Description

Watson Standard MkI Monocular – circa 1917 in Lacquered Brass Finish with Original Storage Case
Retailed by Sales Agents: W W Scott & Co of Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

This listing is for an original and very well presented Standard Mk 1 model microscope in lacquered brass finish by W. Watson & Sons Limited of London.  It dates to around 1917 based on the sequential Watson production number of 23181, which is engraved onto the rear of the foot and comes complete with a lovely storage case that’s also in superb condition.  Details of the sales agents W W Scott & Co are engraved onto the foot and there’s also a small plaque inside the case with Scott’s details.

This WWI example is in sound original condition as far as I can tell and has clearly been really well looked after by its former custodians. This example also benefits from a good set of lenses, presents well with hardly any age-related blemishes to its black paintwork or golden lacquer.  In fact, the brass-work really catches the sun and glints with a lovely warm yellow/golden glow as I hope the listing photos demonstrate.  

The Standard Mk 1 is essentially an excellent piece of British optical engineering built from quality materials, with solid construction, great design and skilled workmanship and in this period many hours of hand-finishing and it’s hard to believe that it’s actually 109 years old, so definitely an antique. This is a sturdy good quality microscope with a great look, just the right patina and a brass example from 1917 when wartime materials and labour shortages must have been having an impact on microscope production at the Watson factory.  I’ve included a couple of pages from Watson’s 1912 product catalogue at the end of the listing photos showing this model.

On the technical side, the construction is a heavy iron foot, with single upright, pivot with lever-operated tension adjustment and Lister-type upper limb also in iron.  Both coarse and fine focus move freely through their working ranges with little wear evident.  There’s a good range of coarse focus movement which should also allow the use of a low-power 2 inch objective with very high working distance.

Turning to the optics, this Watson microscope comes fitted with a graduated chromed eyepiece draw-tube inside an optical tube in lacquered brass.  There’s two vintage eyepieces all by Watson that with good illumination produce excellent images:

– 6x magnification
– 10x magnification 

There are two vintage Watson objectives along with a double turret, which rotates freely with a positive feel as the objectives slot into position.  The objectives are as follows:

– 2/3rds inch  -10x magnification
– 1/6th inch – 40x magnification 

(The objectives have appropriate period canisters)

Overall, the range of magnification provided by this Watson Standard therefore ranges from about 60x to a perfectly respectable and usable 400x.

The stage is a Watson ebonite stage with metal core that’s fitted with two chromed steel clips which work well for holding slides in position.

Turning to the sub-stage, we have an Abbe-type condenser with iris in a ring mount, with swing-out feature as demonstrated in the listing photos. Lighting is via a plano-concave mirror in a brass mount that’s on a slider/gimbal and has the benefit of good silvering to both sides.

This is a great visual and working example of Watson’s WWI-era Standard Mk 1 model in brass, with excellent originality, making it quite an interesting proposition for a collector.  It’s in unmolested condition with good optics and it’s essentially a very collectable brass example of this rare-to-market model.  

There’s also the correct original wooden case with wooden carry-handle internal storage racking, lock and key are missing therefore a latch has been fitted to help keep the door closed.  The case is also in excellent condition with good exterior sheen and sturdy brass/wooden carry-handle.

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

Thanks for looking.