Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

Microscope 332 (W. Watson & Sons; polarising microscope; 1910s)

W. Watson & Sons were opticians and camera makers trading from London and Edinburgh. The company was originally founded in 1837 by William Watson at 71 City Road, and the business continued at this address until 1861, when it moved to 313 High Holborn. In 1867, the name was changed to W. Watson & Son. In 1882, the name was changed to W. Watson & Sons. In 1900 the company acquired the John Browning and Co., and in 1908 the firm became W. Watson & Sons Ltd. In 1929 they published an advert in the British Industries Fair Catalogue as an Optical, Scientific and Photographic Exhibit, highlighting the manufacture of microscopes for medical, industrial, and educational purposes. Into the 1950s, the company changed their address to 25 West End Lane, Barnet, Hertfordshire, where they stayed until the late 1960s. In 1957 the company was acquired by Pye of Cambridge and ten years later, taken over by Philips. By 1970 the manufacture of microscopes was over. Microscope 332 is a polarising microscope. The body of the instrument is not signed, but both the objective revolver and the special eyepiece are engraved with the labels of W. Watson & Sons. The microscope corresponds to the Watson’s FRAM stand from around 1912, equipped with a polariser No. M2916 and an eyepiece analyser M2927 (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Watson’s FRAM microscope stand (left), polariser No. M2916 (centre) and eyepiece analyser M2927 (right) as featured in a 1912 catalogue of the firm.