Unfortunately, it happens. There are a lot of shops and stores out there that sell fake Ray-Ban’s and it’s more common than you think, but luckily there are easy ways to tell if your frames are fake or not (in some cases it’s very hard to distinguish – there are some good fakes out there!)
Let’s go through some common indications – we are using the example of a clubmaster (Rb3016 W0365) Top is fake, bottom is legit.
The Ray-Ban Logo
First of all, the Ray-Ban logo on the left lens is enlarged and out of place. You can see from the image below that the top frame has a slightly enlarged and bubbled logo, whereas the real frame has a very neat and compact logo. Also if there is no RB etching on the right lens – or if it is printed not etched – then this is a good indication of a fake.
The Frame Specifications
Next, is the information on the arm. In most cases fake frames don’t have much information at all, however you should always see the following:
RB3016 (model number) W0365 (colour code) 51 (lens width – followed by a square) 21 (bridge size) 145 (arm length) 3N (lens treatment)
In the fake example (the top frame) it is missing the bridge number and arm length. It has the colour code and model number, but you can clearly tell they are not the same.
The Fixings
Moving onto the hinges and screws.
From our example, you can see the hinges are different so are the screws. If you want to clarify what the hinges of the official frames look like you can simply Google them, or visit Ray-Ban’s website for the technical drawing. You can see in our examples that the screws and the hinges are completely different.
Other things to note:
- Incorrect logos + size
- No information (or limited information) on the arm
- No Ray-Ban logo on the nose pads
- Incorrect colour code from official (like the ones used in our example)
- You do not receive an official Ray-Ban case/cloth and booklet with your frame – no matter what a store says, they should always come with this 3 things.
If you’re ever in doubt, always look at your frame and compare it to what they sell on the Ray-Ban website – if you suspect it is a fake then you can always get in contact with us (or your local optician) and we can clarify it for you. In most cases we cannot offer replacement lenses, because the fakes will be a different shape to official ones.