Zeiss 8X42 Conquest HD vs Swarovski Optik EL 8.5x42 (1 Viewer)

I have a friend that is looking to move his 2004 Swarovski Optik EL 8.5x42 Binoculars and I could pretty much move my Zeiss Conquests and get the Swarovski's for about $400 more. Would this be a good move? How would the optics compare? I can't really do a side by side comparison immediately since he lives about 2 hours north, so I would like to get some feedback.

What do you guys think? His Swarovski's are in beautiful shape with original box, case, documentation, etc.

My initial thoughts are that the coating on the Zeiss could make them a better optic compared to the older Swaro's.. but I really want a pair of Swaros and have always loved the clarity.

Fourtraxer,
The Zeiss Conquest HD is brought on the market by Zeiss next to their topline, the Zeiss Victory's. They are a lot cheaper than the Victory's and the first question one must ask oneself: why is that the case. The old Conquests were made in the Zeiss factory in Hungary. That and a cheaper housing and a lower opticcal quality compared with the Victory line made the old Conquest a lot cheaper than the Victory's which are made in Wetzlar, Germany. The question now is: where are these new Conquests made, are they fully made in Germany, both housing and lenses or did Zeiss ask a company elsewhere in the world to make the optical components and the binocular body according to their specifications and are the Conquests assembled in Germany? There is nothing wrog with that, but it could explain the substantial price difference betweeen the Conquest line and the Victory line. After all Zeiss had a theatre glass in its progamme (it is not sold anymore) which was fully made in China and it was of very good quality.