

The design can still be purchased new, although the most common contemporary designs are now almost entirely plastic. Although folding glasses have existed in one form or another since the 1890s, they were perhaps most popular in the mid-20th Century and many from this era are marked "Made in Japan" or, less commonly, "Made in Occupied Japan". They were made mostly of metal and glass, with a leatherette cover for grip and color. In addition to the more stereotypical binocular type, folding opera glasses were another common design.

The design of many modern opera glasses of the ornamental variety is based on the popular lorgnettes of the 19th century. These high-quality binoculars are perfect for indoor viewing, especially in theaters. A magnification of 3× is normally recommended. Best for indoor viewing: EVTSCAN EVTSCAN4qgvg31kd0-01 Introducing the EVTSCAN Black 3X25 Opera Binocular. Magnification power below 5× is usually desired in these circumstances in order to minimize image shake and maintain a large enough field of view. Opera glasses, also known as theater binoculars or Galilean binoculars, are compact, low-power optical magnification devices, usually used at performance events, whose name is derived from traditional use of binoculars at opera performances.
