Oakley Straight Jacket Ducati 12-637: How to Identify the 2003 Edition
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The Oakley New Straight Jacket in its Ducati edition, reference 12-637, is one of the five models that opened the Oakley x Ducati line in 2003. It is also one of the most misdated Oakleys on the second-hand market: two later Straight Jackets get listed under the same name, and they are a different frame. The way to tell them apart is printed on the box, and the licence is marked on the glasses themselves.
The frame and the edition are not the same year
The New Straight Jacket frame dates from 1999 (the original Straight Jacket came out in 1996). What is from 2003 is the Ducati edition: a Dark Grey frame with Black Iridium lenses and a red O icon on the temple, made in the USA. The label on the box carries the artwork date 68-617 04/29/03 rev. A, that is, April 2003. So "2003 edition" is accurate, and "a 2003 frame" is not.
Three references that get confused
- 12-637 · New Straight Jacket, Ducati edition · 2003 · Made in USA
- 24-002 · Straight Jacket 2.0 · 2007
- 12-790 · Straight Jacket II, Casey Stoner · 2008
Listings mix them up constantly, and the mistake matters: a buyer who reads "Straight Jacket Ducati" without a reference tends to value the 2003 edition as if it were one of the later models.
Where the reference is printed
On the box label, next to the barcode. On the unit we photographed it reads 12-637 ~ A04227, with EAN 7 00285 12637 1. If a listing shows the glasses but not the label, ask for the label before anything else.
The factory marks
Three marks identify a genuine Ducati edition, and all three are on the frame: the red O icon on the temple, DUCATI etched on the lens, and STRAIGHT on the arm, with MADE IN U.S.A. on the inside.
What a complete set includes
Box with its Ducati Corse sleeve, microfibre pouch, PLATE leaflet, warranty card and Ducati rider card. The paperwork is what makes a set, and it is the part that almost never survives twenty years.
Who designed it
Oakley has not publicly credited a designer for the Straight Jacket. The back of the box lists Oakley design patents whose named inventors, according to Google Patents, include Jim Jannard and Peter Yee, Oakley's long-time head of design. The box itself says only that "one or more of these patents may apply", so it is a lead, not an attribution.
The Oakley x Ducati line
Ducati announced the licensing agreement with Oakley at Monza with five models: Minute, Straight Jacket, Valve, Juliet and Half Jacket. In May 2004 the agreement was extended for three more years, adding the Monster Dog and the Zero while the Juliet, the Half Jacket and the Valve continued. The Straight Jacket is named among the original five. Its sister piece from the same launch is the Valve 12-638, whose box sheet is 68-618, one number later and dated the same day: how to identify the Oakley Valve Ducati 12-638.
Oakley Straight Jacket Ducati: common questions
What is Oakley 12-637? The reference of the Oakley New Straight Jacket in its 2003 Ducati edition: Dark Grey frame, Black Iridium lenses, red O icon, made in the USA.
What is the difference between Oakley 12-637 and 24-002? The 12-637 is the 2003 Ducati edition of the New Straight Jacket. The 24-002 is the Straight Jacket 2.0 from 2007, a later and different frame.
Where do I find the reference number on an Oakley Ducati? On the box label, beside the barcode. For this model it reads 12-637 followed by a batch code.
The full photo set of the unit we documented, every mark shot on the unit itself, is in our archive: Oakley New Straight Jacket Ducati 12-637. More from the era in Vintage Oakley and Sunglasses, and the wider background in our vintage Oakley buyer's guide.