British house Chiswick Auctions will soon put up a rare Leica M3 for sale, and the item’s value is estimated between £40,000 and £50,000 (around P2.5 million to P3.1 million).
Chiswick Auctions regularly holds sales dedicated to photography. The next such sale to be held in London on Thursday, Nov. 14 will feature a truly exceptional object. It is a functioning, well-worn Leica M3, the 15th ever made by the German manufacturer.
Leica produced nearly 250,000 M3 cameras between 1954 and 1967, the majority of which had a chrome finish. The Black Paint models were much rarer and generally destined for use by professional photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, who established the Leica M3’s reputation in history.
With its rechargeable bayonet lens mount, the Leica M3 revolutionized the photography of its era. It also introduced new features including an advance lever and automatic frame counter.
In a hint at what may be to come, a Black Paint Leica M3 was sold for £320,000 (over P20 million) in Hong Kong in 2014. CL/JB
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