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Rare Leica camera fails to set record at Hong Kong auction | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
An extremely rare Leica camera has been sold at auction in Hong Kong for around $620,000 (£380,000, 460,000 euros). | |
It failed to raise its estimated value of around $1.2m (£750,000, 890,000 euros), falling well short of the current world record price for a camera. | |
The gold-plated Leica Luxus II, dating from 1932, is one of only four of its kind ever made. | The gold-plated Leica Luxus II, dating from 1932, is one of only four of its kind ever made. |
The whereabouts of the other three are unknown. | The whereabouts of the other three are unknown. |
Its Welsh owner, who died last year, showed it on BBC TV's Antiques Roadshow programme in 2001, when its value was estimated at £5,000 ($8,100, 6,000 euros). | |
The camera, which bears the serial number 88840, is gold plated and encased in fake lizard skin. | The camera, which bears the serial number 88840, is gold plated and encased in fake lizard skin. |
It comes in a crocodile-skin case. | It comes in a crocodile-skin case. |
Revolutionised photography | |
Bonhams auction house, which conducted the sale, said the case had appeared in Leica adverts but was "the first example ever to come to light". | |
The camera was given to a British enthusiast from Bridport in Wales after World War Two. | The camera was given to a British enthusiast from Bridport in Wales after World War Two. |
He used it for several decades before taking it to be valued on Antiques Roadshow. | He used it for several decades before taking it to be valued on Antiques Roadshow. |
Leica cameras first went on sale in 1925. Compact, lightweight and modern-looking, its models became popular compared with the heavier box cameras in circulation at the time, and quickly revolutionised photography. | |
Last year, a 1923 Leica 0-Series sold at auction in Vienna for 2.16m euros (£1.74m or $2.78m at the time), setting a new world record for a camera. |