Giant Leica III wooden display

[estenopo]

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Leica III gigante de madera para exhibición.
Hola. Tengo la suerte de tener esta pequeña Leica III de madera para exhibir. Tiene algunos desperfectos menores y le falta el visor, igual que la otra que tenía. Creo que es fácil de restaurar, pero quiero que siga así. Mide 53 cm y la estoy exhibiendo junto a una Leica III real para comparar el tamaño. Según la información que encontró, fueron fabricados por Leitz en 1932 para grandes distribuidores.
¿Alguien sabe cuántas se fabricaron? Gracias a quienes puedan darme información.

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[luigi bertolotti]

Very cool! And well made too, surely with a precise scaling based on original drawings : by logic, an initiative of the marketing dept. of Leitz... I think is impossible to assess how many they made : by logic 1 max 2 for each of the countries important in terms of sales volumes... a dozen or so... maybe the local Leitz importers (or direct Leitz offices like Leitz NY) had one to be used for local trade fairs or similar events. I remember to have seen similar items for sale (even for M3, I seem). 

[estenopo]

Thanks for your message, Luigi.
Yes, I've seen some M3s too. I even found an image on Google with the same camera and original photos by a Leica photographer.
Your comments about the quantity seem logical to me.
I don't think the Leitz archive has them registered.

[willeica]

There is a selection of these oversized models in the Leica Archive in Wetzlar. They were mainly used for publicity and promotion. Here is one 'in the wild' and 'in period', but being used for a different purpose.

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This one was in a parade in Salzburg in 1930 organised by the VDA , the German Association for Cultural Relations Abroad https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verein_für_Deutsche_Kulturbeziehungen_im_Ausland

I have some material from Dr Kaufmann about this, but it is all in German.

William 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by willeica

[pedaes]

This one used to grace the old factory at Solms.

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[willeica]

3 hours ago, pedaes said:

This one used to grace the old factory at Solms.

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I have seen that one in the store in Wetzlar, Keith, but I cannot remember if it was still there for the 100th Birthday celebrations in June.

They had this giant M3, made from sand, outside the store for the opening of the Ernst Leitz Museum in 2021

 

William 

[PG Black nickel]

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The same model (identical dimensions) was sold in Australia a few years ago at an auction held by a well-known collector who also ran a photography shop, so this promotional item was also sent to the other side of the world.
There was also a huge reproduction of a Leica Ia!

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[PG Black nickel]

Not quite identical, it's an IId, yours is a III (model F).