Barometers Realm

The histories of two mysterious nineteenth-century Hamburg instrument makers have been expanded with new archival findings and historical research.

A charming vintage-style weather postcard featuring a colour-changing window and a watchful ginger cat is now available in our online shop.

A richly carved Hamburg aneroid barometer, retailed by A. Krüss, has been added to the collection, together with a new history of the Krüss firm.

The history of the Berlin instrument maker R. Fuess has been rewritten and greatly extended, now covering the firm from its founding in 1865 to its closure in the mid-1970s.

A precision marine mercury barometer by F. Darton & Co. Ltd., featuring a gimbal suspension and a Gold’s correction slide rule, has been added to the collection.

A precision pocket aneroid barometer manufactured by R. Fuess in 1939, complete with its original leather carrying case, has been added to the collection.

A rare Casella Brass Drum Aneroid Barometer from around 1870 has joined the collection, accompanied by an expanded history of the renowned London instrument maker Casella.

A rare Edney Hair Hygrometer, dating from around 1915, joins the collection alongside an expanded history of its London manufacturer, Pastorelli & Rapkin.

The history of the Casartelli dynasty of instrument makers has been substantially revised and extended, drawing on new sources.

A large French aneroid barometer of around 1880, set in a massive turned mahogany surround, has been added to the collection.

A pocket-sized Huger EB833 from around 1997 brings an early Motorola silicon sensor into the collection.

A precision ground barometer made by Kollsman for Brazil's Air Force meteorological service around 1970–1972 has been added to the collection.

An unsigned French Atmos — Barometer of about 1890, tentatively attributed to the Paris workshop of Jules Richard, has entered the collection.

A 1970 M-19 hair hygrometer from the Riga Gidrometpribor plant has been added to the collection.

A rare Zenith cabinet barograph has joined the collection alongside a newly expanded history of the celebrated Swiss manufacture.

The BARIGO Barometerfabrik entry has been substantially expanded with newly traced archival material on founder Richard Goes, original company catalogues, and the firm's final years.

Our history of Wilh. Lambrecht of Göttingen has been substantially expanded.

The site's article on C. P. Goerz has been rewritten from the ground up into a full company history, from the 1886 protractor business to the 1926 Zeiss Ikon merger and beyond.

A striking 1933 Zeiss Ikon table barometer has been added to the collection together with an expanded history of Zeiss Ikon and Carl Zeiss.

A complete rewrite, now told as one continuous story from the 1830s to today — built on the firm's own catalogues rather than on the usual recycled sources.

A long read on cobalt hygrometer cards, donkey barometers and the century-old habit of laughing at weather instruments, illustrated throughout from the foundation's collection.

Two Victorian-styled weather cards, "The Gentleman with an Umbrella" and "The Apothecary Shop", have joined the online shop.

The history of Jules Richard has been extensively revised and expanded, with new research tracing the remarkable Henrard family succession and the company’s later development.

More than ten new historical documents, advertisements, postcards, letters and books have been added to the Ephemera section.

A professional R. Fuess station barograph with an unusual oil-damping system has joined the collection.

A sealed, factory-fresh Vaisala RS80-67 radiosonde has been added to the collection, accompanied by a detailed history of its Finnish maker.

A small brush-applicator bottle of pen cleaning fluid, made for the routine care of barograph, thermograph and hygrograph pens.

Our history of the Rotterdam barometer makers Reballio has been substantially expanded.

An exceptionally early Vidie aneroid, dating to around 1850 and retailed by the celebrated London clockmaker Edward John Dent, has been added to the collection together with an expanded history of Dent’s remarkable life and career.

A rare Jaeger pedestal barometer joins the collection, accompanied by a newly expanded history of Jaeger-LeCoultre.

A French absolute barometer of c. 1880 — a type documented in print but, until now, apparently unphotographed online.

A rare Paulin SA-2 “Engineer” altimeter by C.E. Johansson has joined the collection, together with a new history of its Swedish manufacturer.

A German carriage barometer, dating from around 1955 and probably made by Barigo, has been added to the collection.

A Krick Weather Guide — the cloud-reading forecaster — has been added to the collection, and our history of its creator, meteorologist Irving P. Krick, has been considerably expanded.

Traditional violet recording ink for barographs, thermographs, hygrographs and other self-recording instruments is now available in the shop.

A Polish PZL PR-250S airspeed indicator joins the collection, together with a new historical feature on PZL and the Warsaw instrument works on Grochowska Street.

A Soviet VD-20 two-pointer aircraft barometric altimeter, dating from around 1955, has been added to the collection.

Two instruments have been added to the Collection: an American pendant thermometer of about 1910–1920, worn on a neck chain, and a German pocket baroscope of about 1900 with a rotating differential pressure scale for which no analogue has yet been found.

Our article on the Paris barometer and manometer makers Dubois et Casse has been completely rewritten from archival documents. Two long-standing errors are corrected, and a substantial body of newly traced evidence — patents, exhibition awards, directory entries and the firm’s own succession — is published here for the first time.

Two new Artistic Barometer postcards with cobalt humidity indicators are now available in the shop.

A rare early La Filotecnica pocket engineering barometer-altimeter, dating from around 1895–1915, has been added to the collection, together with a new history of the Milanese scientific instrument maker.

Our history of Short & Mason has been rewritten from the ground up. The founders’ biographies are reconstructed for the first time, the firm’s two forgotten predecessor partnerships are documented, and several dates that have circulated for decades in the trade are corrected against primary sources.

A late 19th-century French aneroid barometer has joined the collection, accompanied by a new history of the Société des Lunetiers.

A rare Universal Barometer of c.1900 has joined the collection, together with a new history of its Manchester retailer, A. Franks Ltd.

The catalogue entry for our early-18th-century Hanekam-decorated donderglas has been rewritten and expanded, with new photographs added — including images under ultraviolet light.

A precision eight-inch mine surveying aneroid by C. F. Casella & Co. Ltd., London, made around 1950, has been added to the collection. Built for barometric levelling underground, it reads to 0.01 inHg and combines a deep convex beryllium bronze capsule, a full-disc anti-parallax mirror and a movable reading lens.

Our page on the London optician J. H. Steward has been completely rewritten. What was a short brand note is now a full history of the firm — from its foundation in 1852 to its closure in 1975 — with a founder's biography, a dated chronology of shop addresses for use in dating instruments, the firm's patents, and an annotated list of sources.

A circa 1960 Pilot Wheel Barometer by Lufft, produced for the American market, has been added to the collection. Its ship’s-wheel case, open-dial construction, chain-driven aneroid movement, and unusual uranium-bearing vitreous-enamel dial make it one of the more distinctive export models of the period.

A circa 1950 Weekly Barograph by Jules Richard, type NG 5309-2-1, has been added to the collection. The instrument combines a ten-capsule aneroid movement with a weekly recording drum, four-sided glazing, and several practical refinements developed for professional meteorological use.

A new work on the Eiffel Tower’s decades as a meteorological and geophysical station — equipped by the same Maison Richard whose instruments fill my collection.

A rare Ivory Register-Plate Cistern Barometer, made by Carpenter & Westley in London around 1850, has been added to the collection. Its detailed catalogue entry is accompanied by a newly published history of the celebrated Regent Street firm, best known for optical instruments, kaleidoscopes and phantasmagoria lanterns.

The search page has been rebuilt as a catalogue browser: seven filters — maker, country, material, movement, condition, category and date — each carrying the number of instruments standing behind it, and a text search that understands word forms, partial words and a misspelt maker's name.

The historical profile of Stäcker & Olms has been thoroughly revised and expanded, tracing the Hamburg firm from its foundation in 1882, through four generations of owners, to the surviving SundO mark of today.

The most instinctive act of care a collector can offer an antique instrument — a drop of oil — is also the commonest cause of death among aneroid barometers. In a new illustrated essay, Leo Shirokov traces the lubrication problem from the watchmaker's bench to the conservator's table and explains why an instrument built by the means of horology must be serviced by the rules of metrology.

The historical profile of Negretti & Zambra has been extensively revised and expanded, offering a deeper look into the company’s origins, scientific achievements, royal appointments, international exhibitions, and lasting influence on the development of meteorological and scientific instruments.

The Barometers Realm website has undergone a complete redesign, introducing a more modern interface, new sections including Essays, Ephemera, and an integrated Shop, along with significantly enhanced collection pages featuring interactive high-resolution image galleries with zoom functionality.