Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

Serial numbers of antique microscope makers

Serial numbers engraved on antique and vintage microscopes may allow to date the instruments to a good level of accuracy, although some makers used serial numbers in a somewhat inconsistent way. From this page, you can access several plots that may help dating microscopes of some important makers (please click on the links above to access these plots for each microscope maker). Many associations between the dates and serial numbers were based on the excellent book by Brian Bracegirdle ‘Notes on modern microscope manufacturers’, published by the Quekett Microscopical Club in 1996. Many other associations between serial numbers and years or manufacture (or years of delivery, which may slightly differ from the manufacture date) were retrieved from the production books of some companies (e.g., for R & J Beck and Carl Zeiss microscopes), and others from amazing websites dedicated to microscopes and microscopy such as www.microscopist.net, www.antique-microscopes.com, www.microscope-antiques.com, www.musoptin.com, and several other sources. Please note that, for many microscope makers, the years of manufacture may be approximate only.