Heritage
Story
Ray-Ban's own product copy says the Aviator Classic was designed for US aviators in 1937, and the brand's history page credits the 1930s with the first crystal lenses made to cut glare for American pilots. The company behind it was Bausch & Lomb, an optics maker in Rochester, New York. The BBC's account fills in a step the product page skips: the first pairs sold to the public in 1937 had plastic frames, and the metal frame and the Ray-Ban Aviator name arrived the following year. Bausch & Lomb kept the brand until 1999, when it sold its whole sunglass business, Ray-Ban included, to Luxottica for about $640 million.
Design details
RB3025 is the model number of the Aviator Classic; L0205 is the colourway on this page, a polished Arista gold metal frame with solid G-15 green lenses. Ray-Ban sells it in three lens widths, 55, 58 and 62 mm, all on a 14 mm bridge, and marks 58 mm as its best-selling size. On that size the temples are 135 mm long. The prices tracked here are for the 58 mm.
Sources: Ray-Ban US product page, RB3025 L0205 (archived 7 Jun 2026); Ray-Ban: History (archived 17 Dec 2025); BBC Culture, 8 Jul 2015; Bausch & Lomb 8-K, June 1999 (sale to Luxottica). Published by the LuxuryPriceIndex editorial team.
Quick facts
At a glance
RB3025 L0205: polished gold metal frame, G-15 green lenses, 58 mm lenses on a 14 mm bridge, 135 mm temples.
References: Ray-Ban US product page (archived 7 Jun 2026); BBC Culture, 8 Jul 2015
2.8% a year over 8 years. That ranks 43rd of 45 items with at least two years of data. The sharpest sourced step was +6.1%, from $180 to $191 by Aug 2025. There were stretches with no change at all, so the rise came in bursts, not a steady drift.
Price around the world
Ray-Ban Aviator Classic price by country
Official prices in 11 markets, converted to your currency and sorted from lowest to highest.
Shown for the United States. Prices update to your country when we can detect it.
| Country | Price in USD | vs United States | Tax & source |
|---|---|---|---|
| AustraliaLowest | $181A$259 local | −5.3% | Incl. 10% GST. Tourist Refund Scheme may apply.web.archive.orgOfficial · 11 Jul 2026 |
| France | $183€163 local | −4.2% | Incl. 20% VAT. Non-EU visitors can reclaim part of it. Visitors: est. $156–165 after refund.web.archive.orgOfficial · 7 Jun 2026 |
| Germany | $183€163 local | −4.2% | Incl. 19% VAT. Non-EU visitors can reclaim part of it. Visitors: est. $156–165 after refund.web.archive.orgOfficial · 17 Jan 2026 |
| Italy | $183€163 local | −4.2% | Incl. 22% VAT. Non-EU visitors can reclaim part of it. Visitors: est. $156–165 after refund.web.archive.orgOfficial · 24 Jan 2026 |
| Spain | $183€163 local | −4.2% | Incl. 21% VAT. Non-EU visitors can reclaim part of it. Visitors: est. $156–165 after refund.web.archive.orgOfficial · 19 May 2026 |
| Portugal | $183€163 local | −4.2% | Incl. 23% VAT. Non-EU visitors can reclaim part of it. Visitors: est. $156–165 after refund.web.archive.orgOfficial · 24 Jan 2026 |
| Japan | $184¥29,040 local | −3.9% | Incl. 10% consumption tax. Tax-free for visitors. Visitors: est. $167 after refund.web.archive.orgOfficial · 17 Dec 2025 |
| Brazil | $186R$940 local | −2.5% | Incl. local taxes. No visitor refund assumed.web.archive.orgOfficial · 24 Jan 2026 |
| United StatesYou | $191 | — | Before state sales tax (0–10.25%).web.archive.orgOfficial · 7 Jun 2026 |
| United Kingdom | $207£155 local | +8.2% | Incl. 20% VAT. No tax-free shopping for visitors since 2021.web.archive.orgOfficial · 17 Jan 2026 |
| Switzerland | $241CHF 199 local | +26.3% | Incl. 8.1% VAT. Visitors can reclaim part of it. Visitors: est. $227–232 after refund.web.archive.orgOfficial · 16 Apr 2026 |
Shelf prices as published on each brand's country website (tracker figures are labelled), on the date shown. Converted at ECB reference rates of 19 Oct 2026. Sorted by shelf price, not by estimated tourist price. Visitor estimates follow our methodology. Not a quote: your card rate and local rules decide the final cost.
Retail price, 2018 to 2026
Step chart. The line holds flat until the next sourced change; we plot only dated, sourced prices and never fill gaps. Hover or tap a point for detail. Sources: web.archive.org.
Every sourced price
| Date | Price (USD) | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 | $191 | 0.0% | web.archive.orgOfficialLatest archived capture of ray-ban.com (7 Jun 2026); the live site blocked our reader on 22 Oct 2026 |
| Aug 2025 | $191 | +6.1% | web.archive.orgOfficialArchived ray-ban.com US product page, captured 2025-08-11 |
| Jan 2025 | $180 | 0.0% | web.archive.orgOfficialArchived ray-ban.com US product page, captured 2025-01-12 |
| Jul 2024 | $180 | +5.3% | web.archive.orgOfficialList price; a summer promotion was running in the capture |
| Jul 2023 | $171 | +4.9% | web.archive.orgOfficialList price; a 30% site-wide promotion was running in the capture |
| Jan 2023 | $163 | +1.2% | web.archive.orgOfficialArchived ray-ban.com US product page, captured 2023-01-26 |
| Jul 2021 | $161 | +4.5% | web.archive.orgOfficialArchived ray-ban.com US product page, captured 2021-07-13 |
| Feb 2020 | $154 | +0.7% | web.archive.orgOfficialArchived ray-ban.com US product page, captured 2020-02-15 |
| May 2018 | $153 | web.archive.orgOfficialArchived ray-ban.com US product page, captured 2018-05-05 |
Related
Questions
How much is the Ray-Ban Aviator Classic (RB3025 L0205, gold frame, G-15 green lenses, 58 mm) now?
The latest sourced US list price is $191 (Jun 2026), per web.archive.org.
How much has the Ray-Ban Aviator Classic (RB3025 L0205, gold frame, G-15 green lenses, 58 mm) price increased?
From $153 in May 2018 to $191 in Jun 2026: +25% (about 2.8% a year), based on the sourced data points below.
What do RB3025 and L0205 mean?
RB3025 is Ray-Ban's model number for the Aviator Classic. L0205 is the frame and lens code for polished gold with G-15 green lenses. The number after it, here 58, is the lens width in millimetres, followed by the bridge (14 mm).
Where is the Ray-Ban Aviator Classic cheapest?
In the official prices we hold, the euro-area stores list it at €163 and Australia at A$259 (about €161 at ECB rates of 19 Oct 2026), while the US list price of $191 works out at about €170 before sales tax and Switzerland is the most expensive at CHF 199, about €215. Each price carries its own capture date in the table above, because ray-ban.com blocked our reader and we used archived copies of its pages.
When was the Ray-Ban Aviator Classic launched?
Our sourced launch note: 1937, per Ray-Ban; metal frame and the Ray-Ban Aviator name from 1938 (BBC). Designer attribution (as sourced): Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, New York.
Where do these prices come from?
Every figure on this page is a dated public source we store in prices.json — boutique or brand list prices, not estimates. We do not invent or interpolate missing years. See the source column in the table below and /methodology/. LuxuryPriceIndex does not sell the item; authorised purchase is through Official brand retailers.
Keep exploring
Other icons to read next
Hermès Birkin 25
Togo leather
US boutique price$9,400 in 2016$13,500 in 2026
Van Cleef & Arpels Vintage Alhambra
Bracelet, 5 motifs
Official, 14 countries€4,722 in Hong Kong€6,162 in Brazil
Rolex Submariner Date
Ref. 126610LN
Official, 14 countries€9,475 in Japan€16,951 in Brazil
Cartier Love bracelet
Small model, yellow gold
Official, 13 countries€4,495 in Hong Kong€6,763 in Brazil
Data checked 2026-10-20. Found an error? The methodology explains how we source and correct.