Description

Pince-nez ebonite 1860s

Pince-nez  made of ebonite represents unsold stock from over 150 years ago. This pince nez is made of hardened rubber, blued-steel for the spring, with incorporated nose pads.
Ebonite is rubber that has been vulcanized with 25% to 50 % sulfur to become ebonite (also called vulacanite). Although never used, there is slight oxidation of the steel because of their age.
John J. Bausch first used ebonite for spectacle frames in 1864 in Rochester, New York. So this hard rubber pince nez represents one of the first ebonite frames in the world.
The frames are  “16” . The sixteen indicates the focal length in inches. This would correspond to about +2.505 diopters of power in today’s usage.
A +2.50 power reader is about what a typical 60 year old person with good far vision would use to read and do near tasks.