BRUGUIÈRE viewers were manufactured
in France for many decades during the 20th Century. Initially the
viewers just utilised single views, however, to maintain competitiveness
they were forced to abandon this format in the late 1950's in favour of the
multiple view formats being offered by other manufacturers, most notably Sawyers View-Master.
George Bruguiere took over the Colorelief company in 1965, then only to
be taken over himself by Lestrade in 1974.
Bruguiere No. 1 Viewer
The first Bruguiere viewer,
appropriately named the No. 1. A simple but effective viewer made from
thick cardboard and dating back to the late 1940's. The lenses are glass
and focusing is achieved by sliding the rear half of the viewer to the
appropriate position until a clear image is achieved. When viewing a
slide it is possible to read the slide's name as an aperture has been
cut in the middle of the central inner support.
 
Bruguiere No. 7 Viewer
Using the same concept as the earlier No. 1 viewer
above, this 1950's updated and streamlined design works every bit as
well as the earlier model. Images are bright and clear. This viewer is
manufactured from injection moulded plastic.
Bruguiere No. 9 Viewer
Manufactured in France in mid 1950's. This viewer
has a snakeskin pattern and is primarily made from cardboard, It has
good quality glass lenses. The viewer can be focused by
simply pulling the rear of the box in and out. The image considerably
magnified when compared to the No. 1 shown above, but the slide name
cannot be read as with the No. 1 as the internal support bar is solid. This is a very
unsophisticated viewer but despite that, the viewing quality is very
high and the pictures bright.
Bruguiere slides consist of two
photographs on a single plate contained in a protective clear wallet. Each
slide stored in the box has a thin sheet of tissue between it and it's
neighbour to prevent them sticking or marking each other. The picture
quality is very high, owning to the use of a 35mm format.
 Musee Oceangraphique Lourdes. Place Monseigneur-Laurence
 A scan of two sides of the
Bruguière No. 9 Viewer box
Bruguiere Stereocolor Viewer
This Bruguiere Stereocolor viewer from
the 1950's could show two different types of slide. One type consisted of
just one stereo pair, mounted in a plastic mount. To view this type two
inserts had to be removed from each side of the viewer to allow the full
picture to be seen.
The second type of slide needed the the
two inserts in place to block out unnecessary light. These slides
consisted of eight
pictures, four stereo pairs, mounted in a horizontal line. These
were fed through the viewer by means of rotating a knob, located at the
bottom of the
viewer. The slides were supplied
in boxes of three, giving twelve views in all.
The two formats of slide that could be viewed using
this viewer
The inserts are removed when viewing the lower style of
slide
Bruguiere Stereoclic Viewers
The Stereoclic viewer range was
manufactured in France by Bruguiere and was a development from the
single view viewers to multi-view to attempt to combat the threat posed by
the highly successful Sawyer's View-Master range. Rather than using a circular reel,
like the View-Master viewers, it used a strip of eight stereo pairs
which feed from the top down, being advanced by a side lever. The
quality of the pictures is quite good and they typically provide a
stereo picture with good depth.
An example of a Stereoclic Model
10
This viewer has two notable
features. It has a set of focusing eye-pieces and two advance leavers, one
operates by moving the slide down and the other by moving it up. It was
manufactured between approx 1958 and 1963.
A Stereoclic Model 11 (also know as a Stereoclic
Junior)
A later version of the Stereoclic Model 11,
still bearing the name "Junior". The production of this later version item
had been simplified with less parts, for example, the lack of lens rings
and a simplified advance lever.
 This is an example of a Stereoclic
'Super' from the mid 1960's
Notice the metal focusing ring in between the lenses.
This viewer is identical to the Colorelief
Stereoclic. George Bruguiere took mover the Colorelief company in 1965
and this resulted in some items being sold under two different brand names
for a short period of time.
Two different style of Stereoclic
slide. (The one to the left is older and has narrower pictures)
La Vision Stereoscopique
Stereo Slide Viewer |
 |
Lumiclic
Mono Slide Projector |
Bruguiere Babyclic
Bruguiere also manufactured this extremely rare 'one
eye' slide viewer, the baby of the Stereoclic family, appropriately called
the Babyclic. Slides manufactured for this viewer bore the name Babycolor.
The black lever, visible on the top of the viewer, allowed it to be
focused, giving a bright and detailed image. Exact manufactured date is
not known, but is assumed to be early 1960's.
Although currently unverified, it is thought that the
Bruguiere company was taken over and closed down by Lestrade sometime in
the late 1960's, in order to reduce competition in the 3D viewer
marketplace.
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