Sweetheart Nutcracker

Sweetheart, the over 5-meter long croc and icon in Australia’s northern territory, is not only immortalized on display in the local museum but in the form of a nutcracker, one big with charm and toughness. While Sweetheart the croc put a big scare on fishermen in the 70s, its modern counterpart, the Sweetheart Nutcracker from Alessi, is sure to put a big smile on your face as you easily break open your favorite shelled nuts. Even though the famously hunted saltwater crocodile did take some bites of fishermen’s dinghies, it never did much harm. It stalked the native waters freely, until, in 1979, it accidentally tangled with a net, drowning as a result. As an Australian, designer Jim Hannon-Tan took heart to the story, bringing it into his design process that combines cultural curiosity with a technical focus. Hannon-Tan makes out Sweetheart’s face with neat contours for the snout, serrated teeth, and a polished screw eye. The cast aluminum- and PVC-coated piece breaks open small nuts under the teeth and bigger one’s inside a recession along the handle.