Travel binoculars of the company "Votkey" in St. Petersburg

Original 3x binoculars in excellent collectible condition. The optics are clean, the mechanism is working. The set includes an original trunk with gold crowding. This binoculars are non-military, as evidenced by the absence of ears under the neck strap and a civilian-style trunk. Trading house V. Falkovsky and M. Shirokoryadenko in his catalog characterizes this type of binoculars as "road". It was recommended for purchase by "gentlemen officers" for boat trips, hippodrome races or theater. Guarantee of authenticity.

St. Petersburg optician Karl Osipovich Votkei (by the way, a French citizen, a merchant of the 2nd guild) opened his production in the capital of Russia in 1842. The institution manufactured binoculars, spotting tubes and other optical instruments. In 1849, Votkei took part in the St. Petersburg Exhibition of Russian Manufactured Products, he presented telescopes and spotting tubes "of very careful work and dapper finish" very highly appreciated by experts: "Theatrical sight tubes and a large achromatic tube, exhibited by the foreigner Votkei, should justly be ranked among the best optical devices that were at the exhibition."

By 1870, 50 workers worked at the Votkei factory, and up to 500 optical instruments worth up to 60,000 rubles were manufactured during the year. At the All-Russian Exhibition of Manufactured products in 1870 in St. Petersburg, the company presented: theater binoculars, a telescope and marine binoculars. By this time, the Votkei optics factory had gained great fame in Russia thanks to the binoculars, telescopes and other instruments it manufactured.

When in the 1880s it was decided to supply infantry, cavalry and artillery with binoculars, in 1880 K. Votkei turned to the War Ministry with a request to order binoculars at his factory. In the petition he wrote:  "Having in St. Petersburg the only factory in all of Russia of binoculars, spotting tubes and telescopes, I dare to ask for the order of binoculars at my factory, made by Russian masters and which will be no worse than those offered by foreign masters and will cost the same price." After testing Votkey's binoculars at the Main Artillery Range, "it turned out that starting from the smallest distances and up to 2000 fathoms, Votkey's binoculars are not only not inferior in image clarity to the binoculars of the Raten factory (Germany), but even somewhat superior to it."

By the end of the 1880s, at the expense of the treasury, on the basis of the General Staff circular of 1888 for No. 141, a batch of 4.8-5x binoculars manufactured by K. Votkei was purchased in the amount of 20 copies per infantry regiment (one per company and 4 for the regiment headquarters), as well as 6 copies for 4- a company battalion and 7 to 5-company (one per company and 2 for the battalion headquarters), 16 copies per cavalry regiment (2 per squadron and 4 for the regiment headquarters). The cost of binoculars with a case and a belt was 18 rubles 60 kopecks. The binoculars had the following dimensions: the diameter of the lenses was 45 mm, the eyepieces were 18 mm, and the weight with the case was 2.3 pounds.

In 1882, Karl Votkey participated in the All-Russian Exhibition in Moscow, he presented: binoculars, telescopes, lots, compasses, psychrometer, copper cups, lenses, eyepieces. At that time there were 60 workers at the factory. The annual production was 100,000 rubles. Participation in the exhibition was very successful. Following the results of the exhibition, Karl Votkei was awarded a gold medal "for the manufacture of binoculars and spotting tubes of excellent quality". The spyglasses made by him for the personal use of the Sovereign Emperor gave the company the title of supplier of the Highest Court.

After the death of K. Votkei, his widow Votkei Leontina-Charlotte-Maria became the head of the company. The company continued its activities under the same name – "K. Votkey". Later, the owner of the company became Zimmer Nikolai Pavlovich. Continued to be produced: physical, optical, geodetic, drawing, measuring, etc., devices for the study of bread products. A large number of instruments were manufactured for the Hydrographic Department. The company's store was opened in the house of I.G. Neiman (K.B. Kotomin) at the corner of Bolshaya Morskaya Street and the Moika River embankment.

At the beginning of the XX century, the issue of restricting the import of foreign products to Russia and the rise of domestic industry began to be raised. In the decision of the Commission on the Restriction of Foreign Orders, it was noted: "Foreign factories are placed in completely different conditions than ours: for example, in England there are many factories guaranteed by the treasury and receiving temporarily, in the absence of private orders, known, in predetermined amounts, government orders, to compensate for shortfalls on private orders; in addition, many special foreign factories have sales of their works to all parts of the world; nothing like this, as you know, does not exist in Russia and therefore our factories suffer from a lack of orders much more than Western ones ...". This was repeatedly noted by the opticians themselves who worked in Russia — owners of small workshops, including the firm K. Votkei, who made a similar proposal 20 years earlier.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the company gradually began to decline. So in 1909, the number of workers decreased to 35 people, and annual production to 50,000 rubles. The company ceased to exist after the revolution of 1917 .