The 1169S with gradual lenses -- not to be mistaken with the 1190S, both by Gucci -- are the sunglasses that I have been coming back to for the last 6 months. Officially released in January 2000 I still haven't found anything more pertinent to put on my nose. And believe me, I'm actively looking.

The gradation of the lens gives the actor (wearing those glasses makes you look and feel like a movie star close friend of Lee Majors) a shady and mysterious yet not "rock" agressive look that the "smoke gray" (as Ray-Ban calls it) lens usually provides. The way the frame and the lenses that shade off gradually interact is remarkable. It's the Balorama (Ray-Ban please create a historical part on your site) with an olive of sophistication if you will.

The 1169S work well with almost any look but I find them at their best when completing an urban polyester cowboy presence.

I'm still hanging-on to my first shiny black plastic frame with brown-fading-to-peach lens (1169S-807/BE) but I did lose my favorite pair which was the mate black plastic frame with sumptuous green-fading-to-yellow lens (1169S-DL5/A3). I was so happy to find them for $91.00 at sunglasses2000.com compared to $94.50 at eyesave.com and $104.91 at best-of-italy.com.

Try this AltaVista search if the above links are dead.

The 1169S makes you regret even more the revamping of the 5th Avenue store.