Prisma Paris binoculars

[Deyglo]

Hi. I just joined here today and first want to say thank you to all of you who are keeping this era alive. My granddaddy was a WWI Vet & I absolutely appreciate you.

My question is about Prisma Paris binoculars (made in France.)I did a thorough search on this board & found nothing about them. However, I have seen these binoculars listed multiple times online as "antique" "military" and/or WWI. 

Does anyone know if they are truly WWI era? I AM a reseller and I'm not going to list them without some sort of confirmation. 

Thank you so very much,

Dey

[MikB]

I think that, despite the pretend prism cases and the 'Prisma' name, these have no prisms and are actually straight-through Galilean in design. The objectives appear to be in line with the eyepieces, and they predate roof-prism designs. There was little or no control over technical exaggeration in advertising at that time.

Fred Watson's 'Binoculars' booklet shows two similar pairs that he dates to approx. 1910 and states to magnify no more than 2x. Galileans rarely reached 5x. Yours are almost certainly of WW1 era - there are a few but not many examples of glasses of this type being distributed post-WW1

These are nicely made, and better than the examples in Watson's book - they have a hinged bridge to adjust to suit the user's interpupillary distance, whereas his examples are fixed.

Galileans were completely outclassed in magnification and field of view by prismatic glasses, however they can accommodate eyesight defects better and may have good light transmission, so better examples were still approved for British military service in the emergency of early WW1. If that's the case, they'll have an 'S.3' or 'S.4' grading and a Broad Arrow with a registration no. engraved somewhere. If approved for French service, they'll have an 'MG'.

 

[4thGordons]

I have a similar pair - although they are in less good shape (especially the leather wrap.

Mine do not have any markings indicating service use although they came to me with a US uniform and ephemera.

 

[Deyglo]

@MikB Thank you for the very thorough answer. That is exactly what I was looking for and confirms what I was thinking. I don't see any military type markings like you described, so definitely not military. I do appreciate you dating them for me. One of my objectives as an online reseller is to gather as much (true) information as possible before I post something, and you have definitely helped me to do that.

Thank you again!

Dey

[Deyglo]

@4thGordons I think they are the same. The left "prism case" / sleeve on mine is somewhat disconnected and turns with very little effort. I'm curious if either of yours do. 

Edited 6 April by Deyglo
Misspelling

[4thGordons]

Yours has a hinged bridge whereas mine is fixed

When I got them one was loose like that, yes. If I recall I disassembled them and put them back together and after reassembly it was tighter.

I just checked and there is some movement but I avoided turning it as far as you show.  I think your pic shows that as @MikB said they are not actually prism binoculars despite the shape and they are just Galilean tubes.

Chris