Vintage Gillett & Sibert Mono/Binocular Research Microscope Collectible

Here we have a collectible example of a Gillett & Sibert (GS) research microscope with both monocular and binocular options. It's got a black painted finish, with serial number M25319 and will date to around the 1980s or possibly earlier. The condition of this example is really good with only some minor chipping to the paint finish, suggesting it's been used with care over the years. Gillett & Sibert were manufacturers of specialist microscopes from the mid-1970s through to the 1990s, when they were acquired by another company and production focus switched away from microscopes to medical diagnostic equipment, such as foetal heart monitors.

Turning to the main technical details of this binocular microscope, we have. A monocular eyepiece unit that's fitted with a 10x magnification eyepiece and there's also a pair of 5x eyepieces for the binocular head - both eyepiece units can swivel by a full 360 degrees, are screw-fit and can be swapped over in a matter of seconds.

The binocular unit is a GS design with adjustable eyepiece separation and one of the eyepiece tubes is also adjustable for focus. Main focus and fine focus is by twin thumb-wheels located at the base of the frame which move the stage - travel and focus remain very good offering a fine degree of smooth focus control. Please note that the frame is not designed to tilt. The focus adjustment combines coarse and fine focus via a single thumb-wheel mechanism - the technique being to achieve near focus then reverse the direction of rotation of the thumb-wheel, which engages fine focus automatically - an elegant system. There are four good quality objective lensesincluding some by GS, with a usable selection of progressive magnification on a rotating 5-position turret: 4x magnification - R & J Beck - including parfocal RMS extender 10x magnification - Vickers 10x magnification 16mm - GS 40x magnification 8mm - GS Overall, the supplied optics provide an effective magnification range from around 20x up to a very usable 400x magnification, without the need for oil immersion techniques.

The fifth position in the turret is covered with a blanking plug. The mechanical over-stage is a nice design with x-axis and y-axis controls located on adjusters located above stage that are really easy to use, with almost friction-less movement and no signs of wear in the rack and pinion gearing. It's also fitted with a sprung slide holder mechanism for holding slides in place during viewing sessions.

There is hardly any noticeable wear to the black finish on the stage surface. The condenser is a GS design on a fixed mount with centering thumb-screws. The condenser has a thumb-screw for holding it in position which also gives it some height adjustment, there's an iris for controlling lighting levels as well as a swing-out filter holder for coloured, opaque or dark-field filters. Lighting is provided by an electric sub-stage illuminator with a 6V 15W incandescent bulb that's contained within the base and just plugs into a conventional 240V wall socket. The illuminator provides adequate intensity illumination of samples with a yellow/white light - the listing photos show the illuminator in action in some of the shots.

The overall condition of this microscope is very good and also please note that there is no storage case with this example. In summary, this is a great example of a fairly rare-to-market mono/binocular microscope by Scottish makers Gillett & Sibert and may well appeal to those looking for a modern microscope for technical or hobbyist uses, as well as general collectors seeking a good collectible example of a Gillett & Sibert research microscope. It's supplied with a useful set of objective lenses including some original GS examples, a mechanical over-stage which is a must for high-magnification applications and it's got useful integral low-voltage lighting. This is also quite a large, heavy and bulky laboratory research microscope - approx 10kg packed weight, so owing to its weight it will be well wrapped and dispatched by insured courier upon receipt of cleared funds.

Thanks for looking - please check out my other listings - mainly eclectic artworks and vintage optics, plus some other cool stuff. The item "Vintage Gillett & Sibert Mono/Binocular Research Microscope Collectible" is in sale since Friday, September 18, 2020.

This item is in the category "Antiques\Science/Medicine\Scientific Instruments". The seller is "arcboutant" and is located in Glasgow. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Antigua and barbuda, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Australia, United States, Bahrain, Canada, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand, China, Israel, Hong Kong, Norway, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Barbados, Brunei darussalam, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Grenada, French guiana, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Saint kitts and nevis, Saint lucia, Liechtenstein, Sri lanka, Macao, Monaco, Maldives, Montserrat, Martinique, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Paraguay, Reunion, Turks and caicos islands, Aruba, Saudi arabia, South africa, United arab emirates, Ukraine, Chile, Bahamas, Colombia, Costa rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Kuwait, Panama, Qatar, Trinidad and tobago, Uruguay, Viet nam, Philippines.

Period: 1951 to Present
Material: Steel
Type: Microscope