/24-7PressRelease/ - SANTA FE, NM, May 03, 2008 -- I love to run across unusual things I've never seen before. It's a real treat.
When you've been in the field for years there's the tendency to get jaded. Objects like the one I'm about to describe make me stand back and smile.
The Yale Wonder Clock is rare. Talk about gimmicks and options.
This peculiar oak clock stands about 7 feet tall. It's a marriage of clock, music box, coin collecting, arcade machine and just plain fun.
When you insert a nickel-size, stamped aluminum coin into it--lights also flash, music plays, and a token drops into a reward cup potentially worth 5 , 10 , 15 , or 25 . It's a genuine get rich quick scheme from another era.
While all this is happening within the case, three numbered tiny reels spin, generating a random number between 000 and 999.
The store displaying this unusual clock probably posted a list of lucky numbers on the wall which gifted winners with a cash prize. It's quite the machine.
The inventor, Charles A. Yale, incorporated his company in Burlington, Vermont in 1900. The main product appears to have been this remarkable timepiece.
Less than 1,000 Wonder Clocks were actually made, probably more like 600-700. Of these, only about a handful survive today.
The Yale Wonder Clock is in a class by itself. The one offered for sale at James D. Julia's Winter Antiques and Fine Art Auction on Feb. 2, was early, with a low serial number, # 123. It was also a real beauty.
The clock still works and sold in the auction for $86,250.
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Rosemary has provided auction coverage and analysis on thousands-and-thousands of antiques and collectibles sold since the column started 16-years ago. She includes auction sale results to give readers a feel for what their treasures are worth because the power of auctions is simple.
When the bidding stops and the hammer falls, the value of an item is set. The buyer, not the seller, sets the price, and this simple distinction cuts through all the chitchat about what art, antiques and collectibles are really worth. The emphasis is on today's values, not yesterday's wishful thinking.
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Rosemary is the co-author of The Official Price Guide to Fine Art published by Random House and received her training in the trenches working as a professional appraiser and weekly columnist.
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Rosemary McKittrick
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