Antique Odhner A. Russia Calculator, 1907-1917

Lovely antique Odhner A calculator made in Russia in the early 20th century (1907-1917). This fine machine works perfectly in spite of being a hundred years old it can be used to perform arithmetical operations with fully reliable outcomes. Besides, the calculator shows off an excellent condition with a bright and even black-lacquered finish and clear white-enameled symbols. The silvery-metal component parts are also wonderfully preserved, and all these details make up a fine piece with a strong personality and huge decorative power. At the top of the calculator we can see the serial number º 19215, engraved in the metal casing and painted white. The calculator shows a sober and attractive look, with the great charm of turn-of-the-century office machines and a functionality that has survived the most convulse decades. This antique Odhner calculator is a witness of the 20th-century industrial history, an evocative and beautiful piece that any lover of technical antiques will long to own.Odhners Calculators History The history of Odhner calculators actually describes the first times of all mechanical calculators. W. T. Odhner was a Swedish engineer and entrepreneur who invented his first arithmometer (or pinwheel calculator) in Rusia in 1871. Odhner was repairing a Thomas arithmometer, the only mechanical calculator in production at the time, and decided to replace its heavy Leibniz cylinder by a lighter pinwheel disk. So he created the first modern calculator whose design was imitated and reproduced countless times during the 20th century. Odhner produced and sold his owns calculators, but after the Russian revolution of 1917 he moved to Switzerland and opened a new factory where he manufactured his arithmometers under the Original Odhner commercial name.