Brass Telescopes by I R Poyser

Brass telescope by IR PoyserWe are makers of fine bespoke brass telescopes. The photographs here show a brass refracting telescope in the traditional English style, with a star-finder.
Brass telescope by IR PoyserThe objective lens in this telescope is a 120 mm diameter achromatic doublet with a focal length of 1500 mm. The telescope has an oak tripod mount with brass fittings.
Brass telescope by IR PoyserThe 120 mm refractor, showing the milled brass rack and pinion focus knob.
 
Brass telescope by IR Poyser Prismatic terrestrial adapter made by IR PoyserThe lower photograph shows the prismatic terrestrial adapter, complete with a brass Plossl eyepiece, which we supplied with the brass telescope. This instrument was made for a chateau in France, where it is now in use.
Brass telescope by IR Poyser

The telescope shown against the blue curtain was also a 120 mm refractor, supplied with adapters to allow the instrument to be used both visually and photographically. We shipped it to the client in New York State in 2008.

The brass telescope that we offer as our standard item nowadays has an anastigmat doublet lens with a clear aperture of 127 mm (5 inches) and a focal length of 1500 mm. There are more details of this superb objective in the Starfinders and Eyepieces section of this website.

Terrestrial elbow telescope made by IR PoyserThis was a terrestrial elbow telescope that we supplied with a set of interchangeable eyepieces. The objective lens was a 50 mm diameter doublet.

BELOW: The telescope was fitted with a tripod foot to fit standard camera tripods.

Terrestrial elbow telescope by IR Poyser

 
We also make smaller specialized instruments. The picture below shows a 50 x 600 mm transit telescope for the observatory at the Beamish Museum. The engraved body had an engraved lens cap with a Welsh dragon and the maker’s name.
Transit telescope made by IR Poyser

An Indication of Prices

All of our telescopes, mounts and tripods are hand-made and are to a specification that is agreed by the client, so no two customers ever have exactly the same items, but we can give an indication of prices as follows:

A polished brass telescope with a brass finder: from £7000.

 

The price of the telescope would largely depend upon the client’s choice of objective lens. This is because the prices of objective lenses vary widely, depending upon the manufacturer, the lens diameter and focal length and whether the lens is available as an ‘off-the-shelf’ item or has to be specially made. The size and focal length of the lens will also determine the size, and hence cost, of the body of the telescope.