• size: diameter 10 cm, height 6 cm,
  
  
• designed in brass and wood
  
  
• compass is fully functional
  
  

The Cardan suspension allows the rotation of an object in multiple dimensions. Usually it is made up of a series of rings (two rings on this instrument), one inside the other. Rings are mounted on two or threee axis (depending on the instrument) in a way which enables them to twist and turn freely.

A three-axis Cardan suspension allows an object mounted on it to remain in a horizontal plane, regardless of the motion of its support.  A ship's magnetic compass mounted in this way was free of disturbance by waves.

Cardan suspension appeared in Europe as early as the ninth century AD but  the earliest textual reference to this kind of suspension has been found is in a poem called Ode on Beautiful Women, composed about 140 BC. More than three centuries later, about 189 AD, the clever mechanic Ding Huan was given credit for inventing gimbals a second time.


The "Cardan suspension" takes its name from Jerome Cardan (Girolamo Cardano, 1501 -1576). What's interesting,  Cardan neither invented the device nor claimed to have done so. He merely described it in his very popular book  "De subtilitate rerumThe Subtlety of Things".

Customer Reviews:

Marie Koch,  Germany
Rating:
In reality the compass looks even more beautiful than in the picture. The first one really impressed me and my collegues at work, so I have bought another one for my husband. The compass embodies a few features that were important to me. It is incredibly handsome, imaginative and precise. It is quite heavy and solid. It looks elegant and holds alot of character. I have oredered a brass plate which I had engraved to accompany it. I think it is a worthwhile gift and wonderful personal possession to have.