I have owned a pair of Swarovski SLC 8 x 30 binoculars for over 15 years and whilst I have always been very careful with them, they were looking a little tired. I emailed Swarovski in England to see if they offered a type of service for the bins and then sent them off to their UK office down south. I asked for a general cleaning of the outer casing together with the removal of one or two blemishes on the object lenses, if indeed this was possible. I asked them to either email me or ring with a cost prior to starting the work.

Two and a half weeks later I have received the bins back. All four lenses look like they have just left the factory on day one. They have all been coated as well. The bins have been cleaned both internally and externally and look brand new. Not only that, the eye cups have been replaced to the more modern versions.

So, on to the cost - nil, zilch, zero, nichts, nothing!! Everything free of charge. I had read that this could have been the case. I suppose it depends just how much each individual pair needs attention, so don't take my word for it that all repairs are free. Mine certainly were though and I would have been prepared to fork out say £150 for the work that has been undertaken.

What a superb service (in both senses of the word). I had been thinking of upgrading my bins to either Swarovski or Leica at some stage, probably next year. It will be some considerable time before I need to now but, when I do, I'll look no further than Swarovski!!