Neither had I. Apparently it is a German company, "Kasper and Richter". They've been making precision instruments since 1920, according to their website.

K&R is imported to the USA by ROC Gear Wholesale, who maintains the website http://www.kandrusa.com/Home_Page.html

The German company website is http://www.kasper-richter.de/english/

This doesn't tell you anything about the quality of what they make, but it's a start to find out more info regarding K&R.

I also found mention of K&R in this forum thread: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/...thread_id=15128

Seems like the folks over there at BackpackingLight think K&R compasses are OK, even though they are from a lesser known company.