Narcisse Briais letter scale
This hanging letter scale was made by Narcisse or in full Narcisse-Eugène, Briais or one of his successors. The model has been made for years, in brass, with or without nickel plating, with or without a storage box, and in several weighing ranges. As an example, below are excerpts from a Brewer Frères catalog from circa 1913, with different weighing ranges. The ranges of 30 and 50 grams belong to the smaller scale shown on the right. The ranges 100, 300 and 500 grams are for the left model, which is the same as the photographed scale, with the exception of the letter clip.
Narcisse Briais was a French instrument maker who manufactured letter scales and balances between 1855 and 1886. The N.B. logo is said to have been introduced from 1876 onwards, I think it happened earlier. After 1886, G. Restorf took over the company and continued to use the N.B. logo. In 1914, Restorf closed the company. Afterwards, the N.B. logo was still used on letter scales by M. Ducos 1915-1926 and from 1927-1931 by M. Guérin (source: Le Système métrique 1997-3, page 1124).
The value 7½ is indicated separately. That postal weight limit of 7½ grams was used in France until 1862. Only in postal traffic between France and Great Britain (from 1833) and between France and Prussia (from 1837) a postal rate per 7½ grams was charged until 1875. grams used.
Similar scales have previously been shown on this website, see this unbranded, this Cross Pen Company scale, and this scale with saucer from Ph.J. Maul.
The total length is 158 millimeters, the width measured across the scale is 83 millimeters. This letter scale is called "balance de poche" in French, and more commonly "pèse-lettres". The scale is hung on a stand or held by the thumb and index finger on the ring during weighing.
Below are some more images of the Briais hanging letter scale.
back of the letter scale
