The last one of these I engraved, before I blackened in the lines I thought it was pretty cool how stark the brass beneath the chrome plating is, it kinda reminded me of the japenese art "Kintsugi". I found this camera for sale, the camera was working great but there was significant cosmetic damage, it had probably been dropped by someones grandpa and the corner of the plastic viewfinder housing was busted, Most people probably passed on buying it because of that, I saw it and though, perfect, I can save this camera!
Where the missing piece is, I shaped wax into to replace it, then cast that piece into 14k gold, it snapped right in, and is reinforced with epoxy. The camera body has been engraved to simulating Kintsugi, the brass that shows behind the silver chrome makes the yellow lines, simulating broken and repaired pottery. Over time The brass will develoe a patina, i would guess to a kinda yellow brown, if you search something along the lines of "old analog camera brassing" you will see some examples of cameras with aged brass exposed.
This is an Original Model Olympus Pen, considered by some to be a masterpiece by designer Yoshihisa Maitani. This camera is a 35mm, half frame camera, so it takes 2 shots for every normal frame, instead of 36 shots you get 72. Entirely analog, no battery to muck with just a completely manual lens and shutter controlled by simple clockwork. Each decision left to you to compose the image you want. It really is amazing how well built things used to be, Taking this thing apart to clean and inspect, it just blows my mind how well a consumer grade product was once made, the last thing in my lifetime that I remember being built this bombproof was the Nokia brickphone.
This Camera was made in the early 60s, and I am not a professional camera technician. So far the camera has shot great photos for me besides a few "happy little accidents" that are the nature of shooting on something this old and analog. If possible though I would recommend finding a real camera tech, and having this camera CLAed (cleaned, Lubricated, and adjusted) professionally.
If you are considering purchasing this camera, check out this guys youtube video about it, this is a good comprehensive video about the camera its history, capabilities, and limitations.
https://youtu.be/9is6LLg6yRI?si=PapRQ5jbba-lKhQL
Original Model Olympus Pen
14K Gold