Possible hallmark on french opisometer ...

[22wt]

Hello. My second thread ! The forum was an awesome help with a small Swiss pocketwatch, hopefully this one will be as easy.

This is a French opisometer ... there is one like it here: (admin edit - see Posting Requirements ) but I'm not convinced as to the origin of the piece that the site claims.

Here is mine:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95263907@N02/8873518211/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95263907@N02/8874134740/

The back of this opisometer says "Made in France", and then "depose" (which means "registered" I believe) H C with a strange symbol. A couple sites assume the H C stands for Henri Chatelain, but they basically admit that is an assumption and not a fact. Henri Chatelain lived during the 1700's and was famous for maps, however the piece is continually dated to the 1900's. So I'm not convinced. Also, I'm not sure if the symbol is a hallmark or not ... so I'm not even sure this item is made of silver.

This particular opisometer belonged to a former skier who actually was involved with skiing in the US military back in the 40's and 50's I believe. He was part of an Olympic ski team as well. So he may have used it for military ski maps ? lol. Or some such. Or perhaps he used it for other things ... the point being, that he owned it in the mid 1900's, or earlier.

Can anyone help with this ? Is it even a hallmark of some kind ? Perhaps someone has heard of a French company which H C stands for ?

Any help with this mystery is greatly appreciated :)

[22wt]

Oops nevermind ... sorry :) After some more googling, it is apparent that is the "logo" in the shape of the opisometers and other instruments made by that company, which does appear to be named Henri Chatelain :)

[vervene]

Hi,

It is from Switzerland. The hallmark is a "coq de bruyère", used before 1995.

See photos

Best