Good description!

If any of you have used Brunton's "Eclipse" compasses, you will quickly see how they got their name. They use a circle within a circle system where instead of "boxing" the needle you eclipse one circle over the other - just like the moon eclipses the sun. I actually like that system quite a bit, even though it is not conventional.

And as my eyes get older I'm liking the Brunton eclipse compasses' magnified readout more and more.