Vintage Kelvin & Hughes Nautical Maritime Sextant & Wood Display Case 6"

Description

Mid 20th century Kelvin & Hughes brass nautical sextant, displayed in a hardwood box / display case with brass corners and painted glass front.

"The Kelvin connection is based upon the professional relationship between William Thomson (later-Lord Kelvin) (1824–1907), Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University from 1846–1899 and James White (1824–1884), a Glasgow-based Optical Instrument Maker. James White founded the firm of James White, Optician and Philosophical Instrument Makers in Glasgow in 1850 and was involved in the supply and maintenance of apparatus for Thomson's university laboratory and worked with him on experimental constructions. By 1854, White was producing electrical instruments such as electrometers and electrical balances from Thomson's designs. Sir William was raised to the Peerage as Baron Kelvin of Largs in 1892. In 1899, Lord Kelvin resigned from his University chair and, in 1900 became a director in the newly formed private limited liability company, Kelvin & James White Ltd, which acquired the business of James White. In 1913 Dr Bottomley became chairman of Kelvin & James White Ltd and the firm changed its name, becoming Kelvin Bottomley & Baird Ltd. Following the destruction of the London offices in the Blitz of 1941, discussions were initiated with Henry Hughes & Sons Ltd regarding collaboration which resulted in the establishing of the joint venture company Marine Instruments Ltd at 107, Fenchurch Street, London in 1942. The Hughes family were originally clockmakers in the East End of London who progressed into supplying sextants and marine chronometers to ships coming into the River Thames. The firm was incorporated as Henry Hughes & Sons Ltd in 1903. In 1915 the site at Hainault was purchased and in 1917 the first part of the factory was opened. This site is the current headquarters of the modern Kelvin Hughes Ltd. Kelvin Hughes Ltd was formed in 1947 by the merger between the scientific instrument manufacturing firms of Henry Hughes & Son Ltd, London, England, and Kelvin Bottomley & Baird Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland with Marine Instruments Ltd acting as regional agents in the UK. Kelvin & Hughes Ltd were essentially a part of Smith's Industries Ltd founded in 1944 as the successors of S Smith & Son Ltd. Kelvin & Hughes Ltd was liquidated in 1966 but the name was continued as Kelvin Hughes, a division of Smiths Group plc. In 1990 Kelvin Hughes acquired Lokata Ltd assimilating their range of NAVTEX, EPIRB and SART products. Kelvin Hughes acquired QUBIT in August 1994 adding their range of integrated navigation, data acquisition and processing systems to the product range. In November 2007 Kelvin Hughes was bought out from Smiths Group plc and operated independently as Kelvin Hughes Ltd under part ownership by ECI Partners. Kelvin Hughes announced it was sold to Hensoldt by ECI Partners on 29 June 2017." (Source: Wikipedia)

Condition

Good Overall - Gentle wear

Dimensions

6" x 6" x 3.25" (Width x Depth x Height)