Review: GUNNAR Barron and GUNNAR Dume both want to make you the next Iron Man

If you’re not familiar with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the EDITH glasses stand for “Even Dead, I’m the Hero”.  After Spider-Man: Far From Home came out, every glasses company out there saw the giant, retro EDITH glasses that Tony Stark passed onto Peter Parker and said “I can make those!”. But, GUNNAR had the Marvel license at the time to do them accurately. After they stopped having that Marvel license, the “GUNNAR Stark Industries” glasses got re-released due to popular demand as the GUNNAR Barron. Right around the same time, they also put out a similar, but not identical, frame known as the GUNNAR Dume at the same price.

In either case, both pairs here are solid, thick-rimmed, 1970s-style aviator glasses that’ll get you a lot of looks while you wear them. But, how well do they both hold up for the price range and capabilities for those who don’t necessarily care about being the genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist?

What’s in the box?

As always, you can expect higher-priced GUNNAR glasses to come with some accessories, which includes your standard microfiber cloth and microfiber carrying pouch, both with identical branding and patterns for each. 

But, what surprised me is that they are paying attention to the hard shell cases that are coming with glasses a lot more lately. The Barron comes with a highly collapsible, triangular case in the box that fits the glasses with no problems and into your pocket when not in use. When you pull it from the box, you can see that the case is really compact when it’s flattened.

The Dume, on the other hand, comes with a slightly thicker, rectangular case that takes into account that they’re just slightly bigger and fits them very well. Oh, and it is also collapsible, but a little less compact.

This has been a problem with some previous glasses that GUNNAR has put out in the past and I’m really happy to see them taking sizes and shapes into account when pairing accessories in 2025.

While you can’t really go wrong with a black case, a dark gray pouch, and a light gray cloth, my only thought is that they tend to be generic when that’s what most of the non-licensed, GUNNAR brand glasses come with. Once in a while, a splash of color or design would be nice. But, that’s just a personal qualm.

Tech in the Specs (or, Holding a Lens Up to These Glasses)

Anytime we talk about the technology in GUNNAR glasses, we have to rattle off a laundry list of things that the lenses do. As always, GUNNAR is a lens company and the various frames are just the vehicle for their great tech. 

So, you’re going to get that main blue light protection on any lens, no matter which one, as well as 100% UV protection, smudge resistance, anti-glare, and some minor hydrophobic coatings.

As far as the differences in the lens options, the GUNNAR Barron is pretty standard to older GUNNAR frames out there, offering their normal Amber tint and the original Clear tint options.

But, the GUNNAR Dume does knock out the Clear option in lieu of their rare Amber Max tinting. If you thought having a yellow tint was weird, try having a darker orange tint that blocks out nearly all blue light at 98%. For those who need something so darkly tinted, it’s really nice to see it being utilized outside of their prescription list.

As for the technology of the frames, they’re pretty similar. They’re stainless steel, offer the same hinges, and would be classified as “aviator” glasses. The primary visual difference is that the GUNNAR Dume only comes in gold, while the Barron glasses are silver and have a nice crosshatch design on them (not terribly different from the GUNNAR Plaid, which I reviewed here).

I’ll talk more about their shapes and sizes later, as some key differences between the two make or break each pair for me.

Wearing the GUNNAR Dume and GUNNAR Barron glasses

Immediately, I notice some interesting differences between the GUNNAR Barron and the GUNNAR Dume. 

They may both identify as aviator-style with similar shapes and are made of stainless steel. But, the lenses are entirely differently shaped and will affect how they may look on your face. 

For instance, the Dume is way more rounded and seems to have slightly larger lenses, whereas the Barron is a little more angled off. That may come down to a preference thing for some people, as I do prefer the shape of the Dume itself.

You’ll also easily notice an inner rim around the lenses for the GUNNAR Dume that adds to the thickness of eye protection on the sides, I would assume. This also explains why they opted to include a slightly larger hard case than the Barron. But, that’s the extent of the praise I’m able to give to the Dume at that point.

Both the GUNNAR Barron and Dume have “sturdy multi-barrel hinges”. Call me picky, but I’m always going to prefer flexible hinges on GUNNAR glasses due to having a larger, wider head.

But, comparing both the Barron and Dume specifically, I noticed something that I may have missed had I reviewed them separately: one fits my head better than the other. 

The GUNNAR Barron wins out by a notch due to the weight difference. At first, I thought that the front length was longer, due to the Dume digging more into my head than the Barron did. But, after measuring them, they came out to be identical, so what is so different? 

The Dume, as mentioned, squeezes my head, which can cause me headaches over longer stretches. But, since the GUNNAR Barron doesn’t have that extra thickness around the eyes, it comes off way more lightweight and less constricting. 

Final Verdict

The old GUNNAR Stark Industries glasses may be dead, but the GUNNAR Barron is definitely the hero here. They may have some flaws, but nothing will make you feel more like Iron Man than wearing the glasses he made famous on-screen. 

While the GUNNAR Dume isn’t as much of a winner, it does offer some great features and functionality that look stylish and retro. Even though the pair I got were in the normal 65 Amber tint, I’m a big fan of the Amber Max option being a standard for this pair. 

All in all, both pairs of glasses are pretty good and I would recommend either one. But, I’m just leaning more toward the GUNNAR Barron for my personal preferences and usual nitpicks.

Both the GUNNAR Dume and GUNNAR Barron retail for $89 on GUNNAR’s website. If you’re curious about what other frames you can expect from GUNNAR this year, I broke down a lot of options (Including the Dume) earlier this year from their offerings at CES.