Little help if you please : ) (1 Viewer)

I just picked these up and they are a bit different than my Swift Commodores 7X50 & Audubon 8.5X44 models. I'm not at all sure what the Vega means and wonder about their probable age. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

GalvestonGuy said:

I just picked these up and they are a bit different than my Swift Commodores 7X50 & Audubon 8.5X44 models. I'm not at all sure what the Vega means and wonder about their probable age. Any thoughts would be appreciated.View attachment 524730

Click to expand...

Appears to be 1965 or earlier. Here's a very brief summary. You may want to send Simon S a private message on this forum.

How do they perform?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rdmadison/5959610322/in/set-72157627243943850

GalvestonGuy said:

I just picked these up and they are a bit different than my Swift Commodores 7X50 & Audubon 8.5X44 models. I'm not at all sure what the Vega means and wonder about their probable age. Any thoughts would be appreciated.View attachment 524730

Click to expand...

Your 10x50 Swift Rainier was marketed by Swift and Anderson (S&A) prior to 1959, when Model 765 was sold without the word "Vega" next to the Swift bullseye. An important clue that it was an S&A product is that the ® registration mark is also not included with the bullseye. The 765 was also sold in 1960, after the company changed to Swift Instruments, Inc. and I presume ® was included at that time. I don't know the origin of the word "Vega," but can only assume it was an earlier S&A designation. Sadly, yours is not rare.

Ed

Thanks to you both for your informative replies. I will post an update on my impressions once they arrive. I just started collecting binoculars and am learning so much from this site. I'm very glad I discovered it : ) Thanks again for your help.

Welcome aboard. :t:

Ed

PS. I found the attached Ocala Star-Banner (Florida, USA) ad for Swift-Vega binoculars dated 3/20/57, or two years before Swift & Anderson became Swift Instruments. The 10x50 model isn't mentioned, so it may have been introduced in 1958 or 1959.