$1.2M accordioning brass musical watch

By Cory Doctorow at 9:47 pm Thursday, Nov 25

Manufacture Royale's Opera $1.2 million tourbillon watch accordions open to create a resonating chamber for its little repeaters -- the minute hand is in C#, the hour is in A: "The watch case itself is 50mm wide done in 18k rose and gray gold. It has three sapphire crystals and 60 pieces in its construction. Everything about this watch is crazy. It is weird and wonderful. Ugly and beautiful. A novelty for true collectors, only 12 of these watches will be made - making way for other future Manufacture Royal watches. I really do appreciate the audacity of the men behind this watch and brand. There is a hefty amount of silliness here. They make little attempt to hide the fact that this is one eternally ostentatious toy. The watch comes in a veneered wooden box that is said to be a reproduction of the Bastille Opera House in Paris. In case you didn't detect it yet, the French are behind this timepiece."

Manufacture Royale Opera Time-Piece Watch (Thanks, Ariel!)