Costa Del Mar’s Antille Polarised Sunglasses – Reviewed & Tested

Can helping the oceans really look and feel this good? Josh has been cruising round in the Antille recycled plastic polarised sunglasses from Costa to find out.

It’s not every day that you get the chance to review some premium sunglasses. So when that email floated through my inbox (thanks in no small part to all the time I spend on the water) I jumped at it like Free Willy getting his whale ass out of that pool.

My biggest learning when it comes to watersport-oriented eyewear is knowing that wearing shit-quality sunnies means you’re going to have a bad time.

On numerous occasions, I’ve managed to cook my face and eyes so badly that I resembled the long-lost brother of Mr Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants. And on one occasion I ended up with a case of welders flash, normally associated with people using oxyacetylene torches and industrial welders.

For those not familiar with Costa, or ‘Costa Del Mar’, the brand started some 40 years ago in the sunny state of Florida, USA.

In a few years, the brand grew dramatically to be the eyewear of choice for the American Americas Cup sailing team, due to its sought-after sun glare-reducing qualities. With this boost into the spotlight, the brand soon became the go-to sunnies for watersports people the country over.

From day one the brand has always been conscious of the need to protect and preserve the oceans and waterways that its customers enjoy. And this is where the model in review comes in.

Forming part of the Untangled collection, the Antille’s frames use a material made from 97% (or more) recycled fishing nets.

The epitome of turning trash into treasure

By pairing this frame with the premium, 100% UV-protecting, polarised lenses, you’ve got a pair of shades that not only protect your eyes but also make big moves to protect the oceans.

That’s all well and good, but how do they shape up? I’ve chosen four criteria to help break down my thoughts on the product.

Design

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder right? If you’re looking for a pair of shades to wear to the next Sydney fashion week, then maybe this isn’t the pair for you. But if like me you value function slightly considerably above fashion, and you want something that’ll protect your eyes and face for long and glary days on the water, then you’ll see that this shape and style is a winner.

Business in the front

Business in the back

They’re a decent, subtle square shape that works well with my face. I’m not so sure about some of the green and blue mirrored looks, but those lenses are all about cutting through different coloured water. Function over form.

Durability

Being completely honest, I’ve had other products before that have been made of post-consumer waste and the quality of the material and build was, well, pretty rubbish. But when I first pulled Antille out of the case I was extremely surprised at how robust and well-built they felt.

To put them to the ultimate test, within the first week I managed to accidentally sit on them at the beach, filling my back pocket with sand and giving the sunnies a look similar to a freshly rolled schnitzel.

Can confirm: they survived the surprise sit test

Luckily a quick rinse under fresh water was all they needed to look as good as new. No scratches to the lenses and no unwanted crunchiness in the hinges. I can’t fault them for toughness.

Protection

I know what you’re all thinking. He’s dedicated to the cause and he’ll go out and cook his face again, just to prove that the sunnies work. Well sorry to let you down, but I’ve well and truly learnt my lesson there.

That being said, I’ve spent a few solid days staring into the glaring ocean recently and am pleased to report that no sunburnt eyes occurred, not even slight headaches or frown tan lines from the ongoing need to squint.

Everyone battling the sun’s glare except me

Price

If you’ve read some of my other reviews then you’ll know I like to use the phrase ‘Buy once, cry once’. Meaning you’re much better off spending a bit more to get quality than spending lesser amounts over and over again. Yeah yeah, enough of the shit talk. What’s the price? At the time of writing the Antille Untangled was $272.

Sure it’s getting towards the upper end of active sports eyewear options. But in my opinion, no other watersports-focused sunnies come close to the features and quality that you’ll be getting when you buy a pair of Costas.

I found that the price does reflect the quality

As someone who’s been around the ocean and watersports for a fair chunk of my life, I was familiar with the Costa Del Mar name. And to be honest I had no doubts that the quality and protection that the brand’s so well known for, would be true.

But when I was given the chance to review a pair I was pretty excited to get tough on them and see if it was all hype or warranted praise. To be somewhat anticlimactic, the latter is true.

If you want the best-built, watersports-suited sunglasses available, definitely consider a pair of Costas. Whether it’s a pair from the Untangled collection or the core range, they all feature 100% UV protection and polarised lenses, but only the Untangled ones help to repurpose fishing nets that should’ve never been left in the ocean.

All around, a big fan!