The Dita Mach-Five — often typed as "Dita Mach 5" — is a titanium aviator whose styling comes from 1950s racing and sports cars, most obviously in the titanium mesh nose bridge that reads as an automobile grille. We hold the Mach-Five in Sydney and can show it to you or order a colourway at 342 Oxford Street, Paddington, ten minutes from the CBD.
What the Mach-Five is
The Mach-Five sits in the middle of Dita's Mach series and is the one most people mean when they search for a Dita aviator. The front is a classic tear-drop, softened at the top edge, with titanium temple pieces and Dita's signature eye-rims. The detail that identifies it instantly is the mesh across the nose bridge: fine titanium, cut and set rather than moulded, a direct nod to the grille on a mid-century sports car.
The lenses use Dita's step-down bevel, which sinks the lens into the rim so the edge does not sit proud, and they block UVA and UVB with a reflective coating on the mirrored versions. Like everything Dita makes, the frame is built in Sabae, Japan.
Colourways and the limited editions
The standard run has included matte black with yellow gold and gold with blue mirror lenses. Dita has also released the Mach-Five in limited colours — black with matte black, and black palladium with rose gold among them — which appear briefly and are not re-run. If you have seen one of those online, that is the version to ring about early rather than late.
On the face the Mach-Five is a medium-to-large aviator: less imposing than the Mach-Six, more classical in shape, and easier to wear every day. The titanium pad arms hold an adjustment, so it can be set to sit level on an asymmetric bridge instead of sliding.
Mach-Five or one of its siblings
Against the Mach-Four, the Mach-Five is the more decorative frame; the Mach-Four has rubber nose pads and the diamond pattern etched into the rims and is the softer option for long wear. Against the Mach-Three, which is squarer than its tear-drop siblings, the Mach-Five is rounder and less severe. Against the Mach-Six, it is quieter — no forked hinge, no doubled brow bar.
Dita production runs are small and colourways come and go without notice. Ring us on 02 9331 4650 with the colour you want and we will check the cabinet and the order book.