Brass Navigational Sextants

A sextant is an instrument used to measure the angle of the elevation of an object in the sky. Sextants aided ancient sailors in determining location and position on a nautical chart. The scale of a sextant has a length of 1/6 of a full circle; 60°, hence the sextant's name. Our old fashioned brass sextants will return you to the day when sailors navigated the seven seas by the stars in the sky. Includes a sturdy wooden box for storage. Please click on product name or image to view product details.

Learn more about Sextants in our Nautical Article Gallery.

Columbus Voyage a Tribute to Diversity

With the plan, maps, and funds in hand, Columbus still needed a hand with the navigation. The most expert of all navigators at the time were the Muslim people. Ibn Battutah had invented the sextant in the prior century, which had proved to be extremely successful in all forms of navigation. Its use by the Muslim navigators gave Columbus the tool and knowledge of its use to stay on course for his journey.  Read the rest of the article....