And since the clockwork says "Western Germany" we can date the whole thing in between 1945 and 1990 which is a tad bit older than what your friend said.
Likely even +10-15 years, since the early 80ies the German clockwork industry was going down the sewer due to the cheap quartzworks from Japan.
Not exactly my style, yet I think it would sell. Black lacquer is always going.
Greets
Namxat