vintage binoculars (1 Viewer)

hi all am new to this forum... i am trying to find out about a pair of my grand fathers binoculars from WW2.....i have got photos of him wearing them whilst he was an officer in the royal navy.
They are a pair of NIKKO 10X70, with 7 degree, these are in original carry case dated 1945.
Have tried to trace serial number but seem to hit a brick wall at every hurdle, would be nice to know where exactly they came from and value for insurance reasons, people have said anything from £50 to £1000 possibly more... would appreciate your help if possible many thanks, jim.

Well Japan without a question, and sound very interesting. Could you post a picture?

hi will try and post pics here goes: these are 9 inches eyepiece to lens and 9 1/2 width, and weigh in at 5lb 4oz / 2.370 kg

Well the value is difficult, is there any writing of artwork on the prism covers? Any history and original case. Makes a lot of difference.

Simon knows his vintage (he has a wonderful collection), and I don't, so I can't help with value as a "collector's item". But Nikko is a well known maker of quality military optics from that era--the Japanese were not watching us with cheap binoculars, no sir, we got the very best treatment possible!

What I can get excited about, is that is an extraordinarily wide field of view for a 10x70, current top Nikons and Fujinons being only 5 degrees. That would be very desirable for stargazing. The coatings are only single layer if any at all, but that hardly affects the appearance of a typical starfield. What matters is that the glass be well made and well adjusted, and that's where heavy built military binoculars shine. I bet over on one of the astronomy forums Astromart or Cloudy Nights some bino fan would give you $300-$400 for utility alone. And one of the guys on CN is especially keen on old military stuff. CN is free, sign up and inquire over there.
Ron

Stephen Rohan in his book "A Guide to Handheld Military Binoculars 1894 -1945" shows what is almost certainly your binocular on page 178 which he terms an "Air observers or Captain's glasses":
10X70 Nikko (Nippon Kogaku)
FOV 7 deg, 123 m at 1000m
Manufactured 1940-1945
To quote Dr. Rohan,"This large wide field binocular was equipped with lockable diopter settings. Many were issued in a wooden carrier with 2 sets of filters. A few have been found in their original issued leather case. Large rubber eyecups are usually present. Two air space objective elements are used. Some 10x instruments are found with naval acceptance markings (picture of an anchor), others with air force acceptance markings (picture of star within a circle), still others with no service branch markings." Dr Rohan rates comparative rarity as "rarely encountered".
In my opinion depending on markings and condition of binocular, they could be worth at least $1,000 and possibly much more.
Nippon Kogaku, by the way, is today known as Nikon.

hi all, many thanks for the replies, these binoculars have no military markings on them and are in the original leather case which is dated 1945, with regards to star gazing these were fantastic with the meteor shower last month although you had to be patient and quick off the mark, does magnify the moon to almost sun like glare unless i put sunglasses on lol.

nothing that i can see on lenses and didnt come with eyecups, looks like never been on either