Abstract: A damper is for damping the pendular movements of instruments or an instrument casing, including an electrically conductive anchor plate and a casing, the casing and the anchor plate being rotatable relative to each other, and either the anchor plate or the casing being supported on an axle. The casing is provided with at least one magnet and this in such a way that: at one pole, the magnet is provided with a backing plate constituted by a ferrite-containing material, and the magnet and the backing plate constitute a magnet system. The magnet system faces the anchor plate with at least one pole. A method is for using such a damper.