PLEASE HELP! old ray-ban glasses

[allen]

i found these in my grandpa's stuff, here are some pictures, please tell me if you know anything about it, and if it  is worth anything.
thankyou

[bob535]

A pair of these exact glasses and case (with the lenses) sold on ebay for $125. I don't know how much value is lost with the lenses. Hope that helped a little.

there may be someone who can help more in a bit.
 
Welcome to the forum 

[KC]

The original Ray Bans do keep their value if in pristine shape!!!  These will lost lots of value without the lenses.  Would see about getting them replace if I was you!

I know the founder of Ray-ban...Has one of the most gorgeous homes I have been to...talk about antiques, personality, etc.

[ironlord1963]

   I have learned the other day that the 12k GF stands for 12 k Gold Filled, still a bit unsure what Gold Filled means.  I have a pair of vintage 50's cat eye Glasses I was processing and learned this little tid bit.  Maybe some one can fill me in what Gold Filled means.

[hosman321]

Ray-Bans were created in the 1930s, so that must be one old old dude KC!

[rockandrollrods]

I love vintage Ray Bans! I found a pair at a thrift store once that I paid five dollars for! The Roy Orbison style ones! They were great shades.

[sapphire]

Check out VS540, last one on this page. (There's 38 pages) Click on the Tell Me More to see three pair.  Looks to be yours, but if not, lots more to scan through.

http://www.vintagesunglassesshop.com/brands_ray-ban_20.html

Too bad the lenses are missing.

[jondar]

Ironlord -  Gold filled is a base metal with a thin (I mean THIN) sheet of gold on both side.  These are different from gold plated as the plating is done electrically or other means.  In El Salvador where I lived off and on for some time they call it layera (lay-air'-uh) one layer of gold on each side.  It seems to wear very well over the years, at least a lot better than gold plated. I'm not sure how they get the gold to "stick" but it does.

[jondar]

Allan - What you have without the lenses is a pair of frames.  You can find some of these on Ebay and last time I looked they ran $15 to $30.  If your frames have any sentimental value you can also find dismounted lenses at reasonable prices and they are not hard at all to install.  Ray Ban lenses come in two or three different sizes, the largest, I think, are 52mm.

[fancypants]

If you check inside (the portion that is towards the face) of the bridge , @ the center , you should find two numbers , the smaller one = bridge width , larger one = lens size (in millimeters) , in the event you want to go looking for replacements .

These look to be 1970's era to me , usually purchased by sportsmen , aviators , cool dudes & etc ... most common tint was amber "anti-glare" , although they also were available for use with prescription lenses & various custom tintings .
Thin & rather light-duty temples were a bit of a faulty design , considering that all lenses 'factory-mounted' by B&L were made from glass & could have been made with a little more 'beef' to them , but these frames (often called 'aviator-style') were the fashion statement that alot o' ole boy liked .

Many (most) people produce acids that eventually eat through the surface gold & expose the base metals underneath , in frames made as these were .
Finding an intact & original set of eyeglass frames sans such wear/damage is much more in line with an eyeglass collector would be looking for (original & unused) IMO .

[KC]

Oops, didn't mean the "Original" Sam Foster....but his namesake!!!!!!  I'm not that old!   Ha Ha!!!!!  They have one of those homes that has the homestead house linked to another house and added on to it....a long winding home filled with history!!!!