Pilot Wheel Barometer Joins the Collection
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 new addition to the collection is the Pilot Wheel Barometer, an export model manufactured by the renowned German instrument maker Lufft around 1960 for the American market. Styled as a traditional ship’s wheel, it combines German precision with the decorative nautical aesthetic that became popular in post-war American interiors.
Originally marketed in the United States under the slogan “Styled for the Sportsman,” the model appeared in the 1961 American Lufft catalogue distributed by Watrous & Company, Inc., the company’s exclusive U.S. importer and representative.
Beyond its distinctive solid walnut case and polished chromium fittings, the barometer features an open-ring dial that leaves the chain-driven aneroid mechanism visible through its centre. Particularly noteworthy is the original vitreous-enamel dial, which contains trace amounts of uranium compounds. Although visually white in daylight, it produces a vivid green fluorescence under long-wave ultraviolet light, illustrating a little-known application of uranium in mid-twentieth-century industrial enamelling rather than in uranium glass.
The collection page includes a detailed study of the instrument’s construction, export history, dial technology, and aneroid mechanism, together with a discussion of the uranium-bearing enamel and its distinction from custard glass and traditional uranium glass.