Ray-Ban and Oakley dominate the conversation, and for good reasons. But a shopper who only ever looks at those two names walks past a great deal of well-made eyewear, often at a considerably better price.
Vogue Eyewear
Vogue sits in the fashion-led part of the market. The range leans towards cat-eye shapes, softer geometrics, lighter metals and colourways that change with the season rather than staying fixed for decades.
Who it suits: someone who treats eyewear as part of an outfit rather than as a permanent fixture, and who would rather have two or three frames in rotation than one classic worn for a decade. The shapes tend to be more expressive than the aviator-and-wayfarer canon, which is exactly the appeal.
What to look at: the cat-eye and upswept shapes, which flatter rounder and squarer faces by lifting the eye line.
Arnette
Arnette comes from board-sports culture, and the range keeps that character: bolder shapes, more colour, a younger and more casual register than the heritage brands.
Who it suits: anyone who wants presence without the price of a flagship name, and who is not looking for something conservative. It is a good first pair of proper sunglasses for exactly that reason.
What to look at: the larger squared and geometric shapes, which suit rounder faces well and carry the colour better than a small frame does.
Move
Move is the most straightforwardly practical of the three. The range covers the everyday ground: readable shapes, sensible sizing, and prices that make it realistic to own more than one pair.
Who it suits: someone who wants a pair for the car, a pair for the beach and a pair that can be lost without ruining the month. It is also a sensible place to experiment with a shape you are not sure about before committing to it at a higher price.
The thing worth saying plainly
A less famous name on the temple does not mean a lens that fails to filter ultraviolet. That specification is checkable on any frame regardless of price, and it is the one that matters for your eyes. What you are paying for at the top of the market is design heritage, materials, finish quality and the resilience of the hinges over years of use, all of which are real. They are just not the same thing as protection.
The sensible approach is to check the ultraviolet specification first on every candidate, then decide how much the name, the materials and the finish are worth to you.
