It is a rather innocuous looking box, with a somewhat irregular shape. It is a bit hard to tell in the photo, but it has eight sides of varying lengths. The wood I'm guessing is maple, and has a nice smooth finish on it. There are two brass hinges on the back side. The inner compartment is circular, about two inches across, with felt on both sides. A nice touch, probably to cover up the center-point hole left by the drill bit. In case you were wondering about the funny name, Schmuckdose means jewelry box in German! Indeed, it would make a good jewelry box for some earrings or small necklaces.
I fiddled with it briefly, and probably had it open in under a minute. The mechanism has a graceful simplicity that I liked, and I liked how you make a little discovery first that will eventually lead to the solution. Most people will find this property fairly quickly, but it may take a few minutes to figure out how to take advantage of it if you're not a puzzler. I agree with Puzzle Master's difficulty rating of 6/10.
Overall, Schmuckdose is a nice, simple box that would be good for a new puzzler or if you prefer something simple.
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Wow, opened in under one minute! Good thing it's a Jean Claude Constantin design, a collectible. You know, I mentioned the topic of puzzles solved in just a few minutes in one of my reviews this week. While I might feel great that I've solved it very fast, I can't seem to shake the feeling that it's a waste of money in a puzzle that will be solved in no time and I probably won't play with it again. I had my share of those... Nice review by the way ;-)
ReplyDeleteHello Brian,
ReplyDeleteAny chance you could send me the solution for the Schmuckdose on Facebook? PuzzleMaster doesn't have a solution provided...
Thanks,
John Haché
Sure, just sent you a message on Facebook!
ReplyDelete