This is a very rare vintage novelty travelling alarm clock that takes the shape of a little tortoise or turtle - with a little baby climbing up its back.
The clock is made of a base metal which has been coloured with a shiny gold-tone metal on top.
The clock is hidden inside the main body of the tortoise - and you lift up his head to reveal the little alarm clock inside. The face reads Coral (the name of the maker) and on the reverse, it says: Made in Japan as photographed.
I don't think that my little novelty Japanese clock has ever been used before - and it is just such a remarkable condition. It comes with its original little gold tone box - as photographed.
The top shell of the tortoise is highly decorative with lots of little cut-away sections - and it is highly polished and very shiny. The shell is attached to the top side and lefts up along the length of Mr Tortoise's body on a hinge. He has a little fixed head to the front with green stone eyes - and a little pointed tail to the back. How cute is the baby tortoise climbing up onto the shell?
When opened up the bottom section of the shell is lined with a red flock material - and the alarm clock fits inside this - it can be propped open on display and to display the clock face, as photographed.
It must date to the late 1960s - and it is beautifully made and has a good bit of weight to it. Love the base of the clock - which has the texture of a real tortoise's shell.
The is marked: Coral. Alarm and Japan (just under the number 6). It has luminous pips at the numbers. It is not battery-operated and needs to be wound up. When the alarm sounds - it has a very shrill high pitched ring tone. The clock is working and keeps good time.
It is such an unusual item - I haven't been able to find another one. The rarity, quality and condition is reflected in my asking price - an item for the more speciality collector of travelling alarm clocks. It comes complete with its original card gift box - with the lid decorated with a patterned gold foil. This is in good condition.
Dimensions: from head to tail is 5 1/2 inches. The width is 3 1/2 inches. The height is 2 inches. The face is 2 1/2 inches x 2 inches.
I have taken lots of images of my strange old travel alarm clock. You can see from these its pristine condition and the quality of the making.
I am capping the price for UK posting at £4.95. This is for Royal Mail signed for postage and will be applied to your order at checkout.