Oakley Square Wire

Ten Square Wires have passed through this studio. Everything here comes from pieces we have had in hand.

What it is

A thin square wire frame, sold in a first version and a 2.0. Six of the ten we have handled were marked Gen 2 or 2.0; the other four carried no generation on the piece.

The years printed on them run from 1996 to 2006, which makes it the longest-lived frame in our archive: 1996, 1999, 2005 and 2006 are all represented. If someone tells you the Square Wire was a short run, the pieces say otherwise.

Colourways we have actually had

Frames

Silver
Pewter
Polished
Black

Lenses

Fire Iridium
Black Iridium
Grey Iridium
Ice Iridium
Blue Iridium
G30 Black Iridium

Two of the pairs we have had were the same 1996 Silver / Fire Iridium, and the second was listed as a separate style with a lighter lens. Two pairs of the same model and year are not a duplicate listing and not the same piece: in a single-unit archive it just means two of them came through.

Sizing

The Square Wire is a classic wire frame, so it does carry the lens–bridge–temple notation on the inside of the temple. We do not publish it yet because we have not read it off a piece ourselves. Ask us at 16.88studiocontact@gmail.com about a specific pair and we will read it and photograph it.

What to check before you buy one

Version. 1.0 and 2.0 are different frames. Six of ten pairs stated it; four did not, and on those you should ask.
The wire. A thin frame bends. We check that it sits square and that the temples hold tension, and we say so.
Lens tint under daylight. Grey Iridium and Black Iridium look alike in a photograph and nothing alike on the face.
Temple engraving. Model and reference, inside the temple, as on every Oakley of the period.