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Jaw dropping $110,000 knife plays music

September 28, 2015

A knife sparked another uproar in the UK, but this time it was for the better. On last night’s BBC hit TV series ‘Antiques Roadshow’, a man presented a 2 bladed slipjoint with a never before seen feature.   Viewers across the pond were so amazed, the segment set Twitter off its trolley.

music knife

Swiss knife circa 1815

Like on PBS in America; the audience for the British version of Antiques Roadshow tune in to see rare treasures from the past, usually paintings or furniture that antique experts put a value on. The drama is heightened when the owner’s expectations don’t sync up with the expert’s appraisal.

The knife that turned up on last nights episode is believed to have been made in Switzerland and featured hand-enamelled scales inlaid with pearls. The adornments were impressive, but what really stunned experts was a never before seen feature: a tiny wind up music player hidden within the rear bolster of the knife.

music knife and key

Wind up mechanism hidden in rear bolster

The key, necessary to wind up the music mechanism was broken leaving viewers wondering what song the knife contained. It couldn’t have been Bryan Adams’ 1983 hit ‘Cuts Like a Knife’ because according to the celebrity antique expert the knife was produced by an unknown maker about 170 years earlier.

Just after the turn of the 18th century; the Swiss invented a flat disk inset with pins that made small musical trinkets with a much longer playing time possible, according to Iowa State University historians.

The antiques expert said the knife is unlikely to end up in the hands of a knife collector because “The Russian market is strong in terms of buying this unusual mechanical musical instruments [or] objects.”

But if you have the means and want to add this one of a kind custom to your collection, this musical blade could fetch in the range of USD $100,000 and $120,000 at auction.

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