Between 1929 - 1930, 95 units of gold plated Leica I (A) with leather finish called Leica Luxus cameras were made, approximately 60 units were with fixed lens and the balance with an interchangeable lens (the screw-mount was standardized so that it was possible to use any lens without having to change the calibration - there is a "0" stencilled at 12 o'clock on the ring mount). The camera was finish with gold plated on the metal part and cover with either red, green, blue or brown lizard skin.
The camera shown here is a fake! Nevertheless, this is by far the most lookalike copy that I have ever encountered. The quality, workmanship not only fool me to believe that it is a real Luxus and when I show this camera to Leica GmbH, I was told that it was a real Leica I (A) but might not be a real Luxus (the serial number does not match), anyway, upon Leica GmbH recommendation, I have sent the camera to Lars Netopil Classic Cameras in Solms Germany to strip down for authenticity and was confirmed that it was a fake. We suspect that the camera probably came from E. Germany instead of the usual Russian fake! |
