the cloisonné letter scale
The NB logo is on this letter scale. The scale mechanism is certainly by Narcisse Briais, or by his successors. The scale base was probably made by another company, the enamel techniques applied to the base are a separate specialty.
Enamel Cloisonné is a technique of enamelling, in which flattened wire in certain motifs or figures is attached to a metal surface. The gaps between the pieces of wire are covered with different colors of enamel powder. The flattened wire prevents the colors from flowing into each other during the heating of the enamel. Each color is thus locked up in its own cell. [This description is taken from Wikipedia]. The French cloison means partition and also septum.
The scale of 60 grams has a stripe of measure for every five grams. Below the logo is BTE = Breveté = patent protected, and SGDG = Sans Garantie Du Gouvernement = without government guarantee (so not calibrated). This scale mechanism was also used on other models, see for example this Briais letter scale and also this scale with the NB logo.
The scale patent is difficult to find. The patent FR171632 is in the name of George Restorf and was granted on October 13, 1885. Restorf took over the company from Briais in 1886 and he continued to use the NB logo. Restorf closed the company in 1914. Subsequently, M. Ducos 1915-1926 and from 1927-1931 by M.Guérin the N.B. logo still was used on letter scales (source: Le Système métrique 1997-3, page 1124).
Below some more pictures of the cloisonné letter scale
back of the letter scale
