A S Handicrafts Engraved brass Sundial Clock 5 inches Large Sun dial Compass in Rosewood Case Top Grade Calibrated Vintage Gift Perfect Vintage Gift for him - Unique Gift

This is really a beautiful item. Well worth the money. Great gift idea for Father's day or a birthday.

This is a very attractive thing.However I wanted also to use it as a teaching demo piece. There lies the rub. For in getting to line the style up to the latitude I find the 60 degrees does not agree with the actual angle of the style.And here at 29°30’ North you need actually 60°30’ of tilt.Now with the platen flat you have the style mark at 60°. Which is close, however when you check the angle the style is actually at it is wildly (15°) off. And the wrong way to just make a correction.So actually disassembled the style and tried to ‘fix’ it. Unfortunately I’m not that handy.So cannot return and I’ll need to find another that does work. I guess you get what you pay for.Pretty thing as a display. Will not tell time correctly.

Ordered this as a gift for my brother. He really likes this. He said it will be a good conversation peice to talk about, and it does work.

I’m stunned that this piece is handmade. Careful attention was given to design and detail. It retains the retro antique look. Totally pleased.

Very nice

The media could not be loaded. This stunning sundial compass makes me feel like I'm on a old fashioned sailing ship traveling back in time.I absolutely love the craftsmanship of this with its brass and beautiful wood case etc.My mom agrees that her dad had one like this when he was a pilot on a ship going up and down the St Lawrence River in Quebec Canada.I can imagine Pirates probably used these too LOL. Not to mention her Majesty's Navy or any naval vessel.The workmanship is beautiful. A S Handicrafts or whoever made it really did a good job.I wish I could keep it but my folks of course like it too and I got it for their house because they get to see the bay from their living room. And it goes with the awesome nautical brass bell that I got them the other day and reviewed.Anybody who loves boats, Maritime history, time travel, antiques, sailing, whatever would enjoy this I think as a gift.It has London engraved on one of the brass plates but I'm not sure it's actually made there or if that's part of the reproduction.

Well, I really did not expect much from this "vintage look" compass but nevertheless decided to give it a try just because I'm a big fan of vintage and antique items and a sort of a collector. I like the feel, smell and look of antique things and my home is filled with all sorts of old trinkets. Taking into account that I'm working in the high-tech industry, this feels weird at times, but I guess it's a sort of psycho-therapeutic relief for me that helps me escape from the modern world into old times. Enough of escapades, let's get to the actual review.So, it was packaged in a plain brown box that did not promise much at all. But when I pulled out the wooden box, this feeling changed. The wooden box is very well made, every detail is refined, it feels solid and of high quality. Just look at the photos - it has beautiful wood grain, all sides have reinforcement inserts in all corners just like boxes were made in old times. It has two plaques on the top and front saying "Sun Dial Compass. London" and "Gilbert & Sons. London". And everything would be perfect if the box would not fall apart in my hands when I was inspecting it. The bottom just fell off, the compass dropped on the ground and got scratched and damaged. This was very disappointing and upon closer inspection I can see that the box wasn't properly glued together, and the corner inserts are just for looks, they don't hold the box together. Also, the locks on the box are very loose and do not stay closed, I've seen much better ones.The compass itself is very well made to look as close as possible to an authentic vintage item that was made 100 years ago or so. It's solid brass, polished to perfection and aged with some patina to give it this old, even ancient, look and feel. The compass is functional too - it points to the North as it should. There are some small imperfections here and there on the compass but because this is a handmade product, I wasn't disappointed at all, this is just one side of authenticity - not all pieces are perfectly fit to each other. It's large and heavy and feels "real" in your hands. On the top you will find the markings "Gilbert & Sons. London", "To Her Majesty Royal Navy", and "8 Street Block Walt London 1895". I'm pretty much sure this is an exact copy of the original Gilbert compass. It also has a bubble level built in, which unfortunately is not precise, I have compared it with my own digital level and it's off by about 15 degrees, so don't count on it. The compass has a very interesting arrow lock mechanism, it's a knob that you need to turn clockwise to lock the arrow, and counterclockwise to unlock. It works very well and locks the arrow in the precise position.*** TL;DR ***Sorry, I cannot really recommend this compass as a gift to someone (or yourself). While I do like very much how well the compass is made (except the bubble level), but the box is surprisingly poorly made and greatly diminishes the value and presentation of this item as a collector's item or a gift. I'm taking off two stars for this, it only gets 3 stars from me.+++ Pros+++1) All-brass construction.2) Handmade piece.3) Functional compass!4) Authentic look and feel.5) Attention to every fine detail.6) Very good arrow lock mechanism.--- Cons ---1) Its wooden box is very poorly made.2) Locks of the box do not stay closed.3) The box fell apart in my hands!4) Bobble level on the compass is wrong.

This is a beautiful item that I bought to go with a barometer I bought in England, and they do go together well.AS Handicrafts have done a great job to give a patina look & antique feel to the presentation of this compass. I love the box it came in, and the only issue was the brass plaque inside the lid had a few marks from the installation. Honestly it doesn't take away from the over-all effect of the whole package, but it might bother some...