THE DIAMOND SHUTTER
Wm. T. Gregg, 122 Fulton Street, New York 1890-1893
The following historical excerpt comes from noted
collector and historian Jerry Spiegel's description for the example featured
here. I had the pleasure of meeting Jerry, purchasing numerous items from his
collection over several years and learned much from him during the conversations
we had:
"William Theodore Gregg, an optician, came from
Ireland in the early 1840's and established a business in New York City. By 1843 he was advertising optical equipment
including telescopes, surveying instruments, and other photographic goods. He was a contemporary of all the great
American photographic names of that time, including Scovill Mfg. Co., C.C.
Harrison, August Semmendinger and Holmes, Booth & Haydens. Sometime in 1882, due to the retirement or
death of Gregg, the assets of the firm were acquired by W. & D. Mogey, telescope
makers from New Jersey, who continued the business under the Gregg name for
another ten years or so. It's unusual
that after 39 years of activity plus another ten years with Mogey, so few of
Gregg's products survive today, unless the photographic side of the business
was always secondary and low volume. This
example of Gregg's Diamond Shutter, equipped with a 12" lens and a serial
number of 102, was probably marketed immediately following the acquisition. The lens is unmarked, but considering its
age, probably a Rapid Rectilinear. The
dimensions at the shutter are 4" diameter and 1/4" thick at the lens,
2" in diameter and 3-3/4" long.
The glass diameter is about 1-1/2", making this an f8 +/-
lens. Of interest is the fact that there
is no light control provision, Waterhouse or wheelstops and no diaphragm. This lens was wide open at f8 for all work."
Gregg was selling shutters as early as 1886, as seen in
an advertisement in Anthony's
Photographic Bulletin, Volume XVII for that year. The ad mentions new
cameras, lenses and shutters.
Gregg was also marketing shutters in 1887, in an
advertisement in Photographic Mosaics
for that year. The ad mentions "Gregg's Instantaneous Shutter" and
"Time Shutters". These are both
different and believed earlier than the Diamond Shutter, since several Time and
Instantaneous shutters illustrated in Anthony's
The International Annual and Anthony's Photographic Bulletin, Volume I, July,
1888 show them to be totally different designs than the Diamond.
Per the Collection of Historical Scientific
Instruments, Harvard University, the firm was continued by his son
William T. Gregg Jr. Optician, after 1887, the year of his death.
Assuming Harvard's information to be correct, William T.
Gregg (presumed Jr.) was still living in 1901, per a testimonial in Photo Era for January, 1901,
wherein a print had been received from "Wm. T. Gregg" produced from
one of his lenses.
No patents for the Diamond Shutter's design have been found
so far.
Gregg's advertisements state that he marketed the Blair
line, and with that connection, some speculation has arisen as to whether
cameras bearing his name were manufactured by him or by others. Photographic advertisements for Gregg have
been found from 1886-1893, and based upon what's known so far, the Diamond was
probably produced between 1890 and 1893.
This example is marked "Wm. T. Gregg, 102, New
York". Other than one other seen on eBay, having serial number 104 and missing
all of its external mechanism, this is the only example of Gregg's Diamond
Shutter I've ever encountered.
With just two known examples to go by, a brief production
run and both having 3-digit serial numbers, no doubt relatively few were made. Little
is seen today of Wm. T. Gregg's products, and as American shutters go, the
Diamond can be considered very rare.
Wm. T.
Gregg billhead, 1892
From Scovill's The American Annual of Photography and Photographic Times Almanac for 1893....note the diamond-shaped diaphragm