Ha! Were we on the same trip?? All my watch band button compasses and cheap ball compasses eventually reversed polarity, usually after being near a big electrical field like a train. They are easy to "re-educate" with a bar magnet and some time but I gave up on them.
I've never had a Silva fail, other than a capsule leak, my fault. Cammenga military card compasses have a slick "inductance dampening" (no liquid) system but are just too heavy to schlep around.