Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

Microscope 601 (Nachet; Petit modèle; c. 1870)

Camille Sébastien Nachet (1799 – 1881) started by working with Charles Chevalier and set up his own business in 1839. At that time, Chevalier, Oberhauser and Nachet were the main producers of microscopes in Paris. In the late 1850s, Nachet was joined by his son, Jean Alfred Nachet (1831-1908), who went by the name of Alfred. The firm was renamed Nachet et Fils around 1862, when Alfred was made a partner. Nachet was succeeded by his son, who named the firm ‘A Nachet’ from about 1880 to about 1890, when it became ‘Nachet et Fils’ once more when Alfred's son joined the partnership. By 1898 Nachet had taken over Hartnack and Prazmowski and also ‘Bezu, Hausser et cie’. The firm traded from Rue Serpente, Paris (1839 – 1862), Rue Séverin, Paris (1862 until after WW2), and Rue Chaptal 106, Levallois-Perret (1970s). Microscope 601 is engraved with ‘Nachet et Fils, 17 rue St. Severin, Paris’ and should be dated to c. 1870. This microscope was known as the Nachet’s petit model. These microscopes sit on a uniquely shaped solid foot that arises on a short pillar to a solid inclination joint. A bullseye condenser would attach to the optical tube via a dovetail fitting. The petit modèle was pictured in many of the Nachet catalogues over the years, and its design changed slightly (Figure 1). Over the years, as a trend, the sliding pair of substage apertures was replaced with a wheel of apertures and the substage mirror became articulated (like in microscope 601). The length of the bullseye articulating arm was also shortened and the stage changed to simple stage clips. The foot also changed the shape for a more usual horseshoe.

Figure 1. Nachet’s petit modèle microscope as pictured in the firm’s catalogues over the years.