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Object Overview
This barometer is part of the private collection of our friend and fellow collector Heikki Vähäsarja (Finland). All photographs were kindly provided by him.
Before us is the *Valmet Wall Weather Station, a wall-mounted weather station manufactured by the Finnish company Valmet in the late 1950s. This instrument is a characteristic example of post-war Northern European industrial design, where functionality and restrained lines are combined with a high standard of craftsmanship. Despite its relatively understated appearance, the weather station features a carefully engineered construction and a highly unusual aneroid mechanism that differs significantly from those found in most European barometers of its period.
The case is crafted from solid birch, a timber widely used in the Finnish furniture industry during the mid-twentieth century. The front panel is finished with a clear lacquer that highlights the natural grain of the wood in a warm honey-golden tone. The composition is built around a light central panel framed by two substantial side sections finished in a darker lacquer, forming distinctive vertical pilasters. Their outer surfaces are smoothly rounded, giving the otherwise rectilinear case a softer and more sculptural silhouette.
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aneroid capsule tensioned on a U-spring
aluminium, brass, copper, glass, steel, wood
The principal feature of the instrument is its circular barometer dial, protected by a flat bevelled mineral glass mounted within a polished brass bezel. Positioned at the centre of the glass is a brass weather trend pointer fitted with a knurled adjustment knob, allowing the user to manually set a reference marker for observing changes in atmospheric pressure.
The barometric scale, printed on a metal dial, forms a continuous concentric circle and is calibrated in centimetres of mercury (70–79 cm Hg). In addition to the numerical graduations, the scale is provided with traditional weather indications in the Swedish language.
The barometer is driven by a particularly original aneroid mechanism. At its heart is a large copper aneroid capsule operating in conjunction with a robust U-shaped steel leaf spring, which provides the necessary counteracting force. Of particular interest is the method by which the capsule is mounted: its lower diaphragm is attached to the mounting plate by means of a screw that simultaneously serves as the calibration adjustment screw, allowing the initial position of the pressure-sensitive element to be adjusted during calibration.
Changes in atmospheric pressure cause the aneroid capsule to deform against the fixed spring. This movement is transmitted to the main hook-shaped lever, which actuates a pivoted bell-crank lever. The vertical arm of the bell-crank then transfers the motion via a cord to the pointer arbor. The arbor itself is supported beneath a prominent U-shaped brass bridge, one of the most distinctive structural features of the entire mechanism. Mounted on the pointer arbor is an elegant blued steel indicating hand with a characteristic diamond-shaped counterweight, standing out clearly against the light-coloured dial.
To the right of the barometer is an additional spirit thermometer, calibrated in degrees Celsius and mounted on a separate brass plate. This arrangement transforms the instrument into a complete domestic weather station, allowing simultaneous observation of both atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature.
Overall, this weather station is a characteristic example of Finnish instrument making from the late 1950s. It combines the restrained aesthetics of Scandinavian design with high-quality woodworking and metalworking, while its highly distinctive aneroid mechanism demonstrates Valmet’s own engineering approach to the design of domestic meteorological instruments. Despite its outward simplicity, this instrument represents a noteworthy example of post-war Finnish craftsmanship and is of considerable interest to collectors of barometers and historians of scientific instruments alike.