Ray-Ban Aviator Classic RB3025
Verified catalog entry: Gold-tone metal and green G-15 teardrop lenses — the aviator every other aviator copies.
- Frame shape
- Aviator
- Frame color
- Gold
- Lens
- Green G-15 Standard
- Polarized
- No
- UV protection
- UV400
- Retailer
- Amazon
- Material
- Metal
Pros
- The original 1937 aviator
- Teardrop G-15 lenses
- Adjustable nose pads
Cons
- Not polarized at base price
The story behind the frame
The RB3025 is the direct descendant of the anti-glare goggles Bausch & Lomb developed for American military pilots in the 1930s. Released to the public in 1937, the design gave Ray-Ban its name — it banned the rays — and its teardrop lens was shaped to cover the eye and the downward glance at a cockpit instrument panel.
Wartime photographs of General Douglas MacArthur and, decades later, Top Gun (1986) made it the most recognized sunglasses shape in the world. The green G-15 lens, which lets through about 15% of visible light while keeping colors natural, is the same formula Ray-Ban has used since the 1950s. Read the full history of aviator sunglasses.