The Online Compass Museum displays its own collection of some 100
different wrist compasses from many countries (USA,
Great-Britain,
France, Germany, USSR, Japan, Finland etc.), made for civilian or
military
use on land or under water. Pin-on lapel compasses are also displayed
here because of the very low quantity and variety.
In addition, you can see some photographs sent by friendly visitors.
Pict.
at right: a part
of our collection
- A -
Manufacturer not identified - Probably one of the very
first wrist compasses ever made
(late 19th C. ?).
The compass card's design is identical with typical ships' compasses.
The compass card features 64 divisions, a number also used on military
compasses to assess distances (see MISCELLANEOUS / Divisions).
In reality, it is a russian-made photographical reduction of a ship's
compass card and the casing is identical to the
Semionova
instrument.
 |
 |
Technical
Data
- Diameter: 41 mm
- Depth: 12 mm
- Weight: 30 gr
- Divisions: 64 rumbs, main and semi cardinals abbreviated, North:
fleur-de-lis (heraldic lily).
- Sighting system: rifle-type
- Transit lock: side (screw head) |
ADRIANOVA
(Adrianoff's compass)
Description: This compass type was developed in 1907 by the Russian
cartographer
Vladimir
Nikolaevich ADRIANOFF (b. Feb.
22, 1875 in St-Petersburg - d.
August 24, 1938
in Ostashkov).
This item is identical with the
Russian
AURKKA and
ZUP
models but it was
only used in Bulgaria and in
the former Yugoslavia, in the regions writing in cyrillic letters, i.e.
Serbia. The only difference with the Russian version is the letter used
for the cardinal point
EAST (located underneath the figure 450 mils and between 75 and 105
degrees) and which stands for the word
изток
(pronounce
iztok)
in the Bulgarian and
Serbo-croatian languages while it is
восток
(pronounce
vostok,
abbreviated B) in Russian. It was also officially called
Adrianoff's
compass
(Adrijanova busola) in the Yugoslav Army's manuals. A similar compass
type was also manufactured for a short
period in the former communist
East-Germany by ASKANIA (see below).
Picture
at right: Red
Army Training Manual (
Компас
Адрианова)
Adrianoff
invented and patented the design of the compass in the 2nd row in 1907.
A version compliant with the
patent was built (later?) at least in Norway and it also appears in a
BUSCH
catalogue (no. 3350) but
it can't easily be used as a wrist compass.
There was also a version with a floating
card signed SEMIONOVA. |
|
Technical
Data
- Diameter: 50 mm
- Depth: 20 mm
- Weight: 60 gr
- Divisions:
. 360 degrees clockwise (inner scale)
. 6000 mils counter-clockwise (outer scale)
Pict. at left: Description of the compass
in the Yugoslav Army's manual
(Photocopies
can
be ordered) |
Adrianoff's
patent
1907, British issue
(Complete
version can be
ordered):
|
Red Army
Training Manual
(Click on image for full
descr. in Russian)
|
Norwegian
version:
For technical data go to BUSCH
(no. 3350)
|
PROFILE - former U.S. manufacturer (more information
HERE).
See also Pocket and Nautical compasses.
LAPEL
COMPASS
The compass rose inscriptions appear larger through the
magnifying glass
|
(Click for
enlarged views)
|
Technical
Data
- Diameter: 30 mm
- Depth (case): 20 mm
- Weight: 20 gr
- Divisions: Letter for E, S and W cardinals, large
arrow head of self luminescent paint for North.
|
 Technical
Data
- Diam. : 1 3/16" (30 mm)
|
PROFILE - ASKANIA is a German manufacturer (more information
HERE).
This compass is the East-German post WWII version of the Soviet-Union
made
ZUP
and AURKKA
(see below) compasses. This one
was built in the early '50s by VEB ASKANIA (East-Berlin). The
360
deg. division shows that it is a civilian version.
See also BAMBERG in the cat. AERONAUTICAL Compasses and ASKANIA in
MARCHING and SURVEY compasses.
(Click
for
detailed view of dial) |
(View of reverse side) |
Technical
Data
- Diameter: 53 mm
- Depth: 20 mm
- Weight: 37 gr
- Divisions: 360 degrees clockwise
- Material: Bakelite case, leather strap
- Crown with rifle-type aiming device and screw activated lock
|
PROFILE - Nothing is known about this company. This compass was made
in
Japan*
but another object (a
collapsible cup like the one we display
in OTHER COMPASSES) signed ATCO and displayed by the former Boreal
Arrow
website was made
in Germany.
Picture
by
courtesy
of
oldmillenium |
Technical
Data
- Diameter: .. mm
- Depth: .. mm
- Weight: gr
- Divisions: 360 degrees clockwise
* see examples of other compasses via this link |
PROFILE - ADRIANOFF-type compass made by
Masterskye
Artilleriskoye Upravlenye
Raboche-Krestianskoy
Krasnoy Army / Workshops of
the Artillery's Administration
of the
Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
Same construction as the
ZUP
and ADRIANOVA compass.
 |
Technical
Data
Model name ADRIANOVA
- diameter: 50 mm
- Depth: 20 mm
- Weight: 60 gr
- Divisions:
. 360 degrees clockwise (inner scale)
. 6000 mils counterclockwise (outer scale)
- Date (at case underside) : 1940
Illustration at right
courtesy Topographical Orienteering with Map |
 |
- B -
PROFILE - Francis Barker & Son was a British
manufacturer (more information
HERE
and in our LINKS)
See also Marching, Escape, Pocket, Nautical and Survey compasses.
|
 |
Technical
data
- Diameter: 40 mm
- Depth (closed): 22 mm
- Weight: 75 gr
The crystal is protected by a leather cap and on the magnetic needle's
North mark, the luminous product (tritium) is in a glass tube. |
R.G.S.
- The
design of the dial on the compass below is referred to as the
R.G.S. pattern in some catalogues published in the early 20th c. Barker
tried indeed twice to register this design
under the name
Royal
Geographical Society but this
project was rejected (5th
sept. 1903, number 416643 and
416644).
Barker only used the abbreviation R.G.S. for no.
416645 without further explanation.
|
The British National Archives (South-West London) gave the following
information:
The design no. 416645 was published on page 1318 of the Official
Journal of patents dated 30th September 1903, covering designs
registered in the week ending 17th September 1903. The owners were
Francis Barker & Son, of 12 Clerkenwell Rd, London WC. The
material class was Class I, covering metals. |
Radium wristlet compass (Barker catalog 1926)
Technical data
- Diameter: 37 mm
- Depth: 11 mm
- Marking: Reg. No. 416645 (see left)
|
The following compass was built during the 50's and issued to the
British troops. It was used during the Korea war and the Suez Canal
expedition
(1956). Its lack of precision lead the Military to use instead their
classical hand-held marching compass (see Barker and Stanley).
Moreover, its high radioactivity was the reason why it was no longer
used.
(Click
on the picture for
an enlarged view) |
 
View closed and back |
Technical data
- Strap: fabric
- Case: brass
- Diameter: 38 mm
- Depth: 17 mm
- Weight: 45 gr
- Manufacturer: The letter B at the end of the ser. number indicates
that
this instrument was made by F. Barker & Son and /56 is the
production year (1956)
According to the RAF Stores numbering system (Book 7) the ref. 6B
stands for "Instruments" |
PROFILE - Abbrev. for Bianchetti Electronique Nautique. French
manufacturer (more information
HERE).
BEN Marine is now a division of AMESYS.
BEN built wrist compasses, among others this one
resembling the
LEMAIRE
model used by
the French Navy's Special Forces during the 1st Vietnam war (1946-1954)
and the Algerian independance war
(1957-1962).
The black-and-white picture shows a French soldier wearing an original
compass in Algeria. This compass combines the characteristic features
of the white Czech KADLEC AK39 (sight elements on a crown without
divisions, white line on glass) and the lateral screw-operated locking
device of the crown like on british compasses (see T.G. Co. Ltd, Barker
etc.).
NOTE: The strap material is called a PoRoMeRic. (cf. WIKIPEDIA
definition:
Sometimes
referred to as poromerics, poromeric imitation
leathers are a group of synthetic 'breathable' leather substitutes made
from a plastic coating (usually a polyurethane) on a fibrous base layer
(typically a polyester). The name poromeric
was coined by DuPont as a
derivative of the terms microporous and polymeric. The first poromeric
material was DuPont's ill-fated Corfam introduced in 1963 at the
Chicago Shoe Show.).
PROFILE - see special chapter
THE
BÉZARD COMPASS.
FLUID Bézard wrist compass - Model "Bw"
(Bundeswehr - Armed Forces of Federal Germany)
Click
on picture for
enlarged view
(Pictures: copyright Ted Brink - CollectingMilitaryCompasses.tk) |
Box with Nato Stock Number (NSN)
|
Technical
Data
- Diameter: 56 mm
- Weight: 35 gr
- Divisions: 360 degrees clockwise
- Date: June 1971 |
- C -
PROFILE - Captain Louis Wentworth Pakington Chetwynd (b. 15
December 1866, d. 18 April 1914, read more details in the section
Nautical
Compasses) patented this compass that could be lit
at night by means of a small lamp that fitted into a tube on the
lefthand side.
See also Marching and Nautical compasses and also WBT.
(Click
on picture above for
enlarged
view)
Click HERE
to view the patent.
|
Captain CHETWYND's marking
Patent no. 25965/06
|
View lit through the side opening
Technical data
- Strap: leather
- Case: brass
- Diameter (body): 70 mm
- Depth: 23 mm
- Weight: 225 gr
|
PROFILE -
Ch-Ch-Z
are the initials of the Russian watch maker
Chistopolsky Chasovoy
Zawod (i.e.
Chistopol Watch Company, name in cyrillic: see Instructions below).
The city
Chistopol
is located on the river Volga in the Republic
of Tatarstan (Capital: Kasan).
PROFILE - Former French company successor of
HOULLIOT
located in
the Marais district
in Paris (more information
HERE).
See also Pocket and Survey compasses and also Sundials.
(Click
on the
pictures for
detailed views) |
C-H catalogue for the years 1960-70
|
Technical Data
Dia.: 30mm
Strap length: 200mm
This model was available with and w/o luminos markings
|
PROFILE - Captain Frank Osborne Creagh-Osborne, Royal Navy (1867/1943)
was
Superintendent of Compasses with the Admiralty and a British
inventor (s. his portrait
HERE). He
patented several versions of this system (see
below):
His compasses were manufactured by H. Hughes & Son Ltd (59,
Fenchurch Street London), Dent & Co, & Johnson Ltd.
and by Sperry Gyroscopes.
See also the categories Marching
and Aeronautical compasses.
Serial No. 4803
(Click
on the picture ABOVE
for an enlarged view)
Sighting aid and prism |
Hand-held version
(see Marching compasses)
(excerpt out of the manual
The
Prismatic
Compass) |
Technical
data
- Strap: leather
- Case: brass
- Diameter: 65 mm
- Depth: 28 mm
- Weight: 250 gr
Fig.
published in the patent no. 1148/15
(12
p., copies
available)
|
- D -
PROFILE - DACOR was a US company founded in 1954 by a former
Marine
soldier called Sam DAVISON. DACOR is an acronym built with the first
syllable of his name DAvison and CORporation. It was consecutively
located in Evanston, Illinois, in 1954, then in Skokie, Illinois (about
1965) and at last in Northfield, Illinois.
It was bought by the Italian MARES (diving gear) in the early 2000's.
(Photos
: copyright J.
GRÉPINET,
see LINKS, DIVER COMPASSES) |
 |
Technical
data
- Diameter (glass capsule): 30 mm
- Depth (glass + basis): 35 mm
- Weight: 70 gr
- Manufactured (approx.): 1970's |
PROFILE - DINSMORE is a U.S. company located in Flint,
Michigan. It was founded in 1927 (tbc) by
Clarence B. "Dinny" DINSMORE. His son Robert C. (born Dec. 22, 1919 -
died Dec. 15,
2009) continued but sold the rights in 2001 to the 'The Robson Company'
(TRC).
Dinsmore was the world's first maker of car
compasses and has had approx. eighty years of experience, and many
patents for the correction of vehicle caused anomalies in compass
readings. Dinsmore has designed and manufactured compasses for special
uses as well as aircraft, mariners and vehicular compasses.
See also R. C. Dinsmore's
obituary.
However, we were told the following story by the current owner of the
plant, Mr. Bruce Blevis:
"I believe that Dinny worked for Albert Champion, founder of AC Spark
Plug and Champion plugs back in the 1920’s. There
was a
company in the East trying to work their way into the automobile gage
business, which Mr. Champion had a corner on the market because the
center of automobiles was in the Flint and Detroit areas in the
1920’s. This other company specialized in aircraft
gages. So Albert asked Dinny to design a compass that would
work
in any position. When Dinny brought the compass to Albert,
Albert
sent it to the competitor and said "
if
you don’t stop
making auto gages I will market this compass which can be used in
airplanes".
They withdrew from the auto market. Albert having won his
battle
had no use for the compass so he gave the rights to Dinny, who patented
them and started the Dinsmore Instrument Company."
Dinsmore
Wrist compass |
 |
Technical
data
- Diameter: 30 mm
- Depth: 11 mm
- Manufactured (approx.): 19..0's |
The museum only
displays vintage divers' compasses. To see them pls. go
to
BEN,
FPM,
Hand,
Heinke,
KNM
(KHM),
Mikrotechna,
Nemrod,
NVA
(former East German Army),
Panerai,
Scubapro,
Spirotechnique,
Steward,
Taylor,
Triton,
Waltham,
Wilkie,
... (to be
cont'd).
A very special device is the navigation board used
by the
Underwater
Demolition Teams (UDTs - Navy
Seals) or the Royal Navy's
Special
Boat Service
(SBS) which
consists of an instrument panel held by the team leader in front of
him while advancing. The other team members follow him holding a
buddy line. The system designed by Franz Rothbrust and built by the
German compass manufacturer LUDOLPH (
see pic at right
-
click for enlarged view)
has many advantages upon the
standard NATO system: it is about half as large and features in
addition a mirror above the aircraft FK 16 compass (ask for full
description in English - pdf).
Examples of navigation boards used by the French Army's divers
(Armée de Terre) on the website
Collection of diver compasses, boards
and other
instruments.
PROFILE - British instruments manufacturer and retailer, now
D&A, Dollond & Aitchison (more information
HERE).
Pilot compass with extra long strap. Disk design: "Service Pattern".
Compare with Steward
S.a. Marching compasses.
|
Click
for enlarged view
|
Technical
Data
- Dia. (casing): 42 mm
- Thickness (overall): 17 mm
- Production period: WW2?
Manufacturer marking: DOLLOND LONDON
|
PROFILE - DOXA was a Swiss clock
manufacturer.
From the 1960s on, the brand was used by a Japanese company for
numerous wrist and pocket compasses.
This compass appears in a
MITSUI
catalogue together with several other compasses.
Picture
at
right: railroad driver watch late 19th C.
 |
Technical
Data
- Diameter: 35 mm
- Production year: approx. 1960
See also Japanese pocket compasses
|
(Click
on the pictures for enlarged views) |
Technical
Data
The museum only
displays vintage divers' compasses. To see them pls. go
to BEN,
FPM,
Hand,
Heinke,
KNM
(KHM), Mikrotechna,
Nemrod,
NVA
(former East German Army),
Panerai,
Scubapro,
Spirotechnique,
Steward,
Taylor,
Triton,
Waltham,
Wilkie,
... (to be
cont'd).
