Vintage Watson Service II Microscope CTS Mechanical Stage Upgrade, Cased c1952

Here we have a pretty unique upgraded vintage Service II Microscope by W. Watson & Sons Limited of London. This example can be dated to around 1952 based on the sequential production serial number, which is engraved on the main tube and is 106739. The Watson Service model was the back-bone model of Watson's range of microscope offerings and it originally appeared in the Watson catalogue as early as 1919. This example is the up-dated Service II model from the early 1950s and is an excellent piece that just oozes that famous Watson quality from every component based on solid construction, use of quality materials, great design and attention to detail. Feel the weight of it for one, it's really heavy with all that steel and brass. This is a sturdy well-built good quality technical microscope in excellent original condition, fully working, with some signs of use but overall it's in excellent cosmetic condition for its age with just the right amount of patina and hardly any chipping to the black painted finish on the frame and other major components. You'd hardly believe it's over 68 years of age - it really is visually in great condition. The nickel plating finish to the thumb-wheels for example has also polished up really well and the whole microscope is so shiny you can almost see yourself in a reflection. The technical details of the Service II model include rack and pinion main focus and vernier fine focus, both of which move freely with no apparent wear.

The microscope comes with a chromed eyepiece draw-tube and two eyepieces - 5x and 10x magnification with four objectives in total and a rotating quadruple turret, which has been upgraded from the standard triple turret set-up. The objective lenses present as follows. Watson 100x parachromatic - oil immersion (untested). The low power wide-field objective is useful for initial positioning, then the user switches to the other higher-power objectives for closer inspection of the sample.

The full mechanical stage is a superb addition by Cooke Troughton & Simms (CTS) and is a really useful upgrade which is a treat to use compared to a standard stage with slide clips. The fully mechanical CTS stage has been added together with a spacer and simply bolts into position through the existing locating holes in the Watson frame. It can be unbolted and removed very easily and the original Watson standard stage is also supplied together with its fixings and slide clips in case the next owner wishes to return the set-up to a standard Watson specimen stage. Both x-axis and y-axis chromed thumb-wheel controls on the CTS stage operate nice and smoothly with no stickiness evident. The slide holder mechanism is also adjustable in order to accommodate different slide/sample sizes. Below stage there is an Abbe-type condenser on a rack and pinion mount, which has a fully working iris and a feature allowing dark-field or coloured filters to be inserted in its integral swing-out filter holder. There's also a plano-concave mirror for illumination on an adjustable arm and gimbal, with good silvering to both sides. All controls operate smoothly including focus, fine-focus, condenser, mirror and eye-piece draw-tube. Please note that this example will be supplied with a quality modern wooden storage case with working lock and key and an integral storage rack for storing the lenses - shown in final photo in the listing. This is a really excellent microscope that's been upgraded with a quality CTS full mechanical stage, quadruple nose turret, a good range of lenses and a quality modern storage case - as such it is also suitable for display purposes as well as use as a technical microscope and represents amazingly good value. Owing to the weight of the microscope, it will be 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 Watson Service II Microscope CTS Mechanical Stage Upgrade, Cased c1952" is in sale since Wednesday, February 12, 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, Cayman islands, 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, Dominican republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Kuwait, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, El salvador, Trinidad and tobago, Uruguay, Viet nam.

Period: 1951 to Present
Material: Brass
Type: Microscope