Antique music boxes are great collectable items, but buying them involves a lot
of knowledge and preparation. Sometimes you can find genuine treasures that would
make any collector proud, and sometimes vintage music boxes are sold for much
more than they really worth. Find out what to look for when searching for an antique
music box.
First thing you need to worry about is if the music box in a working condition
or does it need repairs. Of course it is easier to buy a working music box,
but you will pay more for it. If the box is not working, don’t get discouraged.
Music box is a delicate mechanism that can be easily damaged, but most damages
usually can be repaired as well. You can actually find very good deals buying
damaged antique music boxes and repairing them.
Types of antique music boxes
There are two types of old music boxes – disc music boxes and cylinder music
boxes. Cylinder boxes appeared on the market in the middle of 19th century,
a little bit after music watches. Majority of them were produced in Switzerland,
so many people call them Swiss boxes. They were very rare and expensive items.
Some cylinder music boxes were made in Czechoslovakia and France.
Then disc music boxes came to the market. They were cheaper to manufacture,
which significantly affected the price and made them very popular items. First
company to release disc music boxes was Symphonion. Other popular brands of
antique music boxes are Polyphon and Regina.
Quite interesting items are antique music jewelry boxes. Since these can be
used to store your jewelry, it would be a great pleasure to open your music
box often and to hear a beautiful tune.
How much would it cost to repair an antique music box?
Actually, quite a lot. The problem is that people who can do a good job repairing
old music boxes are difficult to find. There are very few professionals. Another
problem can be parts, most of them have to be handmade. Fixing an antique music
box would require getting different items often including comb work, cylinder
repining, dampers, governors and mainsprings. So be prepared to pay a lot for
the repair of your antique box. But on the bright side, after the music box
is repaired, its value will dramatically increase.
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