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All Australia Melbourne Marionette Fob Watch
AO Edited

Marionette Fob Watch

Every hour a secret compartment drops from this giant pocket watch, revealing a lovely surprise.

Melbourne, Australia

Added By
James T. Bartlett
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The 14-foot-high marionette watch.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
When the marionettes and birds sing “Waltzing Matilda.”   Kevin Anslow/public domain
Koalas on the back.   jbartlett2000 / Atlas Obscura User
The marionette watch.   Rexness/cc by-sa 2.0
Koalas were missing in July, 2024   mocchiatto / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
  denisbin/CC BY-ND 2.0
  dion gillard/CC BY 2.0
  Collector of Experiences / Atlas Obscura User
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Given as a gift to the city when the vast Melbourne Central shopping complex opened in 1991, this giant gold pocket watch hangs nearly 40 feet high (over 12 meters) and counts down to a lovely surprise.

Every hour a secret compartment drops slowly down from inside, revealing a display of gold marionettes and Australian wild birds. One marionette is playing the flute, the other the violin, and rose-colored galahs and white cockatoos perch and “sing” alongside them as they leisurely perform a kind of cute cartoon version of “Waltzing Matilda.”

If you take the elevator up to the next level you’ll see the back of the fob watch, where two koalas swing from side to side as part of the timekeeping mechanism.

The watch originally had a 12-foot chain that hung down from two floors above, but that never returned after being moved for renovations.

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Community Contributors

Added By

jbartlett2000

Edited By

Meg, Collector of Experiences, mocchiatto, Michelle Cassidy

  • Meg
  • Collector of Experiences
  • mocchiatto
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

May 22, 2018

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Marionette Fob Watch
211 La Trobe St
Melbourne
Australia
-37.810241, 144.963023
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