Special Box 504 is one of the lidded boxes that Václav Obšivač, under the Vinco label, makes by hand in the Czech Republic. On the outside it is a small wooden cube of about 62 mm; inside, it holds an eight-piece packing puzzle whose pieces must be arranged so they all fit and the lid closes.

• BrandVinco
• SeriesSpecial Boxes
• TypePacking puzzle
• MaterialMixed woods
• Size62 mm
• Pieces8

The Special Boxes series

Obšivač has built several versions of these lidded boxes and numbered them from 501 to 514. In the 504 the format stays the same (a 62 mm box and eight pieces), but the puzzle inside and the combination of woods vary from batch to batch: some editions contain the Three Wedges set and others the Minibox C2 design. That is why two boxes can look different even though they share a number.

How it works

In a packing puzzle there is no mechanism to take apart: the challenge is to find the exact placement of each piece within an enclosed space. Here that space is set by the box, and a single piece in the wrong orientation is enough to leave volume over and stop the lid from fitting. Vinco places it at level 5 on its scale, one of the highest in its catalogue.