A 23 x 60 French Naval semaphore telescope by SOM Paris, model 1954.

60 mm objective lens. Field of view: 2° 10′.

Oculars lens with grey filter. Dioptre: +4 to -6.

SOM PARIS – No. 0123 – REPERE L3

Leather covered tube, strap and lens cap.

Marked:

MARINE NATIONALE CONSTRUCTIONS NAVALES

LONGUE VUE SEMAPHORIQUE MODELE 1954

DEMONTAGE FORMELLEMENT INTERDIT

Length: 75 cm.

With protective steel carrying case: 86 x 11.5 cm.

Marked:

LONGUE VUE SEMAPHORIQUE MODELE 1954 REPERE L3
MARINE NATIONALE

SOM-Berthiot was a French optical company, founded in 1857, it was a family business until the early 20th century when it became a public limited company in 1908. In 1913 the company was acquired by Schneider & Co. and renamed SOM (Société d’Optique et de Mécanique de Haute Précision).

Its two main factories were in Paris,125 Boulevard Davout and 164, Rue de la Croix-Nivert . In 1934 it expanded with two more factories in Dijon, 45 Avenue Stalingrad and Rue Nicolas-Berthot by absorbing the Fleury-Hermagis company.

It merged in 1964 with the company Optique et Précision de Levallois (OPL) to give rise to the Société d’Optique, Précision, Electronique et Mécanique (SOPELEM), which later became the Société de Fabrication d’Instruments de Mesure ( SFIM ). Producing only military optics, it was integrated into the SAGEM group in 1999-2000.