S & L/ Deumer EK1

[Nigel N]

First of all, i must say a big thank you to our good friend Trevor for this very interesting EK -cheers buddy!!!!
This is a mid to late 60's S & L EK1, but with a Deumer frame
I'll post some pics, then give you my take on this, but its only a guess!!!!!!
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[Nigel N]

Nice matt painted core, which is magnetic, with the more rounded inner corners of the Deumer framemedals 527.jpg
Top beading, showing typical Deumer die flaws....medals 528.jpg

[Nigel N]

Reverse, transitional, earlier style of pin,later thick catch, open hingeblock and round headed hingepin.....medals 529.jpg

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[Nigel N]

Closeups of open hingeblock and hingepin......medals 531.jpg

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[Nigel N]

Couple of views of thicker style flat wire catch......medals 533.jpg

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[Nigel N]

Heres my theory on this EK, it dates from around the 1966-68 period, by which time Deumer had ceased production.....so, maybe S & L bought up Deumers remaining stock of frames and used them on some of their own EK's, perhaps not too many, as i have'nt seen another! Like i say, just a guess, i've no proof at all!!!!
I would love to hear what you guys think, wether what i said is possible, or maybe you have another theory altogether????
-Nigelmedals 536.jpg

[Matthieu]

Strange EK1, to say at least ... front looks very appealing, while the hardware looks more .

Difficult to theorize on these ... why such early frame can be found with such late hardware ...

I give up ....

[Seewolf]

Strange piece
Looks like the frosting is painted. IMO your theory could be right and i really haven´t another or better declaration for that one. Overall quality looks very good, judging only by the front i easily would date it early to mid 60s. The reverse side shows then another period
I really can´t give a production date to this one...too many different parts for me.

If you would say the catch is an Assmann one then the confusion would be perfect

But that one is a real goody for every EK collector

[Mike Yokum]

You've given a good assessment of a bizarre bit of 57er history there Nigel. In true 57er form, a puzzle presents itself in this piece. Should we judge the period of manufacture by the hardware? That's a slippery slope and this piece bears that out! This might well be a piece that remains under a big ? mark! Only theories so far on this one!

A great find buddy! You've stumped the rat pack!

[Nigel N]

Thanks for the input guys!!!
We do like a good mystery here in the 57 section......smiley-alien009.gif
-Nigel

[DavidM]

Hello

A very interesting EK, but also a highly plausable one. S&L. Deumer and Assmann are (were) all based in Ludensheid, and I believe within very close proximity to each other. It is, to my mind anyway, quite probable that they might occasional purchase some components from each other, or as already mentioned, buy up any remaining components if one or other manufacturer ceased in business or moved away from making the 57s. Don't forget, we have examples of Souval 57 EKs with what appear to be S&L some S&L parts, so why not Deumers with S&L bits.

As for the frame, if Deumers wartime dies were ok, why not carry on using them to stamp out 57 frames. S&L certainly used their wartime dies for the early 57 RKs, so why not Deumer for their 57 EKs. Makes sense to me.

Regards
David

[Nigel N]

Thanks for your thoughts David, so its possible S & L bought frames from Deumer, maybe after Deumer ceased production and had no further use for them. The hardware, finish, weight and feel of this EK rule out it being an early example, i dont know exactly when Deumer finished making 57ers, but i think the timeline would fit for this EK??
Like many things about 57ers we dont have hard facts, just educated guesses!!!
-Nigel

[streptile]

Hi Nigel,

I think the theory that you present is plausible. The cross looks great and I'm happy it's found a good home. I also have never seen another of these.