Hand Made Music Boxes made from exotic hardwoods with Swiss Reuge Musical Movements
There will be a link address to the sound file in all my music box descriptions.
I started making wooden music boxes in 1980. It all started as an idea for Holiday gift giving. My initial boxes were simple.
As I made more boxes the designs and construction evolved into quality works of art. My original music boxes are crafted with exotic hardwoods. They are not stained or painted unless requested by custom order. My preferred finish is tung oil, which offers a glossy sheen that highlights the natural colors and textures of the different wood types. The corners are mitered cut and doweled for strength. The wooden hinges are a special signature feature used on most of my original music boxes. My artistic goal was to not use any screws, nails, or other metal fasteners in the box construction. By necessity, machine or wood screws are used to hold the movement to the base of the box and metal on/off buttons/levers/plungers. Wherever possible the inlay designs or natural images in the wood grain will correlate to the music in the box. For example I made a mahogany box that had a beautiful "rainbow" pattern in the grain of the wood, so the music it played was "Over the Rainbow".
Some inlay designs are created by my wife, Cynthia. Each music box is sequentially numbered, dated and initialed or signed. There is limited edition numbering for those designed by Cynthia. My music boxes feature the finest quality Swiss made musical movements. Manufacturers include Reuge, Thorens, Brietler, Jaccard, and generic makers. There are occasions when I use a previously owned or antique musical movement that has been fully serviced or reconditioned to achieve a theme. A recent example is box #117-2-4 with the Star inlay design. It has a vintage 1970s movement that plays "Good Morning Starshine" and "Aquarius" from the musical "Hair".
In 2005 I began repairing and restoring antique and vintage musics boxes for sale. I also began to convert various types of vintage and antique boxes by installing both new and formerly owned movements. I call these Vintage Customs.
I am located in Monterey California
