Magnifying glasses

[ColinRose]

I have three magnifying glasses, all are stamp collector style with straight handles.

The first is silver plated, and if I were to sell it, I think I would ask $50. Does that seem like a reasonable retail price to you?


The second is a larger glass with what I think is a wooden handle. I have no clue what the value of this item might be.


And lastly, this one is my favorite. I'm pretty sure it's a bone handle with a glass that is almost identical in diameter to the first one. Again, no real idea of value.


The bottom line is that I think they are all really cool, and if it's a matter of just a few bucks then I'd just as soon keep them. I was hoping that at the very least, I could get a better lead on where to go for magnifying glasses in particular.

Thank you for taking the time to look,
Colin Rose

P.S. Offers are always welcome.

[fancypants]

Welcome to the forum , ColinRose .

Have you inspected each one (with a magnifying glass , of course) for metal marks/stamps & such ?
The more clues the better , as to origin , manufacture , age & so on .... also if you know the optical power of each lens & gen'l dimensions of your magnifyers ?

Lots of good-looking repro items , imitating old styles can be found (often in 'antique shops' specializing in same ) & many were made through the 1960's - 1980's , so sometimes a hands-on touchy-feely will be the start of some good answers ...

Usually these "used-to-be-called" reading glass items can be disassembled & cleaned , as they were designed to be ; sometimes there are hallmarks inside the bezel of these items ...

As to pricing , that depends on the neck of the woods you're in .... just doing a web search will give you some clues on that  (antique magnifying glass) ...

Cool looking thingies !

[ColinRose]

Welcome to the forum , ColinRose .

Have you inspected each one (with a magnifying glass , of course) for metal marks/stamps & such ?
The more clues the better , as to origin , manufacture , age & so on .... also if you know the optical power of each lens & gen'l dimensions of your magnifyers ?

Lots of good-looking repro items , imitating old styles can be found (often in 'antique shops' specializing in same ) & many were made through the 1960's - 1980's , so sometimes a hands-on touchy-feely will be the start of some good answers ...

Usually these "used-to-be-called" reading glass items can be disassembled & cleaned , as they were designed to be ; sometimes there are hallmarks inside the bezel of these items ...

As to pricing , that depends on the neck of the woods you're in .... just doing a web search will give you some clues on that  (antique magnifying glass) ...

Cool looking thingies !

Thanks,

They all were able to unscrew to release the lenses, and the bone was able to disassemble the handle. I could not find any kind of markings on any of the three, unfortunately. As for the optical power, I cannot say.

Overall length w/handle (in order of pictures):
s: 8 1/8"
w: 10 1/2"
b: 9 1/2"+

Lens diameters:
s: 2 7/8"+
w: 3 7/8"
b: 2 7/8"+

+ usually means about 1/16"

Thanks again, more curious at this point than anything else.

[ColinRose]

So nobody has any additional thoughts?

If these belonged to you, and you wanted to sell them, how much would you ask?

Thank you,
Colin

[KC]

The last one is reminiscent of the style popular in the 60's...and were celluloid to resemble horns.

Maybe someone else will chime in.  I think most are repros as previously noted by fancypants.  I like their novelty and personally would keep them....the older you get the more you will need them.  They would also look fabulous in a removable shadowbox display!   In fact if you insist on selling...you might want to do that and get more for them that way!