Anyone who has ever heard an exquisite music box has nearly been to heaven. The sound of a precisely tuned and tempered Swiss music box is like nothing on earth as all collectors already know. The antique music box really captures a glimpse into centuries past in its rich, ringing tones and the twist of a hand. It’s like being transported on a magic carpet to a distant, more exotic time, like nothing else can.
A music box collector is like any other fine art devotee. The possession is not about the buying cheap of some cultural totem, like the bauble-head doll, hoping to sell later at a huge markup when they are no longer mass produced and thus become “rare.” The music box collector is a sort of addict and connoisseur who treasures the object of his obsession so much because he truly understands the ties it has to our past. A real collector is in love with history itself, not with money or fads.
There are several excellent companies that manufactured music boxes in the first part of the 19th century, however, Reuge is one of the finest and the best known. They really perfected the cylinder style of box with its ringing, delicate tones. Reuge became a company in 1880 when Albert Reuge opened his first musical workshop in Switzerland. Reuge Music U.S.A. was formed almost a century later in 1993 as a merger of the original company in Switzerland with the Los Angeles-based Sorrento Specialties, which concentrated on the most exquisite Sorrento Italian inlaid music boxes. Today, they produce dancing dolls, singing birds, musical animation and boxes of all kinds that have only become the finer as new technology has incorporated craftsmanship from over 200 years to produce products that should be displayed and enjoyed.
As collectibles, these delicate and rare antiques can be quite costly and there are only a handful of people who have both the expertise and the pocketbooks to invest. The entire production of music boxes was hard hit by the introduction of the Edison recordings in the early 1900s and all that followed it in the area of musical production. The devotion to the music box began in the 1700s. It went well through the next century, then even into the 1900s when the Robber Barons and the newly wealthy of the new industrial age had money to spend and loved the exquisite tones and cabinetry of some of the more expert music box producers.
But sadly, after WW1 the demand died down and wind up music boxes and players became mass-produced items that the middle classes could afford for their children. However, in another sense, this art became all the more valuable for being rare, and Reuge production today will, needless to say, have appreciation value as well as providing heirloom hand downs in families for decades to come. To collect and own and pass down a genuine Reuge antique musical “instrument” is a labor of love. Do Not pass one of these treasures to careless family members who will simply regard it as a money cow. Their web site is: http://www.reuge.com/
Anther web site you can consult is:
http://www.finest1.com/meekins/reuge/reugecatalog.htm
Musical pocket watches were one of the first Reuge specialties during the latter quarter of the 19th Century and these are rare and very collectible. If you are very lucky, you may be able to find one of these miraculous gems at fine estate sales in your city or online. Googling for “fine estate sales” will bring up many sites that may have some Reuge items listed in their auctions and sales. The very best you can hope for is that an estate seller may be undervaluing its treasures, thinking that it is simply less attractive to a modern buyer. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
You can go directly to the Reuge company site to look around and see just what is still being made. These are not antiques but are, like Rolex watches, collectible and valuable because nobody can compete with them. Remember the Clint Eastwood movie, For a Few Dollars More, with Lee Van Cleef? Remember the little pocket watch Van Cleef takes out and plays in this movie? It could very well have been a jewel that Reuge produced. Most people who have seen this wonderful “Spagetti Western” can probably even hum the haunting sweet ring of this tiny watch, long after they’ve forgotten the movie. I know I can. Some of the Reuge musical watches now sell for as much as $7,000 or even more. But my advice would be to go directly to the Reuge sales site and look around at their extensive catalogue. Get a sense of what they’re producing and selling today and for how much.
Nobody should spend this kind of money for something this rare or precious without being fully educated about the value of these items. I assume nobody reading this article would even consider it. However, it would not be a bad idea at all to consult with a guide I found online detailing how to pick out any antique music box, Reuge or otherwise. It will tell you what to look for and what is important in buying any of these antiques. They also have antiques for sale, but I’d use it as a learning tool or refresher mainly. This is the site: http://www.intertique.com/PurchasingMusicBoxPart2.html
There is one statement from this site that I need to quote in full. It encapsulates what you need to know about collecting any of the cylinder music boxes specifically: “So rather than tell you what to buy, I’m going to tell you the earmarks of a good antique music box. A good box hits a lot of notes. This can mean a long cylinder, a fat cylinder, a fine-cut comb. If you can’t remember anything else, remember this: The movement from a decent box fills up the case. A big cylinder in a big case is an indication of a better box. A small cylinder in a big case is indicia of a cheap, late box. ” Interesting. Scroll all down through the entire site to get an idea of just what goes into this sort of collection. Though it’s not specifically about Reuge boxes, time pieces or animated musical displays, it does give you some idea of the intricacy of these mechanisms and why they are so valuable today. And it will tell you what to look for and to be wary of.
For repair of any of your music boxes consult this web site.http://www.finest1.com/Meekins/ This one should also be good for consultation and resale and repair. They’ve been in business for over 50 years and probably know the business very well: http://www.ritafordmusicboxes.com/
Here is another place to purchase real Reuge antiques:
http://solvangantiques.com/antique-music-boxes.html They claim you can buy restored boxes, etc, from them for a fraction of their “real” price. That remains to be seen but worth checking out since they do have a restoration service.
I hope this article has given you some idea of a real collectible antique in music boxes. I know that many people have a love of the sound of music boxes but have not been exposed to the finer productions available to serious collectors. Reuge is just one of the very best producers. This commentary on them should give you some idea of how valuable these exquisitely produced items may really worth handing down. If not Reuge, then you will surely be able to choose some others which should appreciate quite handsomely in time and be a valuable gift to your children and grandchildren.
