Review: SWAROVSKI OPTIK CL Curio 7x21 BINOCULARS
17 May 2022
By Dave Rowntree
By Dave Rowntree
Swarovski Optik recently sent us their newest product in the CL family of binoculars, the foldable and compact CL Curio 7x21 Binoculars.
Billed by the Austrian company as the lightest, most compact binoculars in their class - the CL Curio's have been designed by a guy who has put his design stamp on household named products like Apple sport watches through to Louis Vuitton luggage - I was certainly intrigued enough to take a closer look... and I'm pleased I did!
What's in the box?
Images and coatings:
It's easy to get carried away with the design of these binoculars at first, and forget that it's the looking through them that really counts. As lovely as they are to look at, the real test was going to be the image quality. I would have been disappointed had this been poor, but thankfully Swarovski have produced the goods here.
The Curio's provide pin sharp and bright images, even in dense woodland with low light on a fairly bleak spring day here in Hertfordshire. 'Live action' subjects were fleeting around everywhere and with limited butterflies and other smaller friends to look at due to the weather, I was left to observe birdlife throughout the forest branches - but it was pretty easy to keep track of them, given the ease of use of easily the smallest pair of binoculars I have tested.
The Curio's have a good angular field of view at 7.7 degrees and you get good eye relief at 16mm. They will allow you to focus down to 2.5 metres on subjects and go out to 135 metres for your linear field of view. All of which are impressive stats.
Performance and handling:
Curio 7x21 weighs only 250 grams. That's correct, I hear you say, about the same weight as a Hamster. The CL Curio's are so small they fit snuggly in the palm of your hand as would a Hamster. I followed some jumpy little coal tits through the forest floor during the test and mostly this was done with one hand, slowly mastering the dark arts of magnification rolling and pointing in the right direction.
In terms of mechanics, the bridge and hinge appear seamless. In fact, and here is the design magic, when the hinge is deployed, no internal mechanism is exposed. Brilliant stuff. I maybe wrong, but I don't think this design challenge has ever been met before Newson took it on.
The binoculars are so small it really just makes them a joy to carry around and use. I don't smoke personally, but if I had a cigarette packet for scale purposes, I dare say the Curio's would be smaller. The carry case is very nice, but I don't think many people will use it. These binoculars are designed really to fit in your trouser or coat pocket 'au naturel' and are robustly made. You could give these bin's a rough ride now and again and I think they would be fine.
Because of the size you really can just point and view once you have set the bridge angles to your face / eye shape and adjusted the diopter to calibrate the binoculars for that difference in acuity between your eyes. After they are properly adjusted, the central focus wheel will adjust both barrels simultaneously to maintain that optimum adjustment for viewing at different distances with one or indeed two hands if that is more comfortable.
The twist-down eyecups are very thin indeed. I thought this might impact comfort on the eyes, but it actually had the opposite effect - a pleasant surprise.
Produced in black and orange, the CL Curio 7x21 are available now from all recognised Swarovski Optik retailers.
Verdict:
These little binoculars are an amazing tool for the casual wildlife observer. They say the best design is sometimes the simplest design. Marc Newson has delivered something extraordinary on that front and Swarovski have engineered his design brilliantly.
★★★★★★★★★ 9/10
Testing scores
📦 Buy now: www.swarovskioptik.com
🏷 Price: £630.00
Billed by the Austrian company as the lightest, most compact binoculars in their class - the CL Curio's have been designed by a guy who has put his design stamp on household named products like Apple sport watches through to Louis Vuitton luggage - I was certainly intrigued enough to take a closer look... and I'm pleased I did!
What's in the box?
- CL Curio 7x21 Binoculars
- Carry Case
- User Manual
- Carrying Strap
Images and coatings:
It's easy to get carried away with the design of these binoculars at first, and forget that it's the looking through them that really counts. As lovely as they are to look at, the real test was going to be the image quality. I would have been disappointed had this been poor, but thankfully Swarovski have produced the goods here.
The Curio's provide pin sharp and bright images, even in dense woodland with low light on a fairly bleak spring day here in Hertfordshire. 'Live action' subjects were fleeting around everywhere and with limited butterflies and other smaller friends to look at due to the weather, I was left to observe birdlife throughout the forest branches - but it was pretty easy to keep track of them, given the ease of use of easily the smallest pair of binoculars I have tested.
The Curio's have a good angular field of view at 7.7 degrees and you get good eye relief at 16mm. They will allow you to focus down to 2.5 metres on subjects and go out to 135 metres for your linear field of view. All of which are impressive stats.
Performance and handling:
Curio 7x21 weighs only 250 grams. That's correct, I hear you say, about the same weight as a Hamster. The CL Curio's are so small they fit snuggly in the palm of your hand as would a Hamster. I followed some jumpy little coal tits through the forest floor during the test and mostly this was done with one hand, slowly mastering the dark arts of magnification rolling and pointing in the right direction.
In terms of mechanics, the bridge and hinge appear seamless. In fact, and here is the design magic, when the hinge is deployed, no internal mechanism is exposed. Brilliant stuff. I maybe wrong, but I don't think this design challenge has ever been met before Newson took it on.
The binoculars are so small it really just makes them a joy to carry around and use. I don't smoke personally, but if I had a cigarette packet for scale purposes, I dare say the Curio's would be smaller. The carry case is very nice, but I don't think many people will use it. These binoculars are designed really to fit in your trouser or coat pocket 'au naturel' and are robustly made. You could give these bin's a rough ride now and again and I think they would be fine.
Because of the size you really can just point and view once you have set the bridge angles to your face / eye shape and adjusted the diopter to calibrate the binoculars for that difference in acuity between your eyes. After they are properly adjusted, the central focus wheel will adjust both barrels simultaneously to maintain that optimum adjustment for viewing at different distances with one or indeed two hands if that is more comfortable.
The twist-down eyecups are very thin indeed. I thought this might impact comfort on the eyes, but it actually had the opposite effect - a pleasant surprise.
Produced in black and orange, the CL Curio 7x21 are available now from all recognised Swarovski Optik retailers.
Verdict:
These little binoculars are an amazing tool for the casual wildlife observer. They say the best design is sometimes the simplest design. Marc Newson has delivered something extraordinary on that front and Swarovski have engineered his design brilliantly.
★★★★★★★★★ 9/10
Testing scores
- Design: ★★★★★★★★★ 9/10
- Performance: ★★★★★★★★★ 9/10
- Durability: ★★★★★★★★★ 9/10
- Weight: ★★★★★★★★★ 9/10
- Value: ★★★★★★★★ 8/10
📦 Buy now: www.swarovskioptik.com
🏷 Price: £630.00
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