If you are investing in a vernier caliper, by all means buy a quality product such as the
Swiss-made Brown & Sharpe vernier caliper shown here. 
Brown & Sharpe Model no. 599-577-1 (6" range) ... $329.00 order now Upper scale is metric (0,05 mm) and lower scale is imperial (.001"). The range is 6" or 150 mm. Stainless steel. Accuracy is ± .001" as with all calipers. Comes in a form-fitted hard plastic box and the manufacturer's certificate of calibration. The lines and numbers on this caliper are lightly, but distinctly engraved into the metal. They are not printed on the surface like so many other calipers. If you're a novice: once you get the hang of it, vernier calipers are easy as pie to read and there are no gears, dials or pinions to malfunction. They'll probably never need to be repaired. If you're unsure how to read the vernier, ask someone to show you. That's the best way to learn. To sum things up: we would rather have one vernier caliper than a dozen dial calipers. These are the ones we use in our own shop and they haven't let us down in 50 years! If you're a pro: no sales pitch needed. If you're concerned about parallax errors, you may want to consider the Etalon vernier caliper shown on page 106 (available in metric only). Parallax refers to the minute reading errors which may occur because there is a slight gap between the movable vernier and the scale on the beam. With careful head-on readings, parallax errors will not be a problem on these Swiss-made vernier calipers.
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