A small field that moves to music.

Published 15 September 2026 · WHV · Public-source editorial note

The wheat is real. That is the first useful thing to know about Slightly Windy.

An authored mechanical landscape

Reuge’s current version uses twelve preserved ears from Sainte-Croix, gilded with gold leaf. A mechanical system moves them while a cylinder and 72-note comb play music. What looks like a tiny field has become an automaton. The movement is not evidence of a concealed breeze.

The idea has a traceable author. ECAL credits the original Slightly Windy project to José Ferrufino in its 2010 collaboration with Reuge. The manufacture describes the current creation as a 2023 reinterpretation. That distinction preserves the design history instead of presenting an older idea as a new launch.

Hear it and understand its care

Here, the attraction is a traditional capability used to make something unexpected. Mechanical music need not arrive in a nostalgic jewellery box. It can become an observation about an ordinary landscape, translated into wood, metal, movement and sound.

Reuge currently offers an order enquiry. Before ordering, hear the tunes, understand the dimensions and ask how the complete automaton will be serviced. The company's care guidance makes clear that musical mechanisms have limits and that older parts are not always available. This is a specialist object to live with and maintain. Gold-covered wheat supplies the image, not a bullion thesis. Its value case rests on authorship, mechanical craft and the pleasure of paying attention.

Source and context.

Reuge: Slightly Windy ↗

ECAL: Collaboration with Reuge ↗

Reuge: Service FAQ ↗

Not a 2026 launch, not antique, not driven by actual wind. Current mechanism differs from the original student prototype. No investment case based on gold content or an assumed Reuge buyback. Maker's current asking price is CHF9,500, checked 15 September, not a resale comparable.

Source checked 15 September 2026. WHV interpretation is distinct from the source’s account.