We’ve been covering the release of Oakley carbon fiber sunglasses even since it was just a mildly dropped rumor on their blog.  Since then they’ve released a teaser video that we posted about.  Now there’s quite a bit of information out there that we thought you all would be interested in hearing about.

Oakley released something called The Elite Collection, which are products made in limited quantities that represent the most innovative technologies, aesthetics and ideas.  Part of that collection will of course be their upcoming carbon fiber sunglasses.

The sunglasses now have a name, the Oakley C SIX.  Oakley claims they are the most technically innovative sunglasses ever created.  That’s quite a statement.  They say that using carbon fiber was one of the greatest challenges.

As was mentioned in the teaser video one pair of C SIX frames uses diamond-tipped milling heads at spinning a 10,000 rpm, shaping 40 layers of billet carbon fiber composite for over 24 hours.

To deal with the rigid nature of finished components, Oakley engineered spinal structures of Beta Titanium memory metal to achieve precise zones of tuned flexibility. Radial cams augment the stem mechanics, and the lenses are a showcase of the best optical technologies ever invented.

The result is C SIX, a premier design in the new ELITE Collection and a technological masterpiece that elevates eyewear to the pinnacle of engineering. And it is coming soon.

Flickr user mpmcgaughey noticed that Lance Armstrong was wearing the glasses at the Tour De France:

We’ll continue following the development and release, stay tuned.  In the meantime, check out how one of our readers custom made Oakley Juliet sunglasses out of carbon fiber.

[Thanks Steve!]