This commissioned chest is crafted from cocobolo, cedar, and mahogany and has a stunning visual appearance and substantial weight. There were three of these chests made; I have one, Robert has one, and the high bidder in the Australian Flood Relief auction has one. The internal mechanism uses levers, pistons, and gears to simulate a Charles Babbage difference engine that produces three outputs given four inputs. This mechanism, given its extremely complicated nature, is surprisingly smooth and precise. The journey starts with a scroll, a bag of black pearl marbles, and a glass eyeball. Along the way, one encounters a bag of blunderbuss marbles, a compass, and a map. These allow a methodical use of the difference engine to find the location of a buried treasure and a gold key.
This puzzlechest is the new centerpiece of my collection. By clicking here, you can vicariously enjoy the chest as well, since I have documented the solution complete with images. Enjoy!