Oakley debut new Split Jacket glasses and lens tints

Toned down version of the Jawbone

James Huang

Published: June 11, 2010 at 8:40 am

Riders with smaller faces or who simply can't quite stomach the bold styling of Oakley's Jawbone now have a toned-down option called Split Jacket.

Compared to Jawbone, Split Jacket is slightly narrower and smaller overall, while also sporting softened lines and colours for a more casual look better suited to dual duty – on and off the bike.

Like Jawbone, Split Jacket features Oakley's clever Switchlock interchangeable lens system with a hinged lower 'jaw' that secures the optics in place with minimal pressure. Similarly interchangeable nosepieces allow for a slightly tunable fit.

The new glasses will be offered in a wide array of frame colours and lens tints plus a new 'Clear-Black Iridium' Transitions photochromic option that will also be shared with Jawbone and Radar. As the name suggests, the range of light transmission is impressively broad, starting at a nearly clear nine percent and darkening all the way up to 70 percent.

According to Oakley eyewear brand manager Andy McSorley, the new photochromic lens will go from full-clear to full-dark in just 10 seconds and yet will boast 80 percent fadeback within a minute (photochromics generally darken more easily than lighten), making them a good choice for dawn or dusk outings, or mountain bike rides in mixed conditions.

Also joining the new photochromic lens is a pair of updated polarised options. The new '00 Polarized' (say, 'double oh') Black and Red Iridium lenses include a slightly detuned polarising filter that still squelches glare but doesn't totally block out LCD displays, plus higher-contrast 'G40' base tints (polarised lenses are almost always grey) for improved colour definition.

McSorley says all of the new styles and lenses are shipping now and should hit shop shelves from 1 July.