Description

This listing is for a very nicely presented example of Watson’s Edinburgh Student’s Stand-H model microscope in brass – it dates to around 1908 based on its serial number 9777.  It’s marked W. Watson & Sons with manufacture which must have been just before the firm’s move to limited company status which also occurred in 1908.  This is a generally very good to excellent cosmetic example with very little wear and lacquered brass-work that’s retained most of its condition, which is remarkable considering the instrument’s age at 116 years and counting.  I hope that the listing photos do the instrument justice and showcase its excellent condition. It’s also got two rather special features described below.

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 a second generation example retaining some of the original Edinburgh features of the model, with the addition of developments and improvements.  For example it’s got the later more upright brass tripod, the stage is still attached via brass bolts to the upper limb, the rotating plate to the top of the stage has been dropped, but the useful feature of the mirror on a swinging support arm remains.  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 an anodised brass tripod, with bun feet, twin uprights and pivot supporting the anodised brass upper limb. 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, which works well.

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 Watson eyepieces that with adequate illumination produce very good images:

– 6x magnification with collar (later example)
– 10x magnification

It’s also got three period objectives which interestingly are non-RMS at 22.5mm thread diameter and a very rare Watson quick-release (QR) system that works incredibly well and is just about the best QR system I’ve used.  It’s stamped Watson & Sons and is named the “Facility” system. All it needs to operate the mechanism is a light turn of the thumbscrew as shown in the listing photos – this opens up a set of spring-loaded grips that hold the objective firmly in place.  Note:  this system will only fit non-RMS objectives with 22.5mm thread diameter.  It’s an exceptionally good QR system and one wonders why it’s seen so rarely on Watson instruments.  The non-RMS objectives supplied are as follows:

– 3/4 inch in brass – C. Baker – approx 8x magnification
– DD objective by Carl Zeiss – approx 40x magnification – marked Aberdeen University Anatomy Dept
– 2.5mm Water Immersion by Carl Zeiss with adjustment – approx 80x magnification (internal cloudiness but still usable)
(the objectives all have brass canisters)

Overall therefore, the range of magnification available with this Watson Edinburgh-H ranges from about 48x with the lowest power lens combination, up to around 800x with the highest power combination and use of immersion techniques.

The fully mechanical stage is bolted to the underside of the upper limb on Edinburgh models of this period and is an original Watson design in brass with twin thumb-wheel adjusters on the right hand side of the stage that have just the right feel and give excellent x/y sample movement.  It’s fitted with two later chromed specimen clips showing some surface corrosion, which are fine for holding slides steady during inclined viewing and when the axes are being moved around.  The freely running x/y controls also offering good accurate control of specimen positioning, with no slippage on inclination, which is a real advantage for higher magnification work.

Turning to the technical sub-stage, we have a top-mount Watson condenser which is a special model designed specifically for medium/high-power work, with the top-lens marked as under:

– Parachromatic Condenser 2/7th inch 1.0 NA | Less front lens 4/10th inch 0.35 NA

The lens has RMS thread and screw-fits to the condenser body which also has a smooth graduated working iris and swing-out filter carrier with an internal diameter of 22mm.  The condenser assembly is top-mounted into a brass ring-carrier with centering controls comprising brass thumb-screws, which in turn sits in a height adjustable rack and pinion mount, with single-sided brass thumb-wheel to adjust the height along with a swing-out feature allowing easy swapping or maintenance of the condenser hardware.  Lighting is via a plano-concave mirror on a height and swing-adjustable brass support arm with slider and gimbal giving good adjustability, with period silvering that’s in good condition with some very minor peripheral losses to both sides.

The instrument’s controls and friction surfaces have been cleaned where necessary and very lightly lubricated so that they operate smoothly with a just the right tactile feel.  There’s very little in the way of age-related signs of wear to all moving parts such as coarse focus, fine-focus, eyepiece draw-tube, mechanical stage, condenser rack and plano-concave mirror.  This instrument presents very well with lovely gleaming brass-work show-casing its special accessories.  It’s showing a few minor signs of tarnishing and spotting here and there, with just a tiny bit of verdigris that’s hardly noticeable – in fact I was struggling to find any blemishes to the instrument’s exterior finish.  This indicates to me that the instrument has obviously been very well looked after throughout its life and it’s use may have been for specialist purposes especially in view of the QR system, non-RMS objective lenses and specialist condenser.  Overall it’s in excellent shape for an instrument from the Edwardian era.  This example is essentially a very nice collectible Watson Edinburgh Stand-H model in the right condition for a collector or connoisseur and it’ll make a great usable and display item, offered at an attractive price point for an antique Edinburgh-H model of this age in this condition with a rather nice compliment of rare accessories.  It also presents really well while being used as a desk-top instrument and will also display extremely well in a library or home office type of setting, especially when set up with an appropriate antique slide.

There’s an original Watson storage case with this example, with wooden/brass carry-handle, internal lens rack and a door with lock and key, which is always nice to have.  Overall the case has quite a good time-worn exterior with what look like the remnants of old shipping labels, meaning the instrument must have an interesting back story and with the correct fittings to its interior, the case complements the 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.