Colorado - Kel Snake

Colorado - Skool Teaching Model

This one-of-a-kind combination puzzle box is built from a reclaimed Casa Magna – Colorado cigar box, transformed into a precision mechanical locking system. The original cigar branding remains subtly present, grounding the piece in its history while contrasting the engineered complexity now embedded within it.

Across the front face sit five independently rotating dials, each functioning as part of a true mechanical combination system. Unlike decorative puzzle boxes, this mechanism is fully integrated — each dial can either be 'in or out' and must be aligned with intention and accuracy to release the internal locking bar. There is no guesswork once you understand it… but until then, the box remains resolute. The tactile experience of turning the wheels — feeling resistance, searching for alignment — is deliberate and mechanical in the most satisfying way.

Although this piece has been used as a teaching demonstration on my Mystery by Design Skool platform to explain combination logic and mechanical sequencing, this is not a mass-produced model or kit build. It is the original prototype — the exact box used to demonstrate these principles. Only one exists. There are no duplicates and no production run planned in this configuration. The only other time this mechanical locking system was used was on Jim Strayer's Lost Day Chest way back in history.  The specific solution to solve it has not been revealed, I just teach folks how to build them, not solve them.

Because of that, it occupies a rare space: both instructional artifact and functional puzzle sculpture. It represents a stage of development, a teaching tool that became a finished object. For collectors of mechanical puzzles or those who follow my work, this is a singular opportunity to acquire the original.

Dimensions: 7 1/8" wide x 8 3/4" long x 2 3/4" high

Full solution sheet included.