TRANSISTOR RADIO DESIGN

This classy Belvedere TR-223 was made in Japan by Sharp circa 1959! It appears to be relatively rare! It features an extraordinary gold and white reverse painted face! The Belvedere badge on the front of the speaker grill is written in vivacious red script emphasizing this radios class! This is one smoking hot radio!

This swanky little Belvedere TR-223 is small measuring just 112mm L x 64mm H! It uses the same plastic case as several other radios made by Sharp most notably the Vanguard and Seminole TR-221’s and the Airline 1131.

Sharp was founded in 1912 by Tokuji Hayakawa as a small metalwork shop in the center of Tokyo. The first product that they manufactured was a patented belt buckle! In April 1925 Sharp produced Japan's first working radio in the form of a crystal set! In 1928 Sharp began selling tube radios. In 1942, the company reverted to its original name of Hayakawa Electric Industry Co Ltd but still continued to sell products branded as Sharp. In 1959 after further expansion Sharp began to manufacture and offer a full range of consumer electronics.

This Belvedere came to me all the way from the UK! It uses six ‘Ten’ brand (Kobe Kogyo) transistors to pull in local stations!