An arm snaps at the hinge, or one goes missing in a hotel room, and the rest of the frame is perfectly sound. Lenses fine, front fine, nothing wrong with it at all except that it is short of a side. That is a part, not a new pair of sunglasses.
Here is what to work out before you order, because Ray-Ban arms are not interchangeable and the wrong ones simply will not go on.
Arms are model and size specific
An arm is cut for one model, in one length, with a hinge machined to match that particular front. An RB2140 arm will not fit an RB2132, and the right model in the wrong length will not sit properly on your head. There is no universal Ray-Ban arm.
Two numbers do most of the work. The model code — RB2140, RB3025, RB3016 and so on — tells us which frame you have. The length tells us which version of the arm, and it is the one people get wrong most often. Length is the three-digit number printed inside the arm, usually 135, 140 or 145. It is not the lens size, so ignore anything written in the 54 18 style.
Colour matters as well, since Ray-Ban make the same arm in black, havana, gunmetal and the rest. That is the colour code, printed alongside the model number.
Finding the numbers on your frame
They are printed on the inside of the arms, and on some models on the bridge. That is awkward when the arm is the thing you have lost, but you normally still have the other one and the pair carry the same information.
Our guide to finding your Ray-Ban model number shows exactly where to look on each frame type. For other brands, the frame model number guide covers the same ground.
If the markings have worn away entirely, which does happen on a frame worn daily for ten years, get in touch before you order rather than guessing. We can often work a model out from the shape of the front and the bridge.
What we can supply
Genuine Ray-Ban arms, ordered against your frame's own codes and supplied as a pair rather than singly. The arms are supplied through our authorised dealer account.
Some models have a parts page of their own, with the colours we stock on a dropdown so there is nothing to type. Those are in Ray-Ban replacement parts, and if yours is listed it is the easier route. If your model does not have its own page, the general Ray-Ban replacement arms page takes the model, colour and length, and we order against those.
Arms are £50 a pair on most models, with a few of the more involved frames above that. Add £10 and we fit them for you instead of posting them out.
Two smaller parts get ordered alongside more often than not, because an arm is rarely the only thing that has suffered:
- Temple tips — the plastic ends that slide over the metal. £15 a pair, or £25 with fitting. Split, perished or discoloured tips are very common on metal frames.
- Hinge screws — £10 a pair on the models we list them for. If the arm came off rather than broke, this may be all you actually need.
When the arm is fine but the hinge has gone
This is the distinction worth getting right, because it decides whether you need a part at all.
If the arm itself is straight and undamaged but it has come away from the front — the hinge has sheared, the barrel has pulled out of the acetate, or the screw hole has torn through — a new arm will not fix it. The fault is in the frame front, not in the arm. Fitting a new arm to a broken hinge leaves you with a new arm hanging off a broken hinge.
That is a workshop job. The old hinge comes out, a new one is set into the acetate, and the frame is realigned afterwards so both sides sit level. It is our repair service, from £40. We have been repairing frames by hand in the UK since 1999, and where a job needs spare parts beyond the standard repair we come back to you with a price before any work is done. Postage on a repair is free both ways: we send you a free post label for the frame, and return postage is included.
A quick way to tell which you have: hold the front and move the arm. If it hinges properly and the damage is in the arm itself, you need a part. If there is play at the joint, or the arm lifts away from the front, you need a repair.
Fitting them yourself
On most frames this is one screw per side and a precision screwdriver. Line the arm up with the hinge, start the screw by hand so you cannot cross the thread, and tighten until the arm holds its position without feeling stiff.
Do not overtighten. Optical screws are small, and the thread in a frame front does not take much before it gives up. If the screw will not bite, the thread has probably gone already, and that is a repair rather than a fitting.
While the frame is with us
If it is coming in anyway, it is worth looking at the lenses at the same time. Genuine Ray-Ban replacement lenses start at £60 and are ordered direct from Ray-Ban against the same codes as the arms. Having them fitted while the frame is already on the bench saves sending it twice.