UDF 10x80 for sale

[Mikedenmark]

I did not see this coming.

I thought it was bought by a collector. ( I was told the buyer came from England, though.)


http://www.hatchwellantiques.co.uk/s...oculars/243964

[nickn]

At least they haven’t polished them

[Binoswede]

No, the story was a dealer in London bought it.
It was sold at an auktion in Örebro, Sweden, about 6-7 years ago.
If I remember right it sold for less then 5000 € incl. fees.
The thing was, no one had ever seen something like it before and the authencity was in question.
I wonder what the asking price is now?

[behblc]

From what I have heard you may need to mortgage part of your soul to purchase it.

[Mikedenmark]

I was one of the bidders at the original auction.

When the price went past what I had paid for my car, I paused, and found that life without this binoculars would be livable. So I stopped bidding.

Then I contacted Dr. Seeger and suggested he asked for permission to use the photo´s. The result can be seen in his book.

What I REALLY wanted, was to find out how the H... such a binocular ended up deep in a swedish forest. ( Yep, that´s where it was sold out from.)

[behblc]

As you say sometimes it is right to question what is being asked. Peter saw this last year in London , the price I cannot recall but it's in the " arm and a leg" bracket. (Certainly way way beyond anything I could afford).

[zeissasembi]

What I REALLY wanted, was to find out how the H... such a binocular ended up deep in a forest. ( Yep, that´s where it was sold out from.)

Dont worry . I did have the same feeling 5 years when I was 130 km away from the coast in the middle of a big forest looking at 1 blc 10x80-20° complete with cradle and crankeelevator , 1 blc 18x80-20° with small cradle and stand , 1 schneider 25x105 , 1 blc 10x80-80° , 1blc 5+10x70 , a lot of small rangefinders , 300 kg radiostuff , more than 50 rifles , a lot of rare old microscopes and much more

But 1 hour later did I find out that they did have a friend in the army


And the same happened last year 30 km deeper in the valley looking at 3 rza and a bunker full of ww2 Kriegsmarine stuff



Why the udf ended up in a forest ? Maybe a familymember did have a job near the coast ?

[Mikedenmark]

Now I would understand it popping up in Norway. German occupation and uboat bases and everything.

But in Sweden?

Maybe the swedes bought more than their Tiger 2 after the war ?
Or, simply, the uboat carrying this bino surrendered in Sweden. ?

That might explain why a prototype did not get seized by the allies, but arrived in Sweden. Or, there were several, and the swedes was handed out one after the war.
In that case, someone must have had at least one similar for allied use.

The place in Sweden where this popped up, was not so far from places where the swedes are having test facilities for their armament industries.
An oddball like this is what ends up in the storage facilities of such places.
Some fine day, it is deemed obsolete and anyone who knew where it came from are long gone.
Then someone get permission to take it, or simply pick it from a dump.

I have seen similar storages a couple of times. Usually, they stock a lot of cheesy stuff. All red taped and hands off....

Or they did.
Around here, budget cuts are reducing storage facilities. Making room for "nice to have" stuff, scarce.

[Binoswede]

It's good that Dr. Seeger does what he is told.

There was a lot of diskussion in the collector community at the time if it was genuine or not. Almost as when the first CZJ 10x 70 H surfaced.
The breakthrough was when Peter de Laet presented the document were the UDF 10x80 was mentioned. His name is included in Hans's text so I think I am free to mention this. This was long after the binocular was sold, if I remember correctly.
It landed up by I polisher, but this one seems clever enough to know what to polish and what not to polish. I wonder if it is the same guy with India roots who used to stand next to Bill at Portobello?

Mike always tells long stories out of his life so I think now it is my turn:
My eldest daughter and her husband just bought a house on Öland with a view overlooking the Kalmarsund (Kalmar Strait).
So I said to my younger daughter that I will give her a good stand binocular to have a nice lookout. The answer was:
Great idea Pa, do you have such a niced polished one to give her?"

[Mikedenmark]

Well, then you now what is likely to happen, if you present your daughter with a nice original 8x60.

I dont know if Dr. Seeger is doing what he is told. I only made a suggestion.
I believed it would be nice, if that bino was included in the book.
Luckily for all of us, Dr. Seeger was granted permission to use the photo´s.

[Sgt Bilko]

The sad thing (apart from the ludicrous price being asked) is that, had Peter not found conclusive documentation, many would still be doubting it...

[chevyjonny]

How mutch is it?