By Pullman’s own admission, the “golden compass” began its life as little more than a MacGuffin; something the master of Jordan could give Lyra before she began her ventures away from the college. As most anything else in the author’s fantastic realm, the role and significance of the object grew exponentially as he wrote further. Production designers, conceptual artists, art designers, and prop masters reveal the development history of the actual film prop, and from where they derived inspiration for its design. The prop’s subsequent forging, construction, and detail application is actually quite fascinating to behold.