Newbie with yet another Zeiss Jena Deltrintem 8x30 ID Question (1 Viewer)

[optix1255]

Hello everyone - thanks in advance for letting me jump in with what appears to be a common newbie question. This pair has been in our family for decades and possibly was related to my father's service in Europe during WWII. But they also could have been acquired at some other time/point. I've done some research on West vs East logos and groups of SN's, but haven't been able to pin these down. One thing that's curious is the smeared white text above the CZJ logo. It's possible that the 2nd word is Germany? Does anyone know the significance of this marking, as well as the age of this pair?

Many thanks,

Ron

 

[MandoBear]

I think the marking above the CZJ logo is just some residue from something - possibly adhesive tape? There is a website listing Carl Zeiss serial numbers and giving dates - I don't remember it at the moment, but I'm sure someone will be along with a link soon, or you could search this forum for it. From the looks alone, your pair is very similar to mine of early to mid 1950s date. The case looks like it may be later.

 

[tenex]

I think your mystery text read "Made in Occupied Germany", which would suggest late 1940s to perhaps very early 1950s? Actually too bad someone tried to obliterate such interesting history.

 

[Binocollector]

Definitely made in the German Democratic Republic because of the "1Q" on the bino, which means "first quality" and wasn't used before the 1960s. Binos with that marking were mainly made for export to Western Germany:

Gütezeichen (DDR) – Wikipedia

de.wikipedia.org

Serial # hints to 1961:

Wayback Machine

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

The Zeiss Deltrintem 8x30 is introduced in 1920 and production continued until.approx. until 1990 as far as I could find
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[Ignatius]

Yours was made in 1960/'61, so a long way away from WWII. It will have single-layer coatings.

 

[optix1255]

Thanks to everyone for the quick response and great info. This seems to be a great forum for sure! Unfortunately, I tried to wipe the dust off of that white text to see if it would be more legible, and the 60+ year old ink disintegrated instantly

FYI, I decided to part with them and they're now on eBay with no reserve: Vintage Carl Zeiss Jena Deltrintem 8x30 Binoculars + Case SN 3106568 NO RESERVE | eBay

Thanks again for all the help!

Ron

 

[Ignatius]

Dear @optix1255
These were not "Made in Occupied Germany". According to the serial no. they were made by Carl Zeiss Jena in 1960/61. Jena was then in the GDR which was not an occupied country but a sovereign state, albeit behind the Iron Curtain. AFAIK there were never any binoculars made by CZJ with that wording (simply because immediately after the war Jena was in the Russian sector and Russians did not print English stuff on their things), only Zeiss West binos had that right after the war. However, this was made about 10 years later and is a GDR product.

 

[tenex]

Well, I have seen that engraving before on Leica cameras from Wetzlar and don't know that it wouldn't have been used in the Russian sector too, until the DDR was declared, as it wouldn't have been made by "the Russians". But the serial number settles the date, so good to have that straightened out. Perhaps someone's name was just engraved then, and later wiped out.

 

[optix1255]

Thanks once more. And it seems correct that by the time these were made, GDR would not have required, nor allowed, such markings. But the more you look at the photo, the more it fits that that is what it said. If you Google "Made in Occupied Germany" there's quite a lot of info on items thus marked, But, interestingly, the marks are usually permanent, either engraved or cast. On my pair, it's obvious some sort of hand stamp was quickly used, thus the off center, crooked and smeared condition. This is not indicative of German manufacturing quality on either side. Perhaps it was added post factory for some customs/import requirement on the Western side?

 

[Ignatius]

Ok, you win. I give up.