Clocks, Lamps & Vintage Gadgets

Some people collect stamps. Others collect tiny gramophones, and they are frankly having more fun. This collection is for the gift recipient who loves anything with a dial, a crank or a lampshade: the antique shop wanderer, the film buff, the friend whose living room looks like a cozy 1920s parlor. A hand-painted porcelain gadget is a conversation starter that never needs batteries, and it beats another desk organizer by a country mile.

Wind It Up, Light It Up

Look for little table lamps with painted shades, one perched on a steamer trunk, another decorated with a sailboat and lighthouse, and another blooming with flowers. There are glowing paper lanterns, a floral gramophone ready to spin a record, and a movie cameraman framing his next shot. Some clocks are larger statement pieces, and some designs include a working clock tucked inside. Come October, the jack-o'-lanterns and friendly ghosts take over. Each piece is hand-painted in France, hinged, and arrives gift-boxed.

The Curio Shelf of Curiosities

Gadget collectors love the details: the brass trim on a lamp base, the horn of a gramophone, the tiny painted numbers on a clock face. A themed collection grows easily. Start with a lamp, add a phonograph, then a lantern, and you have a vintage parlor in miniature. Display them on a bookshelf next to old photographs, on a nightstand where a real lamp can throw a warm glow across the painted shades, or in a shadow box styled like a little antique shop. Rotate the jack-o'-lanterns in for autumn and watch the whole shelf get spooky.

Keep exploring with Pianos & Musical Instruments, raid Trunks & Suitcases, or get into the season with Halloween.