Difficulty in dating. Import mark and date letter but unsure of year

[populous38]

Hi. I have a small pair of silver cased binoculars. Unsure of origin, have an inscription but it is a bit rubbed. On both plates is what appears to be Birmingham import mark, however, date letter 'O' appears to be in an octagon which doesn't match the date letters in Jacksons, so I am a bit confused. The maker stamp next to the hallmark appears to be E.B.O.co. If any one could tell me anything about these, I would be grateful. Cheers, Gary

[dognose]

Hi Gary,

I'm guessing that E.B.O.Co. will stand for Emil Busch Optical Co., an old-established German manufacturer of optical items. Hopefully someone else will confirm/deny.

To my knowledge, there is no resource that shows all the variations of hallmark cartouches. They can vary depending on the metal and on imported items, and perhaps for other reasons too. The hallmark guides just show the popular ones.

1913 is perhaps the most likely date.

Trev.

[populous38]

Trev, amazing. Thanks so much. They are in perfect working order and magnify quite well. Appreciated as always. Gary

[dognose]

Emil Busch Optical Co. - London - 1908

Trev.