Binoculars

[NCdoug]

My 9 year old and I found a pair of binoculars in the NC foothills, about 4 or 5 inches deep in the ground. The words "Marquise Paris" are located near the top. The lenses are in tact. Anyone know what time period these are from?

 

[Hugh Pharted]

n/t

 

[tonyb]

Great find!!!!

 

[coinnut]

I want to say the teens or twenties, only because the focus knob appears to be plastic (Bakelite). This is just a guess though. Maybe even the early 1930's. An antique dealer may give you a better idea.

 

[NCdoug]

Thanks for the help. I was thinking that the focus knob is made of a hard rubber material, but perhaps I'll try one of the tests on this site for Bakelite: http://www.worldint.com/science/bakelite.html

I haven't had much luck finding the right antique expert for this, I've gotten guesses from the 1850's to early 1900's.

 

[coinnut]

If it's rubber it will be older than I thought. The form looks almost Victorian or just before. But if it's Bakelite it a lot newer. So hope for hard rubber. Good luck.

 

[markg]

n/t

 

[Carolina Phil]

That's a very interesting find. I'm curious about the time frame also. Your nine year old did very well. That's a nice find for anyone.

 

[ED-NH]

Does the focus knob have any writing like 'goodyear p=t 1851'? or goodyear novelty? If so, they manufactured hard rubber buttons and stuff in the mid 1800's.

 

[spittenred]

http://www.pbase.com/dan_123/light_of_other_days_my_olde_optics_collection
check this out!! I think your binoculars are actually opera glasses, and may be well into the 1800s

 

[NCdoug]

Thanks everyone for your helpful information!

An antique dealer advised me to use Naval Jelly to clean off some of the rust -- I've started the process and it seems to be working well. The eyepieces are actually silver/chrome in color, and I've been able to determine that "Chevalier Paris" is inscribed in the eyepieces. I've found photos of other Chevalier binoculars on various web sites, but none that seem to be this particular model.

The turning knob does appear to be made of a hard rubber material, however I don't see any part number or reference to a manufacturer. The knob only turns about an 1/8 of a revolution, so I'm planning to try some penetrating oil to see if that helps.

Once I've made a little more progress with clean up, I'll post some new pictures.

Thanks again!

 

[NCdoug]

A little cleaner now, thanks to Naval Jelly......

 

[treasurefiend]

wow, awsome find!!!!!