Best 3 Antique & Old Microscopes For Sale In 2022 Reviews
Do you admire antiques and their ability to last through time? Are you more a collector than a user?
You should be a proud owner of an antique microscope!
Learn all about the antique and old microscopes, what were their features and how did they work. Along with that, read about the three models of antique microscopes that you can get nowadays.
Why Is An Antique & Old Microscope A Good Idea
How Did First Microscopes Look?
The first microscope was made by Galileo, and it was much larger than today. First microscopes were made for scientists, and they were usually made out of brass, they had monocular head and a simple lens.
Who Were The Manufacturers?
When microscopes first started manufacturing, there weren’t as many manufacturers as now. The most famous were Zeiss, which is popular even today, Bausch & Lomb, Watson & Son and a few more popular manufacturers.
Can You Collect Vintage & Old Microscopes?
Collecting vintage microscopes is a serious hobby, like collecting vintage watches. Many of the vintage microscopes are still in function! The oldest microscope you can find is the microscopes manufactured in the 1800s.
What’s Today Price Of The Antique Microscope?
Antique microscopes can achieve a very high price in certain auctions and amongst collectors. Some of the microscopes, like the models above, are beautiful and functional, and you can get them for a reasonable price.
3 Best Antique & Old Microscopes For Sale
Antique Brass Microscope
iOptron Antique Microscope
Elegant, old fashioned design
One thing you can always count on with the vintage microscopes is their good looks (in case they are preserved). iOptron brass microscope is no exception. Made out of brass and metal it looks elegant and durable in any century.
Full glass lens
The most important thing about the microscopic image is clarity. With the full glass lens, which was used in the old microscopes, you can get the clearest image possible, at any magnification level.
Dual light and magnification levels
iOptron antique microscope is meant to view the object under the slide the best way possible. Considering that, it has a dual light system that includes transmitted and reflecting light and up to 100x magnification level.
Modern software
Since iOptron only looks like it was manufactured in the 19th century, it has some modern-day features. You can connect it to your PC via software to see the images or observe them through the electronic eyepiece.
- Elegant, sleek design
- Lens made out of real glass
- Dual light and up to 100x magnification level
- Can connect to PC
Antique Microscope For Collectors
Zweiss Vintage Microscope
Small, but heavy
Zweiss vintage microscope was meant to last. Although it’s only 17cm long and has a sleek design, it’s made out of very durable and heavy brass. You can be sure you’ll ever drop or that it will ever rust.
Only 10x magnification
Like many other antique microscopes, this Zweiss microscope for collectors isn’t powerful in the magnification department. It only has 10x magnification but despite its age, it’s still functional if you want to try it.
What about the light?
Instead of nowadays lightning system, Zweiss vintage microscope uses a mirror to reflect light. The mirror is situated under the scope and you should be able to light up the specimen if you analyze it in the daylight light.
Only as a collectible
Because of its poor features for this period, it’s not recommended to use it as a regular microscope. Despite the fact that it is functional, this model is more of a collector item than an everyday microscope.
- Great design
- Nice collector’s item
- Still functional
Stereo Antique Microscope
Antique Bausch & Lomb Microscope
Bulky and plastic
Still considered antique, Bausch & Lomb Microscope is kind of a bulky microscope that looks more like a modern-day microscope. In addition to that, it’s not made out of brass, but plastic material.
Binocular eyepiece
The oldest vintage microscopes were mostly monocular, but Bausch & Lomb has a binocular head. Not only that, but it also has wide field eyepiece and adjustable objectives that can zoom the object 1x-7x.
Nice magnification level
In today’s world, this old magnification microscope isn’t very powerful. Still, it is a stereo microscope, and they usually don’t have high magnification levels. You could use this antique stereo microscope for observing an interesting rock.
What about illumination?
The illumination should be on the bottom of the stand, but it’s hard to find this model with the preserved stand. When in good condition, antique Bausch & Lomb can be worth a lot of money.
- One of the first modern microscopes
- Binocular head with a wide-field eyepiece
- Nice magnification levels
- Can be worth a lot
Conclusion: Which Two Antique Microscopes Are The Best?
Antique microscopes aren’t very easy to acquire, especially on Amazon. Between these three antique microscopes, my first choice would definitely be an iOptron antique microscope because of its modern-day features and classical look, and Bausch & Lomb microscope because of the collectors’ value and a nice zoom.
For some modern microscopes, read my other article about the microscope on sale. And for the microscopes with more advanced and modern features read the two other articles about stereo microscope that is best for bigger objects, and about optical microscope that is focused on the smaller objects.