Old Compass

[susan hemmings]

Yours certainly looks old and (excuse this) dated in comparison to the replicas which seem to have silver metal casings.  Is it on the heavy side?  I only ask as if it is true brass it may be heavier than a "brass metal" lookalike (and I suspect the glass will be thicker.)  Then again there are some clever people who are able to replicate objects to look and feel just like an original, Darn..

Oh, I do wish an expert could  tell us.

[AntoR22]

Hi Susan
As it happens theres a gram scales in the house .. God knows why ??
Mine weighs 69.5 grams and ad for reproduction says its 65 so mine fraction heavier ?
Glass looks pretty thick the biggest difference i think is the back even not counting the crest the reproduction looks like one flat piece metal where mine has a sorta insert centre to it ??..

Anthony

[susan hemmings]

Oh yes.  I see what you mean.  And the weight (I would think) is a giveaway.

I wonder if you could find a forum for mariners compass' - then post a picture. 

Worth a go.

Susan

[youngtug]

Most of the replicas are made of brass, it is not a precious metal, although fairly expensive. Some I have seen have phillips head screws, that a dead give away.I would also have expected the box to have jointed corners, most likely dovetail joints. The modern ones tend to have mitred corners. It may not be the original box.

[John915]

Good evening,

You are correct Anthony, it didn't have a needle as it's a floating dial. Susan's link brings up a good point, the one near the end which is practically identical to yours. The description says the small arrow points to true north and the N to Magnetic north. This gives it a positive variation ie; to the east of true north.

In england we have a negative variation, as at May 2013, 1 deg 38 mins west in London. So the compass was not for use in this part of the world, but probably the Pacific coast of the USA. Or that ocean at least, the variation in the US goes from roughly 13 deg west on the east coast to 13 deg east on the west coast.

I have searched online for a table of variations over the years but no luck.

John915

[AntoR22]

Hi John .. Thanks for that information it looks as though this compass has seen a bit of the world and it seems a science of its own working out variations ..
It could be a copy but it feels old,,,, hard to explain that... There is no screws on it anywhere the ring at the top screws in , I'm not quite sure how it was put together maybe inset at back screws in ?? or glass was put in last ??
I suspected box was not original its got mitred joints and too good a condition...

Many Thanks  Anthony

[Mike in Cumbria]

Hi All..
....no manufacturer's name on it just an anchor crest So far I'v reckoned that its either French, Spanish, Portugeese, or Italian ...

The "fouled anchor" symbol would certainly suggest the British navy.