What is the point of owning something and not taking it apart?
These Opera Glasses use simple concave lenses for magnification, while modern Prism Binoculars use convex lenses as well as prisms for image correction.
Based on the 1608 invention of the spyglass, often attributed to Hans Lippershey, Galileo Galilei is recognized for creating the first functional astronomical telescope. The convex objective lens and concave eyepiece create an upright image, and allow for magnification of about 3x - 30x.
It took another 100 years for Venetian optician Domenico Selva to create a connecting bridge mechanism sometime in 1730.
After another 100 years, the first binocular opera glasses appeared in Vienna in 1823. Finally 2-years later in Paris, Pierre Lemiere improved on the original design by creating the center focus wheel; which allowed the focusing of both eyes together.
About 200 years later Rolex became the exclusive timepiece and a principal partner of the Opéra National de Paris in 2014. As part of this partnership, Rolex gave out these opera glasses to Rolex brand ambassadors.
One fun note: The first wrist watch was delivered in 1812 by Abraham-Louis Breguet. Meaning the wristwatch predates Pierre Lemiere's Opera Glasses by over a decade.
