The arrangement of the strapwork on the rete helps to place the manufacture of this astrolabe to the town of Lyon at around 1550. At this time, Lyon was one of Europe's leading centres for clock- and watchmakers and Jean Naze was a maker of such instruments. He also made astrolabes and there is a signed example in the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. Although the NMM astrolabe is unsigned, the arrangement on the back and the scales on the front are virtually identical to the astrolabe in Lyon and so this instrument has been attributed to Naze. For some reason, the numbers on this astrolabe were inconsistently marked: the maker used a set of punches on certain parts of the instrument (the rim and the calendar), while the rest of the numbers are crudely engraved.

The throne comprises two half-length mythical creatures, with the lower part of their bodies ending in a scroll, which flank a centrally positioned rectangular shield. This arrangement is riveted to the mater. On the mater, the Roman numerals for the hours are engraved, but the Arabic degree numbers are punched. There are three plates, two of which are engraved with stereographic projections on both sides for latitudes 33º/ 54º and 48º/ 51º. The third plate accommodates an engraved polar projection taking the North Pole as its centre, surrounded by the four continents. It features three engraved sailing ships, in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. The rete has flame-shaped star pointers. On the back of the instrument is a combined scale for degrees and the zodiac and a calendar scale. On the rest of the back is an unequal hour diagram, shadow square and the date: 1553.