WRIST AND PIN-ON COMPASSES (cont'd)

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- E -

ESCHENBACH

PROFILE - German company located in Nuremberg (more information HERE). The compasses were made by WILKIE.
See also Marching and Pocket compasses.

Light compass for hikers


Description (German 1986 catalog)

Click on images for enlarged views		 Wrist compass for hikers, skiers and divers
 


Description (German 1986 catalog)
 Techn. Data 6570
.......

 Techn. Data 6576
- Dia.: 50 mm / 2"
- Fluid dampened needle
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- F -

FEE & STEMWEDEL

PROFILE - Former US manufacturer located in Chicago (more information HERE).
US KOREAN WAR WRIST COMPASS MODEL 1949 (compare with WALTHAM).






(Photos courtesy Ebay vendor
sellingallmystuff2day)
Technical Data
- Diameter: 40 mm
- Depth: 10 mm
- Manufactured: 3-53
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FPM Holding - Freiberger Präzisionsmechanik

PROFILE - German company (for more information click HERE).


Compare with drawing in User Instruct.
Click on images for enlarged views

The design is a mix of KADLEC's various AK39 models.

Ad published in a specialized review		 Water sport compass

Technical Data
- Diameter: 60mm
- Thickness: 20mm
- Weight: 70gr
- Divisions: 360 degrees by 5, clockwise
- Fluid dampened
- Manufactured: 1960's (?)
- According to the User Instruction (facsimile copy  available), the markings were luminised.

Divers compass
Models SPORT 10 and 11 		 Technical Data
- Diameter: 55mm
- Thickness: 20mm
- Weight: 41gr
- Divisions: 360 degrees by 5, clockwise
- Manufactured: 1970's and 80's
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- G -

GEODESIA (Геодезия in cyrillic lettters).

PROFILE - Company in the former Soviet Union. Originally - the military workshops for the manufacture and repair of survey instruments in Saint Petersburg*, created in 1918, evacuated to Tashkent factory, dubbed Geodezia (Surveying), was transferred to Moscow in 1923 and became a factory. In 1941 the plant was evacuated to Sverdlovsk, where in 1949 it changed its production of radar equipment and renamed plant "Vector" (BEKTOP).
* военные мастерские по изготовлению и ремонту геодезических инструментов в Санкт-Петербурге
See list of logos of soviet optics manufacturers on the website Zenit.
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GUGK (ГYГK in cyrillic letters)

PROFILE -This abbreviation appears on the crystal together with a flower (edelweiss?) and on the back. GUGK (Glavnoe Upravlenie Geodesii i Kartografi) was the name of the Survey authorities in the former USSR. Because of the similarities between the two languages, we assume that the Bulgarian authority had the same abbreviation. On the back of the casing appears the name of the manufacturer (transcription): Kartno Geopriborna Fabrika Sofia, i.e. "Company for Maps and Geographical Instruments of Sofia".
We display anothercomparable compass made by the French manufacturer LEMAIRE and we know of a further one belonging to the Polish Foundation Kosciuszki's collection. Both were produced directly by the Swedish company SILVA or on the base of their patents.





(Click on pictures for enlarged views)
Technical Data
- Diameter: 51 mm
- Depth: 13 mm
- Weight: 37 gr
- Manufactured: 1950's ?
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- H -

HAND

PROFILE - John E. Hand & Sons was a U.S. compass manufacturer (more information HERE).
Besides ship compasses this company also built wrist compasses for Navy and Airforce soldiers, especially the following wrist compasses developed for the Navy in the 50's and 60's and utilized by the UDT (Underwater Demolition Teams).

THE MUSEUM DISPLAYS PICTURES OF A COMPASS type Mk 1 Mod 0 (production years:1950's) PREVIOUSLY SHOWN ON THE NOW NO LONGER AVAILABLE  BILLY SCHORR's WEBSITE. This compass type was replaced by Model 1 in which Tritium instead of Radium was used.

Mk 1 Mod 0 (1954)



(Pictures Billy Schorr)

Marking (pict. at right):
U.S.N. BU SHIPS
(US-Navy Bureau of Ships )
 Technical Data
- Diameter: ... mm
- Depth: ... mm
- Weight: ... gr
- Divisions: 360 deg. on the outer rim
Mk 1 Mod 1 (date: 2/65)



(Click on pictures for detailed views)		 Technical Data
- Diameter: 47 mm
- Depth: 30 mm
- Weight: 72 gr
- Divisions: 360 deg.

The warning (radioactivity symbol) is indicated also on the side.

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HEINKE

PROFILE - Charles Edwin HEINKE (b. Sept. 4, 1818 - d. in 1869) was a submarine engineer and the son of a Prussian immigrant. His company C. E. HEINKE & Co. Ltd produced divers' materiel.  The company was created in 1844 and was eventually acquired by SIEBE GORMAN & Co. in 1961.
(For more information, visit the following website: HEINKEKERN.)

This compass was most probably built for HEINKE by a compassmaker...

(Click on picture at left for enlarged view)		 Technical Data
- Diameter: 63 mm / 2-1/2 inch
- Depth: 24 mm / 1 inch
- Weight: 155 g
- Graduation: 360°
- Manufactured: 1950's?
- Radium paint dots on the card at North and on the cover glass togeter with a black dash (located at 270 deg. on the picture at left)
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Huntsman compasses

In this 1954 STOEGER's catalog several compasses were offered for the huntsman.
For details go to:
- The WRIST compass
- The HUNTSMAN
- The SCOUT and the RANGER 
- The LEUPOLD SPORTSMAN

See also next item called INDIC.
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- I -

INDIC

PROFILE - Model name of a compass made by the Canadian company SCOS Ltd. We only know of this instrument via this 10 pages flyer. According to the user instruction it was to be carried around the waist and ensured an easy way back home after a trip in the woods.




(Click on images for enlarged views)



Technical data
- Dia.: ? mm
- Height: ? mm
- Weight: ? g
- Date on flyer: Aug. 1975
- Manufacturer:


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- J -

JAPAN

PROFILE - NO INFO MOMENTARILY AVAILABLE concerning the antique and WWII items.
Some small-size compasses were attached to wrist-watch straps. Sometimes lugs were soldered to the case but the latter could also be made of a single sheet of aluminum (see pic. at right).
Picture courtesy milcollec - click on image for view of compass alone




Click on the images for enlarged views

 Technical Data
- Diameter: 21 mm
- Depth: 6 mm
- Weight: 8 gr
- Divisions: No figures, only 4 cardinal points (in white paint) and 12 rhumbs (in black paint). For a detailed description of the 12 other signs, go to Religion/China.
- No transit lock

Japanese wrist compass with rotating crystal (bezel)

Technical Data
- Diameter: 30 mm
- Depth: 9 mm
- Weight: 10 gr
- Divisions: 360 degrees by 2, clockwise
- Needle transit locking: by turning the crown
- Engraving on back: "Hold the compass horizontally for correct reading" 


WW II officers compass

(Click on picture above
for enlarged view)

Technical Data
- Diameter: 34 mm
- Depth: 12 mm
- Weight: 25 g
- Divisions: 360 deg. by 5, clockwise
- Needle transit locking: side lever
- Marching direction arrow painted under the crystal (bezel)
- Luminous markings: radium paint

Existed also with English cardinals. We have such an item with a name engraved by hand on back (link to pic.) : Cabillis Guillaume

(Click on images for enlarged views)
Technical Data
- Strap: leather, narrow at center (17 mm), broad at both ends (22 mm)
- Capsule: aluminum in brass case
- Dia.: 33 mm
- Thickness: 10 mm
- Gradation: 360° clockwise on three black scales (figures and divisions), radium markings (US version only)

After WW2, the Japanese industry exported many small compasses in the whole world and many European and U.S. manufacturers had their instruments made in Japan. We have catalogues dating back to the early 1960's from a company called TOKYO COMPASS MFG. Co., Ltd. JAPAN which seems to have been taken over by the vast MITSUI & CO., LTD. retailer located no. 2,1-CHOME SHIBATAMURA-CHO, MINATO-KU in Tokyo, Japan. 
Famous designs like Taylor's and famous names like DOXA were taken over and can be recognized in the catalogue.
See also jap. pocket compasses.

Tokyo Compass Mfg. and MITSUI catalogue pages for wrist compasses



See also ATCO
 Model name: Pathfinder



(Click on the pictures
for enlarged views) 		Probably made in the 50's or 60's. The black and white dial looks like the famous SINGER's pattern but the dividing line is on a NE-SW axis tilted by 45° and the southern half is dark!

Technical Data
- Diameter: 38 mm
- Divisions: 360° every 5, clockwise
- Transit lock: side lever
- Luminous markings
NESCO
Fancy wrist strap


 Rotating compass card
  		DOXA   (no. 218)

 Conventional luminous markings (no mfr. name - retailer in the U.S.: SEARS)
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- K -

KADLEC (Instrumentenfabrik Prag) - jlr / lhx-

PROFILE: Kadlec was a German instruments manufacturer located in Prague (former Czechoslovakia, now Czechia) until the end of WW II.
A manufacturer of marine instruments still exists in Germany today. So far, this company didn't answer our questions concerning its history. We presume that is was re-founded in the West after the communist regime took over the industry's management.
Unnamed Czech plants (code lhx or sbe) most probably manufactured after WWII the other compass type displayed further below.

Model AK 39 / LK 10
There were two versions of the AK 39 compass: a simple black one and a white one with sighting aids. The abbreviation AK means Armband-Kompass (wrist compass) and the figure 39 probably the design year: 1939. The abbreviation LK probably means Luftfahrer-Kompass (aviator's compass) and the figure 10 could be the manufaturer's catalogue reference. Since there were other aeronautical compasses, this designation was adapted to the official Luftwaffe wording: like FK for Führer-Kompass (pilot's compass) or OK for Orterkompass (observer/navigator compass, see Aircraft compasses, ASKANIA, LUDOLPH).
They were utilized by German pilots during WWII. The black model (procurement no. Fl 23235 - see note below) featured only a lubber's line (that used to be luminous). The white model (Fl 23235-1) allowed the setting of a course by means of two white rotating semi-circular sheets located at the underside. Moreover, rifle-type sighting aids allowed the taking of a bearing (on the ground if downed).
Note: The letters Fl are the abbreviation for Fliegermaterial i.e. aeronautical materiel.
Click on images below for enlarged views


The company's name
KADLEC Instrumentenfabrik Prag
is not indicated on the card of some items.

Below: the later modified version

NOTE: Some items are marked LK 10 instead of AK 39. Others feature the confidential manufacturer's code used in Germany during WWII: jlr
(pic. court. Z. Brotesser).		 Technical Data
- Diameter: 62 mm
- Depth: 20 mm
- Weight: 80 gr

Inscriptions on the obverse:
- Armbandkompass (wrist-top compass)
- Bauart (manufacturer): Kadlec
- Baumuster (item type): AK 39 (or LK 10)
- Werk-Nr. (Serial no.): xxxxx
- Anforderungszeichen (Procurement no.): Fl 23235

<== See also note at left (click on the links for pictures)

Taking a bearing with the rifle-type sights:


Some items had RED sighting aids, commissioned already in 1943
 (see picture: markings on box)


View from below with the two white adjustable marching course half-disks (User Instructions available - identical system signe FPM).

Technical Data
- Dim.: see above
- ref.: Fl 23235-1

NOTE: This instr. was also in FPM's programme in the 1960's.
(Picture courtesy Peter Miles)
Special inscription on the items without the manufacturer's name:
- V-Muster = Verbrauchsmuster (non maintainable)

Additionally, a (production?) date was indicated: E.g.: 7. VI. 1943 (June 7, 1943)
Elle se portait au poignet droit, le cas échéant avec une prolongation du bracelet (photo ci-dessous) à cause de l'épaisseur de la combinaison de vol ou bien attachée au gilet de sauvetage.


Photograph published by the Reichsluftfahrtsministerium and probably used for training purposes.

Compass manufactured after WWII
It existed also in two versions:
- a civilian model with only a 360 deg. graduation without cardinal points letters
- a military model with double graduation (360 deg. clockwise, white figures, and 6000 mils., counterclockwise, red figures) and cardinal points in Czech language: triangle for North, V, J, Z (see MISCELLANEOUS, Cardinal Points).



(Click on the picture for an enlarged view)

Compass card with 360 deg. divisions and a semi-circular scale : 9h-3h. This is a gross sundial: compare with the HELIOS system.

Taking a bearing with the rifle-type sight



Red scale at the underside with the industrial codes lhx (top, left pic.) and sbe.		 Technical Data
- Diameter: 48 mm
- Depth: 20 mm
- Weight (with band): 30 gr
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KIPZ (КИПЗ in cyrillic letters)

PROFILE: KATAV-IVANOVSK INSTRUMENT-MAKING PLANT, JSC ( Катав-Ивановский приборостроительный завод ) is a Russian manufacturer located in Katav-Ivanovsk, 456110 Chelyabinskaya oblast, Katav-Ivanovsk, ul. Karavaeva 45 and producing a large scope of nautical and wrist compasses, especially the models for divers KM40, KM40-H (see East-Germany's UDT NVA) and KM40-H1 (see pic. at right). Visit their website (in Russian and Engl.).
Note: The russian letter "H"  is a latin "N".

KNM (KHM in cyrillic letters)

PROFILE: (company of the former Soviet Union)
The letters KNM stand for the three Russian words Compass, naruchny, magnetny (i.e. compass, wrist, magnetic).

The compass (Fig. 51) is used to work out direction under water. It can also be used on the surface during the day or night.

(Following adapted description by courtesy of Kim - see his website Russian Diving)

The KNM (KHM in cyrillic letters) compass consists of the three main parts: body (4), card (3) and base (7). The compass body is a truncated cone made of transparent plastic. The bottom part of the cone is joined to the base. A scale (8) is engraved on the side surface of the body. There is 10 deg. between marks and 30 deg. between digits. Two hands are engraved on top of the body parallel to the lubber's line 0 – 180 deg. Two trackers are installed there as well: subject tracker (9) and eye tracker (2). In the middle of the base a column with a pin is fixed. The compass card rests on it. The compass card is made of the same plastic as the body. The card has two magnets placed parallel to each other. A hand is engraved on top of the card. Marks, hands, trackers on the compass body and hands on the card are covered with fluorescent paint that make it possible to use the compass in darkness.

To minimise card pressure, pin friction and stop it vibrating, the body of the compass is filled with 50% glycol solution or 43% ethanol solution. However, there is still a small air bubble left (diameter 8–10 mm). The bubble is necessary to stop pressure mounting in the body when the liquid expands. It also shows the horizontal position of the compass. When the compass is in horizontal position, the bubble is inside the circle (1) that is drawn on the compass body.
The compass base is an aluminium ring that encircles the body. There is an index (6) on the base and two bars (5) used to attach the strap. The strap is used to secure the compass on a diver’s wrist. The body of the compass can be easily turned in the base so that any bearing can be aligned with the index. Such alignment is useful so that a diver does not have to remember a set direction under water.

To move under water or on land according to the set azimuth, its corresponding mark needs to be aligned with the index on the base. The compass needs to be in horizontal position and needs to be rotated in an horizontal plane until the card hands are parallel to the body hands. The direction of the movement is decided from the index on the base.

Magnetic wrist compass for divers



(Click on image for an enlarged view
together with the metallic container)

Users' instructions		 Fig. 51 - Wrist magnetic compass:
1 – circle to establish compass’ horizontal position
2 – eye tracker
3 – card
4 – body
5 – bars for the strap
6 – index
7 – base
8 – scale
9 – object tracker

 Technical Data
- Diameter: base 70 mm, crown rim 55 mm
- Depth: 35 mm
- Weight: 165 gr
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CONT'D