French Binoculars Help

[Lockley16]

Hello Guys and Gals,
I just found a WW? French Binocular set at a flea market. I bought it for $40 USD. I have a few questions about it. 1, What is it worth? 2, how rare is it? 3, what front was it used on, I know it wasn't used in the Navy though. 4, the lenses are really nasty, almost like the seals (if there were any) went bad. Is there a way to clean the lenses, and if so, will it destroy or add to the value? And 5, what year is it from?

Thanks Guys and Gals,
Zack


Edit: Sorry, I forgot the pictures. Duh

[lebus12]

Hello! No picture ? Huet patern ?

[Heavington]

It would help if there were pictures of it.

[Lockley16]

I am uploading pics literally right now but it might take a little while because they are big pictures.

[Lockley16]

Pictures are now up.

[Wagriff]

They look to be WWII or abit earlier era. They are abit uncommon but not substantially rare. They would have been used almost anywhere so it is impossible to say what front they would have been used on. To clean the lenses internally, you cannot do it yourself. They must be sent out for proper cleaning and sealing to any number of companies that offer this service. If you do have them worked on, it will raise their value rather than hurt it. Collectors want their glasses in working order.

[Lockley16]

They look to be WWII or abit earlier era. If you do have them worked on, it will raise their value rather than hurt it. Collectors want their glasses in working order.

After I bought it, I saw the latch and realized it was at least post-WWI. I kinda figured cleaning the lenses would raise the value. Do you know how much the service cost roughly and it is worth doing it? Also, I can't find a serial number, is there one on it or no?

[big ned]

After I bought it, I saw the latch and realized it was at least post-WWI. I kinda figured cleaning the lenses would raise the value. Do you know how much the service cost roughly and it is worth doing it? Also, I can't find a serial number, is there one on it or no?

I shouldn't bother as that'll cost a lot more than they're worth. Afsa 3x bino's are only worth around $30 per cased set anyway, ebay has sets for sale every week.

[Lockley16]

[QUOTE=big ned;1198750] Afsa 3x...

I have the 8x version.

[Wagriff]

Hello Zack, Unfortunate to say, but binoculars like these are usually not worth doing the repair work on, as it is generally a fairly hefty service cost plus shipping, of course. I doubt if you could have it done for less than $100 plus S-H. It may be mildew, fungus or simply dirt inside and the lenses would likely need to be collimated after cleaning and then everything must be resealed airtight again. If they were high end glasses such as modern Zeiss or Leica or vintage German U-boot rigs, etc, it would be worth considering, but to put 3 times the value of a good set into repairing them would just not be practical. Sorry for the bad news.