The Christmas Box is one of our favorites and scores a perfect 10. The Timepiece was also a Hallmark Hall of Fame and aired the following year 1996. The Timepiece follows the youth of Mary Parkin who is the old woman in the Christmas Box. The Timepiece shows us where the "Christmas Box" came from.
The Timepiece is an excellent movie in its own right. The IMDB description is as follows and really does not describe the movie. "Set in the 1940's, James Earl Jones as an an old clockmaker faces racism and is tried for murder when the racist is killed." The trial is a very minor but essential part of the story and he didn't really face racism.
Naomi Watts is lovely as Mary and Kevin Kilner as David. We have a great actor James Earl Jones as the clock repairman and Ellen Burstyn as Maude. All four are great. A nice story of forgiveness is woven into it.