror it takes on a subtle and beautiful warm tone. Their h2o glass may be one of my favorites in quite some time. Vuarnet is leaning more cool as of this typing and the last batch I got in 3 weeks ago (I was shocked at the difference in their Grey lenses in the batch I got from France for the new glacier luanch)... the old green/warm tone is gone and it's very much a blue grey now.

[@wallacerickmanii]

Thank you for the excellent reply! It’s not at all more than I needed to know. I’m very interested in tint choices, but from an enthusiast-consumer point of view. I suppose it does make sense that both Randolph and AO would have at least neutral grays, given their aviation heritage and demographic. I can’t imagine many pilots tolerating a very cool lens, it seems like it would be almost oppressive up in the sky with that. (On the other hand, I’m constantly surprised by what people tolerate or fail to notice when it comes to sunglasses.) I definitely do have a preference for green lenses, and actually have a pair of AO’s in green. I’d mostly ignored un-mirrored gray lenses until Randolph’s resparked my interest. It really is a pleasant gray. So, now I’m thinking I’ll have to try AO’s as well. Probably after I get Christmas shopping knocked out in the next few weeks. That’s a very interesting point about aging eyes - one that I hadn’t considered. It does makes sense, and it would be a reason that flies under the radar. About Revo though, a few years after they were sold to Luxottica I somehow blundered my way into several pairs of new old stock that were made pre-buyout. I didn’t even truly realize what I had until later - I just knew I loved them. They were really, really great glasses. I believe I still have them somewhere. I’ve been curious about them again ever since hearing that they have new owners who seem to be interested in restoring their quality. Anyway, I’ve truly rambled. Again, thank you for taking the time to give such an informative response, and for putting out such informative videos.

[@usmansabir1407]

I'm looking for a 52mm gold frame only. Any pointers ?

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

They don't sell these as frame only, just buy the least expensive version 🙂 i.e. the nylon non polarized lenses.

[@usmansabir1407]

@@ThatGlassesGuy03 damn. I remember they used to do that few years ago . You could even buy spares like bayonet , gradient lenses etc from their site. How much does a non polarised nylon one goes for these days ? Reason I was interested in frame only is because I use to have a 52mm one and bought 2 pairs of gradient lenses . I lost the glasses but still have the lenses with me so thought I'll use those :)

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

@@usmansabir1407 I totally get it. Right now they're having difficulty keeping up with regular production as is :) we've tried to order them for custom lenses and rx work, so I already knew the answer haha. 179 for the lowest cost version.

[@usmansabir1407]

@@ThatGlassesGuy03 wow , that's not cheap. There's a website called armyu.com and they seem to have two variants on sale. On description they seem identical other than the fact one is supposedly polarised and other non polarised. They are selling non polarised one for 129 usd. I'm feeling a bit unsure as lately nobody seems to be selling these glasses for that cheap. Over here in UK you can't find AO anywhere other than one or two sellers and they are really expensive . I have to order one in from 🇺🇸. Also, there is a brand called eagle eyes optics and their pilot sunglasses in terms of design are very identical to AO. but the frame doesn't seem like the same quality. Initially I thought about buying that one and changing lenses on it 😀.

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

@@usmansabir1407 that's because a new company purchased AO last year and has been cleaning house with scrupulous sellers, discount and knock off product etc. :) anything below that 179 nylon non polar is not the new ao original pilot as they're very strict on the srp pricing.

[@SeenShortVideo]

I have Original but ho to find this is original or fake

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

Easiest way is to compare the logo in the lens and on the temples. But keep in mind there are now to "original" versions as of 2020 when AO rebranded and updated the design

[@SeenShortVideo]

@@ThatGlassesGuy03 My sunglasses name is Randolph aviator engineering usa

[@SeenShortVideo]

@@ThatGlassesGuy03 How to send photo...

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

That's a whole different brand. I'm not familiar with randolph enough to tell you if it's a fake or not.

[@hoanglongnhan3916]

I Have A Plan Man... My Step Father Have A Business Card Of AO Wear Company.. Now I Know It... I Need Your Help... My Step Father Have A Name is Minh Văn Châu...

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

No need for all that, I ship worldwide 😎 just hit the link for my shop in the pinned comment.

[@odyssey37]

Do you really need the mask?

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

Do you really care 3 years later?

[@ARMock]

We arw not in the room with you!!!! SoYou are using this to push your mask SEE YA!!!!

[@ThatGlassesGuy03]

Glad you're gone 👋