Designer John “Wilhelm” Dunn of the Victorian Steam Calculation Engine Company originally created this steampunk mod on commission for Sony, but is now selling the same thing as a mod for your own laptop. The primary components of the eCog Mercury include beautifully-finished birch plywood trim, retro key caps, and a grid of copper and steel “pipes” (actually wires and drawer pulls) and (non-functional) gauges which protrude from the back of the laptop’s display, which John refers to as his “boilerplate” design (also available as an iPad 2 or Nook Color case.)

The keyboard keys are encircled by solid brass bezels, and have translucent off-white keycaps which allow the keyboard’s backlighting to show through in the dark. The larger keys also have birch ply veneers, and the trackpad is surrounded by red fabric wrist rests.

If you want one of these, you’ll first need to go pick up a Sony VAIO F series laptop of your own. That’ll set you back between $1000 and $2500 (USD). Then, you’ll need the eCog mod, which costs another $1250. So this clearly isn’t a project for cheapskates. On the other hand, the end result is pretty spectacular, and I’m pretty sure even your pals with the sleekest new MacBooks will be jealous of your laptop when it’s done.

John is quick to point out that the design could be customized to your liking if you’d like to commission him to make additions or modifications to the design. Down the road, he even plans on building a steampunk goggle mod for the 3D glasses which work with the top-of-the-line VAIO Fs and other Sony 3D displays. You can see way more of John’s original mod in this video clip from Sony’s SGNL:

If you’re interested in the eCog Mercury mod for your VAIO F, head on over to Etsy for more details.

Sculpted in English pewter and brass, this timepiece not only looks good on the outside, it’s also impressive on the inside, with “solar powered, brass turbine blades rotating or hand cranked to generate transformed power”.  It also has a quartz movement and a magnetic fastening hatch, and displays the “Temporal Decay Index” on its “Galvanic Scale.”  Or maybe it just tells time.

I wouldn’t mind the next doctor wearing this at all, as long as he doesn’t say “Fob watches are cool.” It is $149(USD) over at Design Toscano.

[via Randomgoodstuff]

The Japanese manufacturer Pleiades [JP] designed Trumstand. The acoustic amplifier is made out of gold- or silver-plated brass, and elongated into a long ‘S’ shape. Apparently, this amplifies the bass of the music being played. Just set your iPhone into the rubberized dock to form a tight seal, and you’re all set. Despite the fact that it’s an acoustic amp, they were at least kind enough to include a USB connector for charging your phone while docked.

They are quite striking, but I still can’t imagine that amplifying the iPhone’s tiny little speaker could possibly be as good as a proper set of speakers and an amp.

The gold version costs ¥158,000 (~$2,000 USD) and the silver ¥138,000 (~$1,800 USD). At those price, you better be sure you’ll like the way they sound.

[via core77]

Will Rockwell’s Digital Stereoscope uses the same optical principals of old 19th century stereoscopes, but uses a pair of bright digital displays in place of photographic placards. The wood and brass box comes preloaded with a library of 100 Victorian era stereoscopic images, and Will says that the image quality will transport you back to that simpler time.

The device only comes with still images, and Will says you can upload your own pictures too. However, I can’t see a reason why you couldn’t figure out a way to play 3D video on it if you wanted to, since the underlying technology should be able to handle it. It’s just a matter of splitting video images into left- and right-eye versions.

If you’re interested in The Digital Stereoscope, this unique device is available over on Etsy for $1200 (USD) – about the same price as a modern 3D HDTV.

What you’re looking at here is what was once a Sagem X-5m cell phone, which has been converted into a neo-victorian calling device thanks to the creativity of one J. Redmer from Poland.

The phone has been integrated into a handmade wood case, and modified to use some antique brass buttons for dialing. The backlit LCD screen appears to have been set behind a green window to give it a glow which fits nicely with the retro style of the phone.

It’s currently listed over on Etsy for $350 (USD), and if you want it, you need to know that it only works on GSM 900/1800 bands, and comes with a 230V charger. So if you happen to live in Europe, you’re in luck. Be sure to check out Redmer Werkstatt’s Etsy shop for more of his unusual Neo-Victorian and Steampunk creations.

This steampunk LED wristwatch uses a LED wristwatch board. The watch is constructed from a small piece of oak and some pieces of brass sheet and tubing. It was fashioned together by hand.

The watch uses a 7-segmented LED display and Eric doesn’t know how long the battery will last, but ultimately, that doesn’t matter, right? It can wake up and go back to sleep, like most LED watches. At least it’s not hard to read!

All in all, I have to say that it looks pretty cool, although I think the wood on the face cheapens the look a bit.

[via Make:]

It was created by the artist Amoeblablok who says that he won’t be selling off this steampunk droid on eBay, but he wants to find a home for it. The steampunk droid needs someone who will love it and care of it. Now that’s pretty cute.

I have to say that I’m impressed at how this turned out. It’s a pretty cool way of depicting our favorite astromech droid. But where is steampunk C-3PO?

[via DVice:]

The Sojourner is but one of faux-antique master/steampunkifier Richard R. Nagy, who goes by the awesome moniker Datamancer. He’s also responsible for the wind-up laptop, which has a key that you turn to uh.. turn it on.  And it ran Windows XP. How ancient is that?

The Sojourner is made of polished brass that’s been “artificially tarnished”, and then fitted with an aged leather faceplate, above which rests keys that are electroplated in brass and have parchment key inserts. For some reason the parchment Windows key cracks me up.

As I said, the Sojourner is quite pricey, so much so that Datamancer isn’t willing to put a tag on his creation, although he does say that his keyboards are in the $1200 to $1500 range. Also in that range? A 21-inch iMac. But Datamancer himself asserts, “My keyboards are that expensive because they are that difficult to make.” Still interested? Contact him at datamancer@datamancer.net, and while you’re waiting for his reply check out his website and have a look at his other creations.

[via Born Rich]

We already featured wooden cases for iPods before, but Josh went way beyond that and made a wooden clickwheel – although he did admit that the clickwheel is only held in place by double-sided tape.

And then Josh went beyond the beyond, dressing up his iTrip and his iPod mini’s dock with their own wooden cases as well:

Check out Josh D’s Flickr page for more lovely pics of his extremely well-made mods.

[via Make via Retro Thing]

This unbelievable steampunk modular synthesizer features tons of dials and intricate brass etching throughout. All of the buttons and knobs were hand lathed, and the synth includes a number of antique parts as well.

With all those wires, buttons and knobs, the whole thing reminds me of some sort of antique phone switchboard or an elevator control unit.

Created by Berlin artist/musician Moritz Wolpert, this incredible bit of machinery cranks out smooth analog sounds by interconnecting wires, and adjusting the synthesizer’s myriad knobs and buttons.

[via Matrixsynth, BURNLAB and Steampunk Workshop]

The Russian-built contraption got its start as a basic black Genius Mouse. But thanks to intricate brass and leather(?) embellishment, the mouse is pretty much unrecognizable from its original state.

Another nice detail is the braided, cloth covered USB cable.

The top of the mouse pops open to reveal some sort of screened contraption, and I’m not really sure what purpose that serves.

For some reason, this thing doesn’t look very ergonomically friendly, what with all lumpy bumpy surfaces protruding from the top. But then again, I never saw the word “comfortable” anywhere in the definition of Steampunk.

[Modding.RU via Steampunk Workshop via MAKE]

Meticulously crafted from hand-polished brass and copper, the USB drive reminds me of something out of the art deco neo-future of Buck Rogers – or perhaps more apropos – Flash Gordon.

This thing is just plain gorgeous. How could you possibly go back to one of those cheap plastic flash drive after looking at this masterwork?

If you don’t mind reading a little Russian, you can see how it was done by checking out the full work log over on the Modding.ru forums.

[via TopMods]

Fresh from Japan, Mokushise! Zenko Kutaikai!! Let’s Brass!! takes the musical gaming concept and applies it to a whole new genre. Milestone’s new music simulator game for the DS lets players play instruments like the trumpet, tuba, saxophone and piccolo simply by breathing into the DS’ microphone. By combining your breath with stylus movements on the touch screen, you can make beautiful music.

In addition to its instrument simulator modes, Let’s Brass includes a fully functional digital metronome, and a handy electronic tuning fork as well.

The game comes loaded with about 150 songs, and even lets you play wirelessly with up to three other musicians so you can form an electronic quartet (assuming you’d want an all-wind instrument band).

If you’re curious to find out if the game blows or sucks, it’s now available from game importer Play-Asia for $39.90.

The system features intricate clock mechanisms below a glass top, brass details, leather wrist pads and even claw feet. The highlight of the system is a gorgeous keyboard with antiqued copper keys.

My favorite touch: the system turns on when you turn a key from an old clock winding mechanism.

Kudos to Datamancer for a job well done.

[via MAKE]

The skull and crossbones automaton clock has a mechanical moving jaw, and snakes that dart out of its eyeballs. The Watchismo Times describes it best:

“During the first minute, the skull’s expression seems to smile, the second minute it seems to laugh, the next appears to scream and finally, the jaws snap shut, as if the skull were trying to bite something. At the same time, one of the snakes slowly sinks back down into one of the eye sockets, while the other slowly comes out of the other eye, before retracting suddenly, as the first snake again springs out from its eye-socket.”

I guess you shouldn’t put your fingers in the mouth of this thing if you want to keep them.

The gilded brass clock was built in 1610 by Nicolaus Schmidt der Junger in Augsberg, Germany and recently sold for $135,000. I guess I won’t be able to have this in my haunted house this Halloween.

[via Born Rich]