Friday, 29 August 2025

Binoculars of Unusual Design


Here, I will take a look at some of the binoculars in my collection that don't conform to the norms of traditional binocular design. Classic binoculars of Galilean, Porro-prism, or roof-prism design, have for much of their history conformed to certain aesthetic and functional design traditions that we're all familiar with. From time to time, however, makers have come up with interesting and unusual deviations from this, some of which are a disaster, and some of which work pretty well. Here are just a few of them:

Here are two pairs of triple-optic Galilean binoculars by Lemaire of Paris. These were manufactured for international sale, frequently bearing a brand-name of the retailer. They have a small knob on the side which, when turned, selects one of three pairs of eyepiece lenses. These are Theatre for closer observation, Field for medium distances, and Marine for long distances. The knob has the Lemaire bee symbol on it.


 

The larger pair shown here has the classic Lemaire bee symbol on the knob, but no maker's or retailer's name. The three lens positions on this are marked Teatro, Campo, and Marina, suggesting they were exported for sale in Italy.


The smaller pair has the retailer's name W. Heath, Plymouth, on the eyepieces, along with the bee symbol. William Heath was an optician and scientific instrument maker trading in Plymouth, England during the late 19th century.

This next pair is also from Lemaire. It is a pair of clam-shell style folding opera glasses, made during the late 19th century. It came in a pigskin pouch with a clasp, which was probably original.  

Although this is a little awkward to hold to the eyes, it works perfectly, and is a superb little opera glass. The clam-shell is covered in dark brown leather, and the eyepieces are marked Lemaire Fabt Paris, along with the bee symbol. The bee symbol also appears on the end-plate for the central focusing bar.

 

This is a pair of miniature Porro prism binoculars, perhaps designed as an opera glss. They are only 85mm wide at the widest point With no maker's name, this pair is a bit of a mystery.


 

With 3x magnification, 12.5mm objective, and adjustable interocular distance of approximately 58mm to 68mm, this is a surprisingly useable and fun little pair of binoculars.

Back with the folding binocular concept, here we have a pair by Mars, inscribed:

Jumelle "Mars"
Brevetée France Étranger
Modèle Militaire.

 

Brevetée France Étranger is French for Patented in France and abroad. Whether this was genuinely used as a military binocular, I do not know.


This next folding binocular is by Zenith, marked as Super Zenith.

This is very similar to the Tasco binoculars used by Timothy Dalton in an early scene of the Bond film, The Living Daylights. Fun as these binoculars are, I cannot believe that this kind has ever been used by the Secret Service.

Here we have another concept that works far better than you might imagine. This is the Kershaw Sportsman, designed to be worn like a pair of glasses. Once again we come back to Timothy Dalton as Bond, who wore a pair similar to these in - you guessed - The Living Daylights.

With a relatively low magnification of about 2 or 2½, these Kershaw binoculars give a surprisingly useful view, for example, at a sporting event such as horse-racing, where too much magnification narrows the field-of-view too far. Each barrel focuses individually, and the interocular distance can be adjusted.


This next one is a humdinger. It is Aitchison's Patent Pocket Binocular Field Glasses.


There is a lot to say about this very special pair of binoculars, which is why I've given it a blog post of its own, which you can see here.


For more information about binoculars, the makers mentioned here, and a great deal more, refer to Brass and Glass: Optical Instruments and Their Makers. Please click here, or on the cover image to the right, to find out more. 


All photos and text © Tony Benson 2025

Wednesday, 20 August 2025

Index by Location - Brass and Glass: Optical Instruments and Their Makers


 Brass and Glass: Optical Instruments and Their Makers contains over three thousand alphabetically listed entries, many of which are for companies or people who were makers of optical instruments.

So, how do you find who the instrument makers were from the USA, or Germany, or London, or another country of interest?

In this post, you will find an index of the makers ordered by country and region. Since this is quite large, I have also provided indices for some countries as separate lists. Each is provided here as a link to a PDF file in Dropbox. You don't need to log on to Dropbox - just click on the link to view the file, and use the download feature if you wish to keep a copy of the file.

    

Firstly the full index: 

Makers by Country and Region

Smaller indices for frequently mentioned countries, indexed by region:

Austria 

England - London

England - Outside London

France

Germany - Alphabetical 

Germany - By Location 

Ireland

Italy

Japan

Netherlands

Russia, USSR, and GDR 

Scotland

Switzerland

USA - Alphabetical

USA - By State

If you don't see the maker you were looking for, please check with the full listing of entries in the book, which you can find here

These indices were prepared by hand. If you spot any typographical errors, ommissions, or errors, please let me know. 

 For full details about the book, and a complete contents list, see here.
 

Sunday, 16 February 2025

Newbold & Bulford Binoculars and Telescopes

N&B Cub 18x

Newbold & Bulford of London, England, were makers of telescopes and binoculars during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

N&B Cub 18x

Most of their telescope models were terrestrial telescopes, sometimes known as spyglasses. These show an erect image, wheras an astronomical telescope usually shows an image inverted either vertically or horizontally (depending on the optical design).


N&B Petrel 30x

They began to use the trade name Enbeeco and, after the second World War, by 1951 or earlier, the name Enbeeco was used extensively on their products.

Enbeeco Merlin 20-40x

In 1960 Newbold & Bulford collaborated with Ross Ltd. to produce the Ross Enbeeco 13x60 binoculars. In 1975 Newbold & Bulford bought the stock and goodwill of the company J.H. Steward.

Enbeeco Merlin 20-40x

In October 1991 the company, then trading in Edenbridge, Kent, became Pyser NB (Trading) Ltd., This became part of Pyser-SGI trading at the same address.


Below is listed the various models of telescope and binocular made and sold by Newbold & Bulford


Telescope Models
Binocular Models

Telescope Models


Comet

The Enbeeco Comet (C & S) is 2 draws, 20x magnification with a 35mm objective. It measures 10” closed and 24” extended. It is of brass construction with a leather cover on the main barrel. It has a sliding sunshade, also covered in leather, and two end-caps with a strap attached to leather tabs on the main barrel.

The Enbeeco Comet No. 2 is 2 draws, 25x magnification with a 30mm objective. It measures 10¼” closed and 24½” extended. It is of blackened metal construction with a leather cover on the main barrel. It has a sliding sunshade, also covered in leather, and two end-caps with a strap attached to leather tabs on the main barrel.


Commadore

The Enbeeco Commadore 18x has a single draw with 18x magnification. It measures 17” closed, and 23½” extended. It is of chromium plated metal construction with leather covering on the main barrel.

The Enbeeco Commadore 20x has a single draw with 20x magnification. It has a 30mm objective, and measures 17” closed, and 23½” extended. It is of chromium plated metal construction with leather covering on the main barrel.

Cub

The Newbold & Bulford Cub is 3 draws, 18x magnification with a 24mm objective. It measures 7” closed and extends to 18¼”. It is made of brass, and has a leather cover on the main barrel. It has a press-fit brass cover on the objective.


Curlew

The Enbeeco Curlew is a 2-draw pancratic telescope with a magnification of 25x-40x. It has a 40mm objective. It is of brass construction with a leather cover on the main barrel. It has a sliding sunshade, also covered in leather, and two end-caps with a strap attached to leather tabs on the main barrel.


Do-it-yourself Kit

The Enbeeco Do-it-yourself Kit was sold as a boxed set of parts for the construction of a small astronomical refractor.


Falcon

The Falcon telescope was sold branded both as Newbold & Bulford and Enbeeco. It has 3 draws, and 22x magnification, with a 30mm objective. It measures 6¾” closed, and 17¾” extended. It is made of brass, with a faux-shagreen cover on the main barrel. It has a press-fit brass cover for the objective.


Heron

The Enbeeco Heron is a 2-draw pancratic telescope with a magnification of 12-20x. It measures 5½” closed, and 14” extended. It is of brass construction with a painted main barrel. It was supplied in a canvas pouch.


Hillary-Everest

The Newbold & Bulford Hilary-Everest is a 2-draw pancratic telescope with magnification 25x-40x. It has a 40mm objective, and measures 10¼” closed and 28½” extended. It is made of brass, with a leather cover on the main barrel. It has an extendable sun-shade which is also leather covered. It was produced to commemorate Edmund Hillary’s expedition to Everest in 1953 during which, accompanied by Tenzing Norgay, he was the first person to reach the summit of Everest.


Kestrel

The Enbeeco Kestrel is 3 draws, magnification 25x. It has a 35mm objective, and measures 8” closed, and 20¾” extended. It is of blackened metal construction with faux-shagreen cover on the main barrel.


Lookout

The Newbold & Bulford Lookout was a 3” brass refractor on a wooden tripod.

Merlin

The Enbeeco Merlin is a 2-draw pancratic telescope with a magnification of 20x-40x. It has a 30mm objective, and extends to 22”. It is made of aluminium, with a leather cover on the main barrel, and was sold in a canvas pouch.


Officer of the Watch

The Enbeeco Officer of the Watch x18 is a marine telescope. It has an objective of 30mm and measures 18” closed and 25½” extended. It is of chromium-plated metal construction with leather covering on the main barrel. It has a chromium-plated sliding sun-shade, and an attached leather end-cap.

The Enbeeco Officer of the Watch Mk5 is a single-draw pancratic marine telescope with magnification 18x-30x. It has an objective of 40mm and measures 18” closed and 30” extended. It is of chromium-plated metal construction with leather covering on the main barrel. It has a chromium-plated sliding sun-shade.


Orbit

The Enbeeco Orbit is a spotting scope with 20x magnification and a 30mm objective. It has a tripod mount threaded screw-hole.

Petrel

The Newbold & Bulford Petrel has 2 draws, 30x magnification, with a 35mm objective. It measures 11½” closed, and 25¾” extended. It is made of black painted aluminium, with a faux shagreen cover on the main barrel.


Ranger

The Enbeeco Ranger 30x has 2 draws, 30x magnification, with a 40mm objective. It measures 10¼” closed, and 24” extended. It is made of brass, and has a leather cover on the main barrel.

The Enbeeco Ranger Major is a 2-draw pancratic telescope with magnification 30x-55x. It is of chromium-plated metal construction with a leather cover on the main barrel, and leather end-caps attached to a strap.

The Enbeeco Ranger Pan 25-40x is a 3-draw pancratic telescope with magnification 25x-40x. It has a 40mm objective, and measures 10¾” closed, and 27¼” extended. It is made of brass, with a leather cover on the main barrel.

The Enbeeco Ranger 55 is a 2-draw pancratic telescope with magnification 30X-50x. It has a 40mm objective, and measures 10½” closed, and 27¼” extended. It is made of brass, with a leather cover on the main barrel, and was sold in a canvas pouch.


Vixen

The Enbeeco Vixen is as 3-draw telescope with 30x magnification.


30x30

The Enbeeco 30x30 has 2 draws, 30x magnification, with a 30mm objective. It measures 6¾” closed and 15” extended. It is of chromium plated metal construction with a black-painted main barrel. It was supplied in a leather carrying case.


12-40x40

The Enbeeco 12-40x40 is a pancratic spotting scope with magnification 12x-40x. It has a 40mm objective, and a tripod mount threaded screw-hole.


Binocular Models


 Newbold & Bulford

Viking Minor 8x25; Viking Major 8x30; Imperia 10x35; Britannia 8x43; Britannia 10x50

Enbeeco 

7x50; Night Hawk Minor (Galilean, fixed IPD); Ornithologist 8x30; Navigon 8x50; 10x35; Concord 8x40

Ross Enbeeco 

13x60


If you have information about Newbold & Bulford binocular or telescope models not shown here, please let me know, and I will add them to this post.
 



For more information about Newbold & Bulford, Ross Ltd., telescopes, and binoculars, and other related topics, refer to Brass and Glass: Optical Instruments and Their Makers by Tony Benson

All photos and text © Tony Benson 2025