Five years ago, Ventzislav Nikolov began trading collectible tin toys - reproductions of mechanical toys from the past century. And although interest existed, over time the owner of the company noticed things were not going as well as he would have liked.

“Along with the toys, however, we were also selling mechanisms for music boxes, which everyone could mount as they wanted," Ventsislav Nikolov recalls. "I saw that across the world such mechanisms are sold in cardboard boxes, which made them look more like souvenirs. That is how the idea to place these mechanisms in beautifully carved wooden boxes emerged.”

The idea turned out more than successful and today the company sells about 2000 music boxes per month. The high-quality wooden boxes with exquisite laser engraving are covered with natural wood paint because Ventsislav is trying to use environmentally-friendly materials. More than 50 designs have already been developed. The best-selling boxes are these with engraved music notes and those part of the birthday gift series. There is a great demand for boxes with images of Bulgarian tourist sites - the St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral in Sofia, an old Bansko house, Klisura Monastery.

“We started to export our products because no one else produces such goods. For the Czech Republic we engrave Charles Bridge, the Prague Clock. We sell several boxes with emblematic buildings in Vienna - St. Stephen's Cathedral, the Town Hall, and the Vienna Ferris Wheel. We have boxes with Thessaloniki, Belgrade, and Bucharest. We also make series for individual clients,” Mr.Nikolov says.

The melodies are over 25, including festive Christmas melodies that are a big hit among children, as well as classics such as Beethoven’s Fur Elise, songs by the Beatles, Frank Sinatra and many others.

“It was harder at the beginning. We made a mechanism playing the song ‘My Country, My Bulgaria’ by Emil Dimitrov but it took a while before clients started buying it. As a present for men people buy boxes playing music from the Godfather movie, while for women – those with music from ‘Amelie,’ Ventsislav Nikolov says. "We offer melodies from films such as Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and recently we released ‘Pirates of the Caribbean‘. We also make boxes with custom melodies.”

Creation of music boxes brings joy and opportunity for creative development. A new idea is also expected to cause interest:

“We decided to expand the range and we are currently developing a series of sound reproduction machines. It started with a vintage radio model, then we made a turntable and a tape recorder. Our plans are to design an old fashion TV set, as well as a jukebox. There are other ideas, as well, but for the time being we will keep them secret,” Ventsislav Nikolov says smilingly and adds:

“We want our music boxes to combine visual memories like a moment in one’s life or a place with a melody. This is a hobby of mine that is slowly turning into a profession.”

English: Alexander Markov

Photos: private library