;)
The Vintage Compass Story
Posted by GuestPoster in Collectibles
These days, if you spend even a few minutes chatting about the vintage compass with seasoned antique collectors and dealers, you’ll get an earful about just how fast the market for old compasses has grown in recent years. In the past decade, the fetching price for an antique compass has literally skyrocketed with little indication that the price is going to drop any time soon.
Like a great deal of the vintage medical and scientific tools that you find these days, compasses and human beings have been working closely for a long time. How else could we sail across the stormy ocean or find our way from one end of the planet to the other? Indeed, you would be hard pressed to think of another tool that has been so critical to human development
It is possible to still acquire a regular old compass. There are lots of outdoors men and women who believe they are essential. After all, they are easy to work with. Yes, reading them requires a bit of learning, but we’ve been doing that for a long time.
Still, most people – and travelers – who have need of direction when they travel have pretty much forsaken the pocket compass. Today, the GPS unit – which is much more sophisticated, has pretty much rendered the traditional means of navigation obsolete.
Still, just because they’re old doesn’t mean that they are forgotten. Far from it in fact! As old compasses have become less and less functional to users, they have become more and more popular with people who appreciate antiques and collectibles. Plenty of collectors are shelling out big bucks for these items – and you might be surprised at what constitutes vintage. The only real issues are the condition of the compass – is it in one solid piece? Does it show its wear and tear?
And the biggest question of all – does it still work?
These vintage compasses have also shown up in other settings as well. Take fashion, for example. You can buy rings and bracelets adorned with old compasses. Your local tattoo parlor can likely offer you some matching compass tattoos.
In the end, that’s not a bad result for a tool that was always pretty special!
;)
;)
