The Compass – made by watchmakers
C’The Compass, the origin of whose name remains unknown, owed its existence to an Englishman who was obsessed with technique but who had no particular relationship to photography – Noël Pemberton-Billing. Patented on 16 May 1936, the camera, built by LeCoultre & Cie in Le Sentier in the Vallée de Joux, brought with it a number of refinements, which were unheard of at the time.
According to advice from Jean-Pierre de Trey, a Swiss watch broker based in London. The construction of the Compass was entrusted to LeCoultre & Cie, a company happy to have a chance to do something different in the midst of a crisis in watchmaking. The Compass Camera Company took over distribution once it reached England.
Extremely compact, the fully metal (aluminium) camera existed in three versions, with texts engraved on the housing in French, German or English. It was equipped with an f3.5 Kern lens and a coupled telemeter for focussing. It carried negatives on the glass plate or sheet film measuring 24x36mm; later came a 6-exposure roll film back. It also had built-in filters, an optical exposure metre, two finders including one with a right angle, a ground glass finder, a spirit level, a panoramic head and a stereoscopic system, allowing the camera to be moved laterally for taking two successive views.
LeCoultre & Cie produced 4,000 units up until 1939–40 when production of the Compass was forced to cease, due to it being impossible to source film made for the camera. The film had come from Ilford in England, but the factory stopped production as a result of bombardments during the war. From then on, this camera was very highly sought after among collectors.