Vintage Watson Bactil Monocular Microscope with Electric Lighting c1959, Cased

Here is a very well equipped, collectable and highly usable example of an iconic technical microscope in sound original condition - a retro Watson Bactil monocular model from 1959. If you are not familiar with Watson's Bactil model, it's a real step up from its smaller brother the Watson Service model - the Bactil is a much bigger (and much heavier) proposition altogether and one of the larger instruments Watson produced in this era. To get a sense of the sheer scale of this model of microscope take a look at the size disparity between the objective lenses and the instrument itself, that gives you a good idea of the size and presence that the Bactil instrument commands and it's a bit like the 50s V-bomber of the Watson range. Please read on if you're interested in this substantial vintage technical instrument. This example is serial number 126797 which dates its manufacture to 1959 and this is confirmed by the Watson magnification/guarantee card which is still in the case confirming the date as 8 June 1959 - this is a nice touch and an increasingly rare find. This example has got a comprehensive technical configuration with a good compliment of period objective lenses offering a useful magnification capability. The construction is really solid with much use of heavy metals such as iron and brass. The black painted finish is in very good condition with only a couple of areas showing minor chipping and a little paint bubbling which is quite common for this model.

The bright-work components are all nickel/chrome plated and have polished up really well. This Watson Bactil has rack and pinion main and vernier screw/cam fine focusing, both of which move smoothly with hardly any evident wear.

This example is supplied with 6x and 10x magnification Watson eyepieces. This example is fitted with a rotating Watson quadruple nose-piece which clicks into position positively as each objective is rotated to its viewing position and comes supplied progressive magnification period Watson objective lenses, as follows.

Watson para 40mm - 4x - Watson para 16mm - 10x. Watson para 4mm - 40x. There's therefore an effective magnification range with all the supplied optics of around 24x to 400x with good illumination.

The fully mechanical circular specimen stage set-up is a really well-engineered feature that has rack & pinion and helical screw systems that move both the x-axis and y-axis smoothly, together with silvered vernier measurement scales on the axes. The stage also rotates a full 360 degrees and also has centering - the rotation in nicely damped with just the right level of resistance to motion and I've shown the stage in various stages of rotation in the listing photos. The stage-clip system for holding slides in place during viewing is present and has a sprung arm which arm retains adequate resistance in its armature to hold a slide in place while the x and y-axes are being moved around and if you're using inclined viewing.

There's a little evidence of wear to the black painted finish on the frame and stage surface which isn't that noticeable, another indicator of fairly light use over the years. Below stage there is a Watson Aplanatic condenser with centering adjustment and a working iris for controlling lighting levels that moves freely. The whole condenser assembly is on a rack and pinion mount for vertical adjustment. This example is fitted with an over-size plano-concave mirror for illumination which is on an adjustable arm and gimbal set-up, with good silvering to both sides.

There's also a low voltage lighting solution with transformer which converts 240V mains to 6V DC and a Watson illuminator that just slots into the same recess that the mirror fits into - a neat Watson solution. The lamp-house contains a 6V 18W tungsten bulb and you can see it working in a couple of the listing photos, giving a great alternative lighting option. All-in-all this is a really well presented, highly original and pretty well complete example of a retro Watson Bactil monocular model with its comprehensive technical set-up, period look and good cosmetic condition with just the right level of patination to its paintwork for a late 1950s example. This instrument will make a great usable addition to a collection as well as making a spectacular and imposing retro display piece. If you've been looking for a vintage Watson Bactil monocular for a while, this example definitely merits a really close look.

Thanks for looking - please check out my other listings if you get a chance. This item is in the category "Antiques\Science/Medicine\Scientific Instruments".

The seller is "arcboutant" and is located in this country: GB. This item can be shipped to United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of, 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, Korea, South, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Barbados, Brunei Darussalam, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Ecuador, Egypt, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Grenada, French Guiana, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Macau, Monaco, Maldives, Montserrat, Martinique, Nicaragua, Oman, Pakistan, Peru, Paraguay, Reunion, Turks and Caicos Islands, Aruba, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Chile, Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Kuwait, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Vietnam.

Period: 1951 to Present
Sub-Type: Microscopes
Featured Refinements: Microscope Objective
Material: Brass
Type: Microscope
Antique: Yes
Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom