Telescoping mother of pearl and brass opera binoculars made for LEMAIRE Opera House in Paris. Were carried in-store by turn-of-the-century optician D.C. Prudden at his KCMO shop. Great condition. No significant scratches on the glasses. Words on lens caps are still readable and signature bee of the opera house is as well. Other similar pieces to this have sold upwards of $6-700, though, based on my research, I suspect these might be worth even more than that. I heavily researched sale listings as well as the original catalogs where these were sold in order to date them. Based on the fact that they have the lognette, that puts them prior to 1905, I believe. The really interesting thing is that every pair I’ve seen sold has a marking on the bottom indicating the year of production. These however, say “Patent Applied For”, which leads me to believe that this is one of the oldest versions of this piece. I’ve never seen that before. My best educated guess is that these are from 1900. They still fold beautifully with no rust or other damage.