Handmade Astrolabe Brass Sextant with Built-in Compass and Hardwood Box – Precision Maritime Navigation Tool

Wonderful replica workmanship and attention to detail e.g., worn areas on the piece that occur over time.I'm a collector of ancient Egyptian antiques, so I know an original when I see one and your replicas come close to giving me that same feeling. I've purchased most of the replicas you offer and I give them to close friends as gifts to those who sail and/or love history and antiquities. I also purchase a duplicate for my collection of replicas that include the working instruments of days gone by.I will continue to purchase your wonderful work so I look forward to other pieces you may be offering in the future.Robert P.Paris, France

If there is a guy who has you stymied for a gift, and they have an office or a man-cave... get this. It's very cool and intriguing. Nice box worthy of display also.

Cómo adornó y tema de conversación excelente

looks good

Absolutely, a great value for the money!!! A+ on workmanship!!!

Its exactly what i hoped for. Its a beautiful item. Great for any gift or decoration

Let me start off by saying I am not an expert in precision navigational tools; however, I do have a scientific background. I bought this piece because it looked cool and since I've been practicing orienteering with a compass and map, I thought it might be interesting to learn how to use a sextant even though using one requires a lot of looking things up in tables and math. So if that bothers you, don't learn how to use a sextant.The item arrived well-packaged and the box it came in is well-made. There was a helpful instruction guide inside but if you really want to know how to use a sextant, you'll need to look elsewhere on the web for details about how to calibrate it (correct perpendicular, side and index errors) and use it.This sextant looks very cool and if you're looking for a steam punk accessory it will definitely do the trick. It's made of solid materials that are weathered somewhat which, in my opinion, only adds to its appeal. That's the reason this has a 3 star review: looks great, made well. But that's also where this goes off the rails in terms of functionality.In the first picture, you can see how the view through the telescope towards the horizon mirror (a necessary part to have work correctly) is misaligned. The bezel around the horizon mirror is right in the middle of your view through the telescope, obstructing the basic function of a sextant. If the horizon mirror was bigger, moved up slightly on the frame or rectangular this wouldn't be an issue. Secondly, when I received it, the Index Mirror (picture 2) was misaligned (not a huge surprise). This "perpendicular error" can normally be corrected in a functional sextant by adjusting a screw on the index mirror. But in this product, there are three copper fingers that I think are holding the mirror in place that do nothing in regards to adjusting the mirror. They also obstruct the light from anything you're tracking with the index mirror (a star or the sun). So, I think they're just decoration. They do look cool though. Lastly, as shown in figure 3, this bent screw is supposed to be a Vernier scale and a micrometer. In this product, this is just a bent screw and doesn't do anything as far as I can tell. The whole purpose of the micrometer is to make super-fine adjustments to give you super accurate readings on the sextant - but that's not happening with this one as far as I can see. One more thing... the manufacturer put a compass in the center of the sextant (not something you usually find on a sextant) and that required them to move the handle that you hold to be attached to a different point on the frame where it's uncomfortable if you're holding it for more than 5 minutes. The compass does add to its overall cool look and feel, but it's not helpful from a functionality perspective.So, again, I liked this product for its look but it's not functional as delivered/designed. If you want a decoration that looks the part, this is for you. If you're looking for a functional sextant, I would suggest the Davis Instruments Mark 25 (or similar) which is only like $62. It doesn't look as cool as this one but actually works. I guess I would give this product a recommendation to buy for its aesthetic value alone.