The 32th WestLicht camera auction just ended in Vienna and a new world record was set for a 1923 Leica 0-series camera that was sold to a private collector from Asia for €2.4 million euro including premium (around $2.95 million). Only 25 Leica 0 cameras were produced. The previous auction record was also set by a Leica 0-series camera that sold for €2.16 million in 2012 and €1.3 million in 2011:
New world record for the most expensive camera: 2,790,000 USD for Leica 0-Serie
New record: the most expensive Leica camera sold for 1.9 million USD
THE MOST EXPENSIVE CAMERA OF ALL TIMES!
Leica camera achieves 2,400,000 euros at WestLicht record auctionThe 32nd WestLicht camera auction brought a double record result. The new world record price of 2.4 million euros (2 million hammer price plus surcharge) makes the Leica 0 Series No. 122 the most expensive camera in the world . In addition, the auction is the most successful in the history of the traditional Viennese auction house.
The Leica 0 series was proclaimed with a starting price of 400,000 euros and increased by 6 times. The contract in the exciting Bietergefecht ultimately received a private collector from Asia. Decisive for the record price was certainly the fantastic original condition of the camera. In 1923, two years before the launch of the first Leica, Ernst Leitz produced about 25 such test cameras, of which only three were probably left in their original condition.
The previous record holder, a Leica 0 series with the number 116, also scored in 2012 at a WestLicht auction the price of 2.16 million euros. “This fantastic result once again emphasizes the international top position of our auction house,” says WestLicht founder Peter Coeln. And the majority shareholder of Leica and chairman of the supervisory board, Andreas Kaufmann, adds: “The world record price of 2.4 million euros shows that the myth of the Leica brand continues to grow”.
A great result was also achieved by another Leica camera from the famous collection of Jim Jannard (the founder of Oakley): The black lacquered Leica MP-89 increased from a starting price of 120,000 to 456,000 euros . ALeica MP-2 , the first camera with electric motor drive, changed hands for 432,000 euros . For a comparatively cheap 48,000 euros , a collector bought the Hasselblad Lunar Surface SWC produced for an Apollo mission.
In total, 91 percent of the 530 lots were sold at the 32nd WestLicht camera auction, of which almost 100 percent were Leica items.
The next WestLicht auction will take place in November.
