Abstract: The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for determining the distance (h) between a base (1) and a specular surface (2) of an object (3). The method is based on the measurement of the direct reflection of radiation of a first light source (4) by a first detector (5) and the measurement of radiation of a second light source (6), located at least approximately at the location of the first detector (5), by a second detector (7), located at least approximately at the location of the first light source (4), in order then to determine with the known geometry of the setup and the measured values obtained for the angles of appearance (.gamma., .alpha.) of the virtual images of the light sources (4, 6) the position with respect to the base (1) of the specular surface (2) to be measured.