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LEICA M6 Platinum Sultan
of Brunei 50th Birthday Edition, 1995
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The top-of-the-line model which was having
the best configured specification was the 150 units LEICA M6 Platinum-plated Sultan, Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam,
His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah 50th Birthday Edition. One of the highlights in this
model was, each of the numbered camera body came with a brilliance-cut Diamond planted
at the centre of the top plate.
Well, I am not entirely sure if all these special M6 releases were meant as a door
gift for honorable, distinguished invited guests or simply it was to satisfy His
Majesty personal interest in an entirely personalized LEICA camera but this Leica
Platinum cum Diamond edition can be easily regarded as the most luxurious configued
M6 ever commissioned to Leica AG to manufacture. It is hard to determine the size
of the diamond via visual but it measures sizable in scale to be at least weights
beyond 1.5 carat. No info on who or which house was supplier of these precious stones
either, if not we could get some info from the source. The camera has two Royal emblems
engravings, one on the plated front lens cap as well as another engraved on the left
hand side of the top plate. The fine details in the two engravings on the metal structure
couldn't be human works, possibly hightech works such as lazer engravings. Each of
the camera body has the similar starting letter as used on the 1992's M6 Gold Silver Jubilee Edition, which begins with "HB followed by 3 digit codes.
This particualr model has "HB 01x* ", possibly signifies number tenth unit
where I think the Palace officials could easily track who was the rightful guest
who had received this particular unit. Anyway, come to think of it, this could be
embarassing and no point pursuing further as it was already given away gift. Besides,
not all the guests have good taste for collectible camerasor a Leica photographer,
right ?
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The camera was supplied with a black
presentation box and has the LEICA M6 LHSA 1968~1993 Edition kind of lock mechanism. Greyish silver imprinting of
an oversized emblem with "In Commemoration of the 50th Birthday of His Majesty
Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin
Waddaulah, Sultan Dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam" in old English
font / caligrapghy type face.
The lizard skin leatherwork appeared to be in higher density than the original LEICA
M6 Platinum edition issued back in 1989. The original photos appeared here show a
heavy green tint and I have corrected them closer back to original color whic is
supposed to be with a pinkish tint. No info on the source what material is the leatherwork.
<<<---
Bottom Picture: The rear section has the same caligraphy. 15th July 1996 was engraved
(His Majesty, the Sultan's Birthdate).
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Recently one of the LEICA M6 with the same specification had surfaced in an EBAY
auction. I thought this may be another unit BUT after enlarging the photos as well
as reading the auction literature & description.. WOW.. this units was quite
special as it has a very unique S/N: HB-000 - the first unit of that batch ! IThe seller
has this quoted " ..... Ser.No.HB-000
! This camera came with Serial. No..000. Leica-Camera AG leave in Leica Museum and
up to 2003 was property of the Leica Museum in Solms Leica M6 platinum with ca. 2
karat diamond on the top plate, never was in free sell, only view cameras made for
Negara Brunei Darussalam in special order of Sultan of Brunei, special high quality
Diamond*s delivered directly from Brunei! This camera with Ser. No. OO Leica-Camera
AG leave in Leica Museum and up to 2003 was property of the Leica Museum in Solms
....". Price: USD 93,499-00.
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| Credit: Image courtesy of Photo_Arsenal-Worldwide® Germany. The Company also maintains
an active EBAY Store, trading many used and new photo equipment of various labels. Photo
Aersenal can be contacted at Photo Arsenal Boris Jamchtchik, Altenfurter Str.16a
90475 Nuernberg Germany Tel.: +49 (0) 911/ 4008081 E-Mail: ebayshop@arsenal-photo.com.
Arsenal has a office in Hong Kong, headed by Evan Wong. Address is: Ting Shan East
Selling-Office Unit 210, 2/f., Mirror Tower, 61 Mody Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong Phone:
+ 852/23126690 , fax. +852/23126691.Image(s) copyright © 2008. All rights reserved.
Please respect the visual property of the contributing photographer. |
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previous | Next
| 1/2 NOT READY YET
Outlining its external features
as well as other issues that relate
Part 1 | Part 2 |
Relative: Leica M6 Gold Sultan of Brunei Darussalam
Other related LEICA
M6 camera models issued in the same Platinum Finishing:-
Leica
M6 Platinum Dummy Set,
1989 | Leica M6 PLATINUM '150 Jahre', 1989 | Leica
M6 Sultan of Brunei Special 50th Birthday Edition, Platinum w/diamond, 1995
Leica M6 "Anton Bruckner" (1824~1996) Platinum Edition, 1996 | Leica M6 Platinum "150 jahre Optik" Wetzlar Optisches
Institute Edition,
1999
Main Index Page
- Leica M6-series models / Main Index Page - Leica-M Rangefinder
camera Models
Nomenclature / Main Reference Map for Leica M6 Standard Model(s) applicable to this M6 Platinum Edition | Others:-
Leica
M6 TTL Model(s)
Instruction Manuals:- Leica M6 Classic in PDF (3.8mb) applicable to this M6 Platinum Edition by Niels
H. S. Nielsen; Others:- Leica M6 TTL 3.6 Mb PDF) by Joe Chan
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