Esten No. 20324 Microscope-help

[kelso321]

I recently ordered an Esten No. 20324 microscope on e-bay. I want to start collecting vintage microscopes, but I'm also a broke grad student so I just bought the cheapest that I liked the looks of and looked old, just to get something until I can afford some of the ones I really want.

Anyways I'm having a really hard time finding any information on it. The only identifiers are that name and then it says Japan under the stage. It's heavy and seems like a school scope. Google is pulling up NOTHING except for other listings for the one I bought. Any ideas on how I could find out more about this? Specifically I'd like to know when it's from and where it was used. (I thought it would be cool to have a collection of different microscopes that were used in classrooms around the world).

I'd appreciate any help I could get on this!

[lorez]

Esten was a brand directed at the educational market, junior and senior high school, in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were generally a simple monocular with a horseshoe base. There were a couple of choices in the number of objectives, but I never encountered anything more that an achromat. I doubt you will find anything with much detail, but they are so simple there is really not much to say. If you have limited experience with microscopes it's a good place to start learning.

lorez

[apochronaut]

Here's a with a rather odd trinocular, for sale. http://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/auctio ... auc=710623 There are aspects to it that resemble a Bristol. perhaps made by Kyowa?

[kelso321]

Thanks, the time frame was what I was most interested in, and any historical information. I'm not looking to use it, just like the looks of it. It's my first addition for my collection and even if it is really simple, I love it.