Germany, Imperial. A Set of Pre First War Bavarian Binoculars c.1900

These binoculars feature a leather-covered non-magnetic aluminum housing on the body and on the sliders over the objective lenses, with many of the exposed aluminum parts painted in black. The body tubes housing the lenses are joined together at four locations, with a central cylinder between the tubes, the cylinder itself housing a brass post that feeds into the large focusing knob in the centre and is finished with a screw at the eyepiece end. One of the bars joining the central cylinder and tubes beside the focusing knob is gradated from 58 to 69, with numeric marks at "63" and "69". The left eyepiece is marked "RESIDENZ STR 21 / MÜNCHEN" (Residenzstrasse 21 Munich), while the right eyepiece is marked "HEINR. RATH / KGL. BAYER. HOF-OPTIKER" (Heinrich Rath, Königlich Bayerische Hof-Optiker = Heinrich Rath, Royal Bavarian Court Optician). The binoculars weigh 679 grams, measure 126 mm in width x 285 in length and when fully extended, they measure 430 mm in length. Although the areas around the eyepieces have experienced contact marks and minor dents, along with black paint loss, in addition to scuff marks evident on the leather-covered housings, the reinforced stitching on the leather wraps remain intact, the binoculars themselves sturdy, having survived the test of time. Very fine.