The sextant has an anodized brass curved-pattern frame and a wooden handle. The tangent screw and clamping screw are on the back of the index arm. The instrument has four shades, two red, one orange, and one green, and three horizon shades, two red and one green. Index-glass adjustment is made by a screw and on the horizon-glass by capstan screws.

Attached to the sextant is a magnifier on an 89mm swivelling arm. There is also a threaded telescope bracket in two parts, fitted for correcting collimation error. It has perpendicular adjustment made by a rising-piece and a milled knob. The telescope is 184 mm in length with an inverted image and four cross wires. A second telescope is 83 mm long with an erect image. The sight-tube is 81mm in length and has a red shaded eyepiece, an adjusting pin, and a magnifying glass.

The instrument has a polished brass limb with an inlaid silver scale from -5° to 150° by 15 arcminutes, measuring to 131°. The sextant has a silver vernier measuring to 15 arcseconds, with zero at the right.

The sextant is contained in a mahogany keystone box.