c1890 Snake Lorgnette

An unusual antique c1890 Victorian lorgnette built out of blackened steel with a 14K rose gold snake wrapped around the handle. A release on the handle frees the second lens. Fashionable women in the 19th century preferred to use lorgnettes over spectacles, wearing them like jewelry. These are fitted with two different prescription lenses, one with strong magnification for reading, and the other with only slight magnification, perhaps for distance. When closed together, they function well as a magnifying glass. Lenses could be replaced with prescription lenses by an optometrist.