Ross London WW1 single draw chromed brass officer of the watch telescope. Pattern 373

Description

You will love this Ross London spotter telescope. It is a single draw chromed brass telescope with a pattern 373 and a serial number 91999. It has a broad arrow and a No. 46 mark. It is in good working condition, and it has a history and charm. It dates back to the early 1900s or WW1. This is a rare and beautiful Ross London spotter telescope.

Main Features:

Magnification: estimated around 15x

Objective lens diameter: 45mm

Eyepiece diameter: 20mm

Single draw chromed (silver/nickel plated) brass image focusing tube.

Fine focusing at rare end of tube: – /+ 5

Silver plated front tube and retractable sun visor.

Telescope length when fully extended: 55cm (21.6 in.)

Telescope length when compacted: 33cm (13 in.)

Main body diameter: 48mm

Leather bound on the principal barrel tube

Weight: approx. 756g

Note: This telescope is in very good working condition, and it delivers sharp images. The scope body has no damage or dents, and the focusing tube slides smoothly. The lenses are clean and clear, and they have no fungus on them. There is a tiny white dot on the front lens, but it is barely noticeable and it does not affect the performance of the scope at all. The leather and tube surfaces have some signs of age and use, but they add to the character and authenticity of this telescope. Check out the photos for more details.

Ross & Co, London – Ross (optics) was founded by Andrew Ross (1798–1859) in 1830. During Andrew Ross’s lifetime, the company was one of the foremost lens manufacturers. After Andrew’s death in 1859 his son-in-law John Henry Dallmeyer left the firm to establish his own optical company in 1860 and the company was run by Ross’s son, Thomas, and became known as Ross & Co. By the 1890s was also making Zeiss and Goerz lenses under licence for sale in the UK and the British Empire. Ross patented a Wide Angle lens design and Zeiss took this further to produce their EWA Protars, before WWI Ross and Zeiss worked quite closely together, but at the outbreak of War the British Government put Ross in control of the newly opened Carl Zeiss binocular and optical factory in Mill Hill, London. Up until the mid-20th century Ross & Co continued to produce lenses, as well as binoculars and epidiascopes.