Description

Watson Edinburgh-H c1907 serial no. 10097 – antique stand “H” model.

This listing is for a very well presented example of Watson’s Edinburgh Student’s Stand-H model microscope in brass – it dates to 1907 based on its serial number 10097.  It’s marked W. Watson & Sons and pre-dates the firm’s move to limited company status which occurred in 1908.  This is a lovely example with few signs of wear and still almost pristine lacquered brass-work, that’s showing a just little age and use-related signs here and there, but pretty amazing for an instrument that’s 119 years old and counting.

The Edinburgh pattern model of microscope was produced by Watson between 1887 and around 1945; its long production run giving us a firm clue regarding just how good this model of microscope was in its heyday and over that long production cycle Watson regularly updated and improved the model, so what you see here is an early/mid-production cycle example.  The Edinburgh stand was originally developed by Watson in collaboration with a professor and lecturer in bacteriology at the University of Edinburgh, hence the Edinburgh designation. With its signature rear cross-member giving that classic “H” look and nice lacquered brass-work, the Edinburgh H is a fine example of British optical engineering with a design and style essentially dating back to the Victorian era. 

Turning to the technical details, the construction is a brass tripod in anodised finish, with bun feet that are attached by small brass screws.  From the tripod rise twin uprights to a pivot with tension adjustment available if required.  The upper limb is also in anodised brass, with stage bolted to the underside of the limb and the sub-stage fittings attach to the underside of the stage.  The coarse focus is via rack and pinion with good smooth action that holds in position on adjustment.  Fine focus is operated via a separate brass thumb-wheel located at the rear of the upper limb which operates an internal lever system acting against sprung resistance.  The focusing technique being to achieve near focus with the coarse thumb-wheels, then fine-tune with the single rear thumb-wheel, which only has a fairly small range of movement via its vernier screw mechanism.

With the optics, this Watson microscope comes fitted with a period graduated brass eyepiece draw-tube inside a brass main optical tube and there’s two vintage eyepieces that with adequate illumination produce very good bright images:

– 6x magnification – Watson
– 8x magnification – Watson

It’s also got four period objectives in total and a triple turret which rotates with a positive feel as the objectives slot into their viewing positions.  The objectives are as follows:

– 1.5 inches in brass unbranded – 4x magnification with brass canister
– 1/4 inch brass by Stanley – 20x magnification with brass canister
– 1/6th inch in brass by Watson – 40x magnification with brass canister
– 1/12th inch by F. Koristka, Milan – 100x magnification and requires oil immersion – also with brass canister

Overall therefore, the range of magnification available with this Watson ranges from about 28x with the lowest power lens combination, up to around 800x with the highest power combination and the use of oil immersion with the 1/12th inch objective.

The fully mechanical stage has twin thumb-wheel adjusters on the right hand side that have just the right positive feel and give a good range of x/y sample movement.  It’s fitted with a slider with two spring steel specimen clips that are fine for holding slides steady during inclined viewing and when the axes are being moved around.  The slider can be locked in place with a thumb-screw and there’s another thumb-screw to the left which when rotated acts as a slide ejection mechanism – a neat Watson feature.    

Turning to the sub-stage, we have a compound sub-stage with a Watson Abbe-type condenser top mounted into a brass ring-mount.  The ring mount has centering via twin thumb-screws and the condenser comes with a 35mm swing-out filter carrier and a working iris to control lighting levels with nice smooth adjustment.

For lighting there’s the original brass plano-concave mirror in good condition with silvering to both sides that’s showing very little age-related losses, maybe just a little at the margins.  The mirror is fitted to a support rod with swing adjustment as shown and the mirror being on a slider and gimbal is essentially multi-adjustable.

The instrument’s controls and friction surfaces have been very lightly lubricated with non-hardening grease and operate smoothly with a nice feel and there’s not much in the way of noticeable of wear to any of the moving parts.  This instrument presents really well for its age and usage profile – I’m advised that the original owner was a doctor who ran a sanatorium for TB patients. The instrument seems to have been cherished throughout its life, with brass-work that catches the light well as I hope the listing photos demonstrate.  This example presents superbly while being used as a desk-top instrument and will also display rather nicely in a library of home office setting, especially when set up with an appropriate antique slide.

There’s an original Watson storage case with this example, with wooden carry-handle and internal racking.  The lock and key are both present, which is always nice to have, although the case having bowed slightly means that the lock no longer secures the door properly, so I will probably fit a cupboard latch in order to secure the door.  Overall, the case has just the right aged look, with the right level of patination and a lovely exterior sheen, so complements the antique microscope perfectly.

Owing to the weight and delicacy of this antique Edinburgh-H microscope and its case, it will be partially dismantled, very well wrapped for shipping and dispatched by insured courier upon receipt of cleared funds.  

Thanks for looking.