Chas J Gaupp of Hong Kong

Posted: January 30th, 2026 | No Comments »

A telescope from Voigtlander & Sohn, a long-established company within the optics and photographic industry, headquartered in Braunschweig, that recently came up for auction. And so a rabbit hole…..! It was originally sold by Chas J Gaupp of Hong Kong, of who more below….

Chas. J Gaupp were a long-established Watch Makers, Opticians, Chronometers & Jewellers in Hong Kong – basically anything optical, lens or such like.

Here’s a great photo of Queens Road Looking West which includes their store and is by the great John Thomson. The building in the foreground is the Victoria Exchange, and next to it is Chas. J. Gaupp & Co (#54-56). The old Oriental Bank building is underneath and behind the trees opposite. The lanterns and decorations were to celebrate the visit to Hong Kong of H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh in 1869.

I believe they had a branch in Singapore too. Around 1904 they moved their store to Chater Road. They also made chronometers, which were especially important prior to the establishment of the Hong Kong Observatory…

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