An Empire Model 653 Universe sold last week on ebay (same specs and appearance as mine), but besides that, literally the only reference I could find anywhere about the 653 is a single tangential sentence in an Esquire article, mentioning that the model had been sold in 1970 (and also calling it the "Universe").
The scope I bought came with five .965 eyepieces: a 20mm Tele-Science "wide field", an H 15mm (no brand or origin markings), an H 12.5mm (with a diamond Z), an HM 8mm (is that Huygen Modified?), and an unmarked SR 4mm.
There are two diagonals -- a lightweight plastic one and a heavier, metal one with sort of a rough finish (both just marked "Japan"). Daytime testing revealed that the metal one seemed to deliver brighter images. Also a 2x Celestron short barlow, and 1.5x Celestron erecting EP.
First Light:
I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, and after a four-hour round trip to pick up the scope, I almost didn't have the energy to take it out. And it was partially cloudy. But of course I couldn't wait.
The first and obvious choice of targets was Saturn. I pointed the scope up and dropped in the 20mm. Nice image, but nothing notable. I could see Titan clearly. So I tried the 15mm, and my heart sank a bit. Saturn's disk was fuzzy and it didn't seem possible to bring it into sharp focus. But, I thought, maybe it's just the eyepiece. So I switched it for the 12.5mm Tanzutsu and, holding my breath, brought it into focus...at that point, I'm sure my neighbors heard my "Holy ----!" It really was an involuntary gasp. The sharpness of the image really shocked me. Yes, shocked. Granted, I've been observing for a while only through fast scopes, but this just looked fantastic. I wasn't seeing detail like through my 8-inch dob, but Saturn had that very stark, three-dimensional appearance, like you really know you're looking at a planet...not something that I take for granted. I was very happy. I decided to check out the 12.5mm in the barlow, but quickly discovered that the tube wouldn't rack in far enough to bring to focus (with the barlow and any of the eyepieces). I hadn't brought out the erecting tube, so I wasn't able to test that. So then I tried the 8mm and found that I was still very happy. Saturn looked awesome. Not quite as crisp as the 12.5, but still very nice, with a hint of the ring shadow, and tilting of the rings evident. Even the 4mm delivered a few pretty glimpses, but I quickly switch back to the 12.5 and just enjoyed watching the ringed planet drift across the EP field.
I looked up and it was getting very cloudy, but I decided to try for a couple more easy targets. I swung around to Mizar and Alcor with the 20mm -- Mizar A & B were very nicely split at low magnification. With the 12.5mm, I gasped again. Mizar B was an absolute pin point. "A" sparkled a bit, but the pair was stunning and crisp.
Finally, I moved the scope over to Cor Caroli. Again, beautiful! I couldn't really see the reddish color in the secondary that my 8-inch reveals, but I was still impressed. The Model 653 had managed to exceed my very high expectations. I leaned back from the eyepiece and looked at my new telescope sparkling in the light of my a neighbor's (unfortunate) porchlight, and marveled at what a little 60mm objective can do.
Again, I'd love to find out more about this model if anyone's familiar with it.
I've attached the photo the previous owner took. He'd only owned the telescope for a year and didn't know anything about its origin.
) I also viewed Venus. Something about this planet that makes it pretty even though it's nothing but a silver sliver. At 116x the points of the crescent were so sharp I pricked my finger! 
