: I was having a root around late last night for the box and coin, it
: was at my last house a couple years ago, so there's a good
: chance I still have it.

We're such collectors! Keeping boxes we don't really need, just in case :) I dug out a load of New Frogskin Oakley boxes a month or so ago - nothing out of the ordinary, you might think, but I bought those sunglasses between 1996 and 1999! And until now, I thought of sunglasses as something I just had a few of rather than a collection as such. And yet I still kept the boxes...

: Kind of irrelevant though as I will wear
: them till they are knackered, then moan like hell at the cost of
: buying a new pair the same!!!

Well, in another parallel to Heuer, the box and coin have a value even without the glasses. Not quite at red racing box levels, but you could make a few bob selling them - enough for a tune up for the glasses. And they stopped making them a couple of years back, so finding new ones is tricky and expensive. Though I did manage to grab one of the pairs Oakley apparently found in stock in October! Pro tip - replacement rubber is in stock at Oakley UK for £10 a pop, get some in while they still have them.

: ten years later, still haven't
: found any I prefer.

Me neither. Big fan of Oakley, but they've never topped the Juliet for me.

: From what little I have seen already, mine does have serial number
: on it, so they are an early pair.

Check out the serial list here http://o-review.com/forum_detail.php?ID=11867 and then reconcile it against the Juliet page here http://o-review.com/database_detail_model.php?ID=93 and you'll be able to find a date range. Kind of a parallel to our Heuer model tables actually, but a little more recent and with better, more intact company records!