B&L Bausch & Lomb Ful Vue Steampunk Motorcycle Sunglasses

1 Rare and early Bausch & Lomb B&L Ful Vue goggles c 1949 combine extra strong B&L green safety glass lenses with a sturdy metal frame, and we can assure you that no goggles or safety glasses are made with this kind of quality today. Perfect for use as motorcycle goggles and sure to attract attention, we particularly like the glass side blinkers that keep wind and sunlight out while protecting the eye from the side. These glass blinkers swing on a hinge for closing the glasses and conforming to the face. It is quite unique how these glasses fold, for the front hinge rotates a full 180 degrees so they are hinged back for wearing and hinged forward for closing the glasses. If it were otherwise, they would not close with the side blinkers in the way. Very unique. Each ear stem is a strong, coated wire curved in the back with the shooter design to fit securely around the ear, and each 1.875" diameter green B&L lens is marked at the top with the etched B&L logo in the glass lens. They measure approximately 5.25" temple to temple to make them a good unisex size, found as part of an estate in the warehouse of an Ohio contractor covered in dust in the back of an old cabinet and clearly forgotten for 60 years. The B&L Ful Vue goggles are also marked on the nose bridge B&L Ful-Vue 23 impressed in the metal, and original marketing materials for these in our files not that they are designed to "protect the only pair of eyes you'll ever have" and were made in the USA c late 1940s. Rare.

Item VS025-1 / Price: SOLD

2 While Bausch & Lomb was best known for making Ful Vue goggles, it was actually American Optical (AO) that created the original Ful Vue design which B&L licensed with royalty payments to AO. Identical in appearance to the B&L Ful Vue pictured below, AO's original idea for the Ful Vue was to raise the point where the arms joined the frame, taking them up and out of the way of the wearer's side vision. Introduced in 1930, this is also at the same time many Americans were driving cars for the first time, so they were also using rear view mirrors for the first time and herein there would be no temple blocking the wearer's view of the rear view mirror. These new old stock American Optical Ful Vue goggles are marked AO 23 Ful Vue impressed on the rear of the nose bridge and have the AO Safety Shield etched marks on both lenses.

Item VS025-2 / Price: $425.00

No Fakes, No Reproductions, Save 10% Plus Free Shipping

Don't be fooled by fakes and condition misrepresentations. Vintage designer sunglasses are widely counterfeited and reproduced, sold knowingly and unknowingly in the market. Auction sellers describe condition using vague, subjective, and misleading words to get higher prices and prevail in a purchase dispute, and most offer no returns. You can trust the Vintage Sunglasses Shop to protect you from these risks as the largest retailer of authentic vintage sunglasses in the world - read about our condition & authenticity guarantee.

Tell your friends about us on Facebook or Twitter, then enter promo code 444971 at checkout to save 10% on your entire order plus always free shipping in the US and subsidized express shipping worldwide.

We buy finer vintage designer sunglasses that meet our standards; learn how to sell your vintage sunglasses at better prices than auctions and with no fees, hassles, or uncertainties. Thanks for visiting and shopping at the Vintage Sunglasses Shop!