A spirited journey through the world of collectible artisan puzzles
Pairing craft cocktails with crafty puzzles
Blackjack Cake
Blackjack Cake is an innocent and tempting looking treat. It appears to be a chocolate layer cake with a splash of chocolatey sauce drizzled over top and oozing down the sides.
The Turing Chest
Art Deco meets Japanese tradition in this masterpiece by Nicholas Phillips. Nicholas is an American furniture maker and woodworker, who holds a PhD in theoretical physics and worked as a mathematician with NASA for much of his life.
3-Lock Box
I lived in New York at one point in my life. Everyone had a triple lock on their apartment. There was the regular lock, for the key, but inside there was also the deadbolt, and the chain. Some people had even more elaborate affairs.
Yosegi Pattern Box
Jesse Born is a talented young fellow from Rome, New York with the knack for making great puzzles, the skill for making beautiful woodwork, and the desire to perfectly merge the two together.
Haleslock 3
Welcome back to “Locks and Libations”, the erstwhile scribblings of a box collector who finds himself in possession of something distinctly … not a box … yet wishes to share the wonderful prize with the world, nonetheless.
The Wolf from Grimm
Ready for a spooky tale of harrowing horror, just in time for Halloween? Well, I suppose this tale won’t terrify, but it is from a collection of one of the original horror stories – Grimm’s Fairytales.
Box with a Key
Let’s step back and admire our old friend and champion of the modern day puzzle box, Japanese master Akio Kamei.
The Apothecary Chest
Robert Yarger is a modern day puzzle box apothecary, producing the equivalent of such enrichment in wood.
Knight vs. Dragon
The internal mechanism is a brilliantly executed marvel to behold, but the action all plays out on the top of the box, enacted by the main characters, the Knight and the Dragon.
Abracadabra
Without giving too much away I’ll just say that you’ll need to do a little magic to make this box reveal its secrets. It really lives up to its name.
Super-Cubi (Trinary Box)
Hiroshi Iwahara is one of the well-known and highly respected artisans from the Karakuri Creation Group who has designed and produced well over fifty individual puzzle boxes with the group.
A Twist of Fate
This is A Twist of Fate, a very special, bittersweet puzzle box, from the incredibly talented Aussie Dave Cooper.
Spinomotto
Stephen Chin puzzles often carry a few of his hallmarks, including tiny electronic lights and sounds which are triggered when the puzzle has been solved. He is also quite fond of whistles and spinning tops. And his puzzles are often wrapped up in a cute sock. Odd?
Reversal of Fortune
The end of Prohibition in 1933 was a highly celebrated reversal of fortune for many in the United States. Here we have another, the Reversal of Fortune puzzle box by our friend Jeffrey Aurand, a collector and hobbyist woodworker who hails from upstate New York
Parameter Motion
Kel’s philosophy has always been to reuse, renew and recycle for the benefit of our planet, and much of his work reflects that philosophy.
Blocks Away
“Blocks Away” was designed and created by Ron Locke, a friend to the puzzle box world who is no longer with us. Ron’s boxes are fanciful affairs full of mystery, legend and romance.
Ferris Box
Moving along the bottom row of the Apothecary Chest (introduced in Part I) we come next to one of the more distinct and recognizable “drawers” in the chest, Peter Wiltshire’s “Ferris Box”.