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Regarding Cassens and Plath, I just received yesterday one I purchased
on Ebay.  I was rather disappointed that the shades were glued in.  I
would say Tamaya's Spica would be the only ultra-high quality sextant
left.  I am pleased to see that they have come down in price about $200
(and the Jupiter went up $200).

Fred

On Mar 19, 2004, at 8:17 AM, Robert Eno wrote:

> Many thanks for all of the responses from the various members.
>
> It appears that, overall, I am hooped and will have to purchase a new
> hand-held compass if I want the illumination feature. It is a sad
> commentary on the way things are made nowadays. No such a thing as
> replacement parts or, for that matter, instruments that lend
> themselves to repair.
>
> Contrast this to the things made long ago: Take for example, the
> C.Plath Sextant and accessories. Everything is fastened together with
> screws of varying sizes. Every component can be removed, opened up and
> repaired. Nowadays, it is too expensive to design things in this
> manner. Cheaper to use glue rather than screws. Is that part N/S?  Oh
> well, throw it away and buy a new widget.
>
> On a related note, I did a google seach for C.Plath and found to my
> shock, that they no longer exist; that they were bought out by Sperry
> (a venerable firm that has been around for some time). I also did a
> search of Weems and Plath and found that they appear to no longer sell
> their own model of brass sextant; they now market the Tamaya.
>
> Is this the end of the era of the superb craftsmanship of the German
> sextant? Is Cassens and Plath still around?  Are they solvent?
>
> I am increasingly feeling like an anachronism. My world is being
> steamrollered by cheap crap, GPS, and a quick fix (no pun intended).
>
> A Friday morning lament.  Thanks again for your assistance folks.
>
>
> Robert Eno
>
> Good judgement comes from experience and a lot of that comes from
> bad  judgement.
>                    -- Texas Bix Bender: A Cowboy's Guide to Life

   

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