Etsy Spotlight: Kalotart - The Hungarian Jewelry Puzzle Box review and giveaway!

My newest Etsy spotlight goes to Sebastian, the owner of Kalotart - a shop full of authentic Hungarian puzzle boxes made by his grandfather. His grandfather, László 'Kossuth' Antal, a master craftsman,  is well known and revered for his excellent chess and puzzle box making. When searching out puzzle boxes to get more of a back story, Laszlo's name popped up everywhere. I never knew about these puzzle boxes until one of my closest friends decided to move to her husband's native land, Egypt. Her father was a missionary and had gotten her a couple of these puzzle boxes during a trip to Romania. She kept one for herself and gave me the other one before she left. My family and I were just captivated by it. It is such a great little box and it was it would only hold maybe a set of wedding rings. The ones in Kalotart are much larger.  

I was more than excited when Sebastian allowed me to review one of the puzzle boxes and wanted to work with me. All of the boxes in the shop are just beautiful. I was NOT disappointed when I received it in the mail. Everything from the stain to the carvings was just perfect. This one being quite larger in size, I can put money, watches, rings, or jewelry in without a problem. 

Poor Sebastian, I had a 'blonde' moment when I was looking for the key. Now, I had a puzzle box already so I zoomed through the first few steps of opening the box. However, the larger boxes (this one having 9 and also a hidden compartment) contains more steps than the one I  have, so what I thought was an empty key slot was just another trick. But I didn't figure this out before I the embarrassment of telling him he forgot to put the key inside. LOL I am good for doing this kind of stuff! 

 Here are a couple videos on the opening of the box, but don't watch if you want to buy one and figure it out for yourself! This is a spoiler alert :)

I watched his video and saw a young boy open the box correctly and felt quite sheepish! Above is a picture of the box opened. Inside you can see the key and a few things to give you an idea of what you can fit inside. I can not imagine how long one of these takes to make, especially with as many orders as they must get. These boxes are made from the finest wood in Transylvania and you can tell he puts much pride in his work because there is no sloppiness anywhere. You know what I am talking about. Paint your house yourself, time it and look at your work. Then higher a painting crew to do it. Instead of counting the days it takes, count how many outlets and doorknobs get painted! lol This is the difference between spitting the jobs out just to get revenue or putting some pride in your work.

Do you have a special occasion coming up? How about an anniversary or maybe a young adults birthday? All my boys really like this box but the ten year old loves this kind of stuff. It gives him his own little secret and he can keep stuff that is special to him in it. Click on the widget below to be directed to his Etsy shop to purchase a box of your own. The prices vary as the boxes do. You can pay anywhere from $49 - $79. Rest assured, these boxes will last. The only part that may not is the little wooden pieces holding the mirror, but this would be very easily fixable.. if it did happen. 

I can definitely see why László 'Kossuth' Antal is famous for his puzzle boxes and I feel very privileged to have been allowed to review on of them! And if that wasn't enough, Sebastian wants one of my readers to receive one as well! Use the rafflecopter below to enter and good luck!!

Thank you Sebastian for allowing me to review one of these fantastic boxes, helping me with finding the key and all your contact throughout!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
I received this product for the purpose of review. The opinions in this post are 100% my own and may differ from yours.