Old porro 7x50 (2 Viewers)

[ReinierB]

Hello,

My recently passed away father, may he rest in peace, left this old porro. No brand is mentioned. Where does it come from? Does somebody know that?
It quite we bright and sharp pair of binoculars. A bit of a yellowish glow, but still quite a nice and 3D view.

Just wondering if it has any value and what the origin of it is.
7x50. The exit pupil is monstrous! I can see the appeal of that.

 

[Thotmosis]

My condolences Reinier, can’t help you with the origins of this binocular but its a great treasure because it belonged to your late father. For years i used the old 8x20 Eschenbach of my late father until I bought a Leica 10x25 and gave the Eschenbacht to my kid brother. Vrolijk Pasen.

 

[Foss]

Sad to hear you lost your father. Pretty sure the binoculars are 60s-70s Japanese, with greater sentimental value than monetary.

 

[Binocollector]

My condolences. Could you check the front ot the hinge? There might be a J-B or J-E number stamped on the hinge which would tell you who made these. But not all Japanese binos carry those numbers.
Value of the bino might be around 20-30 € on eBay. As Foss mentioned, more of a sentimental value. But I bought excellent binos for that money. And I have a ton of old Japanese porros -- some are excellent.

 

[ReinierB]

Thanks all! Of course I am not going to sell them. It already has a lot of value because it belonged to my father.

 

[ReinierB]

My condolences. Could you check the front ot the hinge? There might be a J-B or J-E number stamped on the hinge which would tell you who made these. But not all Japanese binos carry those numbers.
Value of the bino might be around 20-30 € on eBay. As Foss mentioned, more of a sentimental value. But I bought excellent binos for that money. And I have a ton of old Japanese porros -- some are excellent.

Nothing. Except this:

 

[ReinierB]

Sorry, bad picture.
Something B12
Something 512
I think.

Probably from Japan then.
As said, quite a nice 3D view! A keeper 🙂

 

[Binocollector]

J-E12 and J-B17, which translates to:
J-E12: Orora Kogaku Co. Ltd. who delivered the bodywork
J-B17: Otake Kogaku Kogyo Co. Ltd. Tokyo, who put the bino together (and made the optics, I think but am not sure).

https://miniaturebinoculars.nfshost.com/part8/Page289.htm

Some say, the lower those numbers, the higher the quality, as the first 20 Companies on the list and their employees were the ones that started all the rest of the Japanese bino production, as per "miniaturebinoculars". J-B7 for instance is Nikon.
But I have a few binos with numbers in the hundreds that are excellent, like a J-B207. J-B133 is Kamakura for example.

 

[ReinierB]

Very interesting. Thanks Binocollector!