I remember the first time I looked at a
Swarovski EL binocular. It was the late 90s and I was at a local
birding festival, working as a tour guide for a nearby sanctuary. As usual, Swarovski had a table and something was drawing quite a crowd. Having just returned from a tour, I had no idea what magic Swarovski was performing. When I reached the table, I saw a binocular with an unusual body design with two tubes joined only at the ends. I gave a questioning look and Clay from Swarovski just smiled and handed me the binocular. I can honestly say that was the first time I fell in love with a binocular before I even raised it to my eyes. The way that
Swarovski EL felt and handled just took my breath away. When I finally remembered to take a look, I was really hooked.
Today, of course, that Swarovski EL
binocular design is much copied with nearly every brand showing a model with that EL "open bridge" construction. To my mind, though, no one has quite captured that same magic in the hands that you get with a Swarovski EL
binocular and ,as a creative person, I also have a deep appreciation for an original. The Swarovski EL will always be a very special binocular.