Swiss Music Boxes
The music box, as we know it today, was invented by Antoine Facre in Geneva in the year 1796. His invention led to a major industry extending right through to the Bernese Oberland.
The histories of the leading companies in music box production can be traced back to the mid 18th century. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, in both the Jura mountain area and mainly in Switzerland, there was a flourishing clock making industry with exports on a world wide scale. Especially on city, called Brienz, showed up to be the leading place for music box production. As a long established center for woodcarving and fine artistic joinery, Brienz was predestined to be the locality for producing wooden musical movements. It was during those days, that Brienz gradually became the most important center for the manufacturing of Swiss music boxes.
The golden years of the music box were drastically interrupted by the situation caused by economic crises both world wars and added to that, the invention of radio and recorded music had such a detrimental effect that one musical movement maker after another went out of business. In 1998 the last existing supplier from St. Croix could no longer supply the large and complicated musical movements, which presented an extremely difficult situation.
But still today, a few small companies believe and thus try to revive in this old tradition and produce musical movements itself in small villages around Switzerland. This valued and treasured product of Switzerland had to be preserved for music box lovers around the world. Even the production of suitable wooden boxes for theses mechanisms was planned and arranged.
That´s the reason why it´s still possible for music box lovers to get his hands on one of those boxes with this superb Swiss musical movement with its beautiful tone quality. Its basic materials and the workmanship reflects the perfection of traditional Swiss handicraft.
They are produced, tuned and tested by specialists. So you can be sure, that you will always buy a piece of fine quality. Today collector or buyer can decide between hundreds of different designs and tones. New music boxes are able to play more than one, sometimes up to five melodies, although already 200 years ago, extra pins were added to the cylinder as an improvement which would enable several melodies to be played.
This means that some pins move between the teeth of the music comb with out plucking any note, but still do so for the next and following melodies. Once the cylinder has completed a revolution it shifts to the side by means of a gear system so that the following revolution the next melody will be played.
The different musical movements are working with 18, 36, 50 or even 72 notes. More notes mean better music quality and mostly the bigger note number also point out a shifting cylinder and thus always gets more and more valuable.
Source: Bavarian Shopping Mall.com
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