One of the world’s best-known web sites for horology, Hodinkee, has inspired the latest Leica special, the M10-P Ghost edition, which is limited to 250 sets worldwide. In the UK it will retail for £13,500.
The camera, which finished in a “warm grey” with white inlays and a grey leather cover, is inspired by Hodinkee founder Benjamin Clymer’s first vintage dive watch which he purchased when he was in his twenties. It is accompanied by a grey/white 35mm Summilux-M lens.
Says Clymer:
“It is a watch that began its life in stainless steel with a rich, black dial and bezel — the markers were bright white and luminous. With time, and sun, and exposure, the dial and bezel faded to grey, the markers turned cream and no longer shine. And yet this watch, the likes of which we would call “ghosted,” is among the most beautiful and charming barometers of an interesting life lived.”
Benjamin Clymer is also a Leica enthusiast and was an early user of the M9. The Hodinkee webshop, based in New York, is now an authorised Leica dealer as well as hosting almost every make of fine watches in the world. It also hosts an informed watch blog and articles on watches and Leicas.
That first Leica sparked an obsession and Clymer delved into the world of collecting special edition Leicas, including the special editions from Hermès and Zagato. He now has his very own special edition.
The Ghost edition represents a premium of £3,000 over the price for a standard M10-P and 35mm Summilux, currently £10,480. That is about par for the course and will raise no eyebrows. It is, however, almost certainly one for the collectors to put away and hope that it increases in price. I suspect few will actually be used.
Anyone who wants their camera to be grey can just ..paint it grey!
But then it’s likely that others may say “you’ve just ruined a good camera”, and yet in this case the idea is that people will swoon to see a grey painted camera. Anyone is free to paint their own camera in any colour(s) they want. This is an M10-P, and lens, painted grey. If the grey strikes me as particularly attractive, then I’ll buy myself a small tin of grey paint.
I painted black (well, actually black felt-tip-penned) the vertical edges of the grey shutter blades in my M9, as when the camera was used vertically (in ‘portrait’ orientation) the light meter reacted too much to bright skies, or sun in the sky. So I have a ‘special'(!) version of the M9, with internal black paint, less susceptibility to under-exposure ..oh, and it’s got the ‘special’, less ‘shouty’, black Leica badge of the M8.2, instead of the red dot on the front.
Wow ..it must be worth at least £3k more than the standard M9! (..and also, of course, works better in portrait mode). Everyone should feel free to jazz-up their own camera(s) however they like, rather than relying on Leica, or Paul Smith, to do it for them ..which is what the firm cameraleather dot com exists for!
Jack you can probably tell from my comment above that this is not for me, but honestly, if this really speaks to you and you think it’s gorgeous then it was probably made just for you and you’ll be one of the few able to fully appreciate it! Hope you can acquire one and please…do use it along with your current M.
I am not a collector and could not visualise me using this as I do my standard M (MP240) – but I think it looks beautiful! One of the best LE’s I have seen with my fav lens in matching colours…gorgeous.
Ben says..” It is a watch that began it’s life in stainless steel with a rich black dial and bezel- the markers were bright white and luminous” As they should be on a watch and for a good reason, and as they should be on a camera lens for legibility when we are using it! Not ‘ghosted’!
“With time and sun and exposure, the dial and bezel faded to grey” But this is a camera, not a watch and Leica’s usually don’t fade to grey and this camera hasn’t aged naturally over time but has been ‘faked ‘grey from the beginning.
“And yet this watch, the likes of which we would call ghosted, is among the most beautiful and charming barometers of an interesting life lived”. Phew!
Except once again, this is a camera and it hasn’t even lived a life yet.It’s a barometer of something else.Marketing with artificial nostalgia maybe?
Leica’s patinate differently to watches Ben.
If I bought this camera I can only imagine the amused reaction when I tell my my fellow photographer friends that the camera is beautiful and charming because it’s based on a vintage dive watch that Ben Clymer has. Yes, Again, it’s a camera, not a submarine.
I’ve decided only Leica should design Leica’s from now on. And I write this as a watch enthusiast!
Well said, Stephen. As I said, though, this is one for the collectors and they live in a parallel universe.
I am a collector and I would not touch this with a forty foot pole. I collect old cameras, mainly Leicas, but these ‘special editions’ are of no interest whatsoever. They are for the ‘luxury but useless’ market, rather than the collector market as I know it.
William
I am 100% with William on this, indeed I think Leica are risking seriously sullying their own reputation via launching ever more so called limited editions
William, I always thought that for Leicas, luxury was part of collecting.
Your comment made me think it might be nice to read about what and why you collect as it pertains to Leica.