It’s an odd feature of the vintage compass that it tends to attract people who might not otherwise care about old maps, navigation, finding their way through the woods while hiking and so forth. So you end up with vintage compass charms and vintage compass pendants and vintage compass . . . .
You get the idea.
On the one hand, it’s understandable and even deserving of appreciation. After all, old compasses are truly works of art – they hearken back to days when even relatively complicated devices like compasses or sextants were made by hand. You can’t say that today. So there’s a vintage look and feel – and yes, some people are making a statement.
So you end up with something like this. It’s a necklace with a working compass attached – inspired by the latest version of Alice in Wonderland. Not a bad necklace, really. It’s got the requisite brass filigree, a camel velvet ribbon, a bone-colored glass flower, a butterfly charm. What’s not to like?
Or what about this? It’s a vintage compass affixed to a simple ring – nothing fancy, nothing complicated. And it even works – or it’s supposed to anyway.
The vintage compass rose has been a real standout in this area of celebrating compasses for reasons other than the actual compass. It’s considered by many to be a work of art, and it shows up on t-shirts and posters and even tattoos. That’s right. You could be eating dinner at a restaurant, look up, and notice that your waiter has a compass rose – complete with authentic colors – on his bicep.
This is the sort of thing that can infuriate purists. It’s probably safe to say that most collectors of old-fashioned compasses aren’t picking them up and restoring them because they want to create jewelry. They want to honor the men who created these life-saving devices, admire the craftsmanship, muse on who might have held this or that compass and where it took them.
But maybe there’s something to be said for opening up the world of antique compasses. After all, nobody should have a monopoly on how something old should be venerated. Maybe it’s enough that people are paying attention to old compasses and putting them to any use at all.
There’s a bright side, too. The people who fall in love with vintage compasses because they like the necklace or the ring, might find they get pulled in a little deeper than they expected. They might find themselves looking down at the compass and taking note of the direction they face. They might themselves doing a little navigating with friends.
In other words, they might find themselves admiring the compass for itself. And isn’t that a good thing?