Swiss Watchmaker’s Boîte à Musique

Ideally we all want to seem smart and sophisticated while still maintaining our cool; I even took a classical music class in college. A good mix would be somewhere between Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon and Lost’s James “Sawyer” Ford. It’s doubtful that you’re going to turn into that, so in the meantime you might as well continue to buy things that make you look the part. When your neighbor tells you about his new Bose stereo system, you can tell him about your Swiss Watchmaker’s Boîte à Musique.

This Swiss-crafted music box requires a three-month, 34-step production process for completion and produces four different 50-second musical selections exactly as they would sound from 19th century music boxes. I guess good things come to those who wait! Display this music box anywhere in your house and your friends will think you ooze sophistication and money; since it costs a cool $28,900.

The Swiss Watchmaker’s Boîte à Musique

This is the Swiss-crafted music box that transforms meticulous watch movement into mellifluous melody. This heirloom is expertly crafted by Reuge-renowned horologists since 1865-in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland, considered the birthplace of the mechanical music box. Requiring a three-month, 34-step production process for completion, its accurate Cartel 4.144 movement includes a rotating brass cylinder lined with resin for ideal tonal quality and set with 3,800 wire pins that pluck two 72-note tempered-steel combs in perfect time. Each tooth is tuned to a specific frequency; lower notes are weighted for ideal sonority and are dampened with kevlar “feathers.” The music box produces four different 50-second musical selections exactly as they would sound from 19th century music boxes: Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody, Verdi’s La Traviata, and Bizet’s Carmen. It is finished with a carbon fiber “sail”, a winch-like winding mechanism, a polished, maple-inlaid mahogany “deck”, and a brushed nickel base plate. 4 3/4″ H x 8 3/4″ W x 22″ L. (12 lbs.)

You can purchase the Swiss Watchmaker’s Boîte à Musique at Hammacher Schlemmer for $28,900.